Belize International Film Festival

For the past five years, Belize has come alive with the excitement of movie premieres showcasing Belizean talent at its very best. This year is no exception and the country will be taken by storm when the Belize International Film Festival hits Belize City – Belize, San Pedro Town -Ambergris Caye, and San Ignacio – Cayo.

The primary goal of the Belize International Film Festival is to provide a space for the exhibition of films from Belize and its neighboring regions of the Caribbean, Central America and Southern Mexico so that these audiences can see their images onscreen and be motivated to create more.

The 5th Belize International Film Festival is scheduled to take place July 16th – July 24th at three venues in the country of Belize:  *Venue 1: Belize City: Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts *Venue 2: San Pedro: Reef Village Cinema *Venue 3: Cayo: Ka’ana Boutique Resort

The Headquarters and Main Venue for the Festival remains the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts in Belize City.
Saturday Night, the Belize International Film Festival arrives in the sunny island of San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye. Reef Village’s Paradise Theater and poolside bar will be the venue for White Night.

Red Carpet, Film Screening, and White Party afterparty (complete with hor’dourves and drinks) will be the order of the night.

Throughout the weekend viewings on the movies will also take place at the Paradise Theater.

Tickets for viewing any of these films is $10. Film coordinator for San Pedro Horacio Guerrero is excited to have the International Film Festival finally showcased in La Isla Bonita. For the past five years that the Festival has been in existence, San Pedro has not had the honor of hosting the Festival. This has now been made possible through Guerrero’s efforts (he acts in the 7 Adventures of Sinbad airing on Sunday).

The Trailer above is to the movie SKIN which premiered in Australia on July 22nd, 2010 and will move to New Zealand on August 5th, 2010 had its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. This movie will premiere in Belize on Saturday for the White Party at Reef Village’s Paradise Theater.

Ten year-old Sandra is distinctly African looking. Her parents, Abraham and Sannie, are white Afrikaners, unaware of their black ancestry. They are shopkeepers in a remote area of the Eastern Transvaal and, despite Sandra’s mixed-race appearance, have lovingly brought her up as their ‘white’ little girl.

Sandra is sent to a boarding school in the neighbouring town of Piet Retief, where her (white) brother Leon is also studying, but parents and teachers complain that she doesn’t belong. She is examined by State officials, reclassified as ‘Coloured’, and expelled from the school. Sandra’s parents are shocked, but Abraham fights through the courts to have the classification reversed. The story becomes an international scandal and media pressure forces the law to change, so that Sandra becomes officially ‘White’ again.

By the time she is 17, Sandra realises she is never going to be accepted by the white community. She falls in love with Petrus — a black man, the local vegetable seller, and begins an illicit love affair. Abraham threatens to shoot Petrus and disown Sandra. Sannie is torn between her husband’s rage and her daughter’s predicament.

Sandra elopes with Petrus to Swaziland. Abraham alerts the police, has them arrested and put in prison. Sandra is told by the local magistrate to go home, but she refuses.

SKIN is a story of family, forgiveness and the triumph of the human spirit.

The Belize International Film Festival will also be a star studded event with participation already confirmed on behalf of Anthony Anderson.

Anderson in "Kangaroo Jack"

Acting Career: His television work includes a lead role in the teen series Hang Time as Teddy Broadis. He had many one-off and guest roles on major series such as NYPD Blue, Malcolm & Eddie, In the House, and Ally McBeal. Recurring roles were on several series such as ‘Til Death and The Bernie Mac Show. He was the central character in the series All About the Andersons, which lasted for one season on The WB.

Anderson joined the cast of the long-running NBC crime drama television series, Law & Order in 2008. He previously starred in two other crime series, Fox‘s K-Ville (as one of the lead characters) and Fox’s cable channel FX‘s The Shield.

Movies: Since his film debut in Liberty Heights, Anderson has been performing as an actor, often in comedic roles, for many years. Among his more prominent feature films are:Kangaroo Jack, My Baby’s Daddy, Hustle & Flow, and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. In June 2010 was casted for a lead role in the upcoming Scream 4.

For further information on the Belize International Film Festival (San Pedro coordinator), to purchase tickets kindly contact Horacio Guerrero at 610-4327.