Guyanese dominate Digicel Youth Pan Caribbean Film Competition

Last Updated on Sunday, 17 November 2019, 16:57 by Writer

Two Guyanese earn the top prizes for the Digicel Youth Pan Caribbean Film Competition at the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival

Sunday, 17 November 2019, Castries, St. Lucia – The Digicel Youth Pan Caribbean Film Competition, as part of the inaugural Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, announced the winners of the competition. Open to amateur filmmakers across the Caribbean, the competition provided a platform for budding creatives to test the waters and show off their skills.

For the 21 years and over category, Dexter Copeland from Guyana won with his short film, The Journey. He earned a round trip flight to TCI with accommodation for the festival, a showing of his short film at the festival, all-access pass to festival events (gala, parties, VIP), a brand new phone and US$1,000 cash.

Dexter said, “I feel extremely grateful and humbled to be a winner of the Digicel Youth Pan Caribbean Film Competition, and I must thank all the people who voted for me and those who supported me throughout this process. I must also thank Digicel for making this opportunity possible. I’m hoping it will place me in a better position to help develop the film industry in Guyana, and throughout the Caribbean. My goal is to create inspirational films that tell stories that truly resonate with my audience. At this year’s Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, I’m looking forward to learning essential industry information, to continue to empower myself and those in my community.”

For the winner of the 14-17 years old category, Aderes Thompson, also from Guyana, who won with the film A Day in the life of a GTI Student, gets to have his short film featured on Digicel Guyana’s social media pages and website as well as a brand new phone.

“We’re happy to have partnered with the inaugural Turks & Caicos International Film Festival and to have hosted the Digicel Youth Pan Caribbean Film Competition. I just want to thank all those who entered the competition and to say congratulations to the winners. We hope you enjoyed TCI! Film is all about storytelling, and in the Caribbean that’s a big part of our culture, so we were very excited to see what everyone, amateurs and professionals alike, brought to the festival,” said Addison Stoddard, CEO of Digicel Turks & Caicos.

The festival is geared at raising awareness about the environment, as well as the Caribbean film industry, and the vision of the festival is to share compelling stories about the big issues facing our environment. In May, Digicel’s Chief Speed Officer, Usain Bolt visited the Turks & Caicos Islands to launch the festival and advocate for telling meaningful stories through film and touching on the importance of preserving our oceans and the environment.