The Belize International Film Festival started tonight and the first film up for viewing is a short called "My Father Belize."
The Film was written, directed, and produced by a duo of American born Belizean cousins.
"My Father Belize" has been making the rounds of the regional film festivals and earning praise and acclaim along the way. Today the cast presented the film to Belizean media ahead of the film festival and told us that this selection was always their ultimate dream:
Cherisse Halsall reporting
My father Belize is the story of a US born Belizean man who travels to Belize to scatter the ashes of his deceased father, only to discover that he himself conceived a son during a past visit to the country. Now, he must face his own conflicted feelings about fatherhood caused by the estranged relationship he had with the man who gave him life.
Ron Sierra, Writer, Producer "It's family and I mean we all know how important family is and connecting with family. So that's kind of what we really wanted to bring in relationships and mending and helping heal but we do it in a way where it's not boring, it's not completely dramatic, we have great elements of some laughs which we love to laugh and we all have a family member that can bring out that laughter within us when there's moments of like pain and or like drama within our lives. Mr. Kirby Garcia here he does an amazing job of bringing that out within the film, so the meat of the film is basically family."
Director Leon Lozano and Writer Ron Sierra, are family--cousins--both of them born in the United States to parents who are immigrants from Belize. In writing and creating "My father Belize' the two sought to share their passion for their heritage, the beauty of Belize, and the stories that only Belizeans can tell.
Leon Lozano, Director, Writer, Producer "All in all we're exploring the theme of fatherhood in the film."
"Most of the impactful moments are built around Sean's struggle with his own father who's deceased and then accepting this reality that he may be a dad himself."
Neil Hall, PR NICH"The beauty behind this film is not only the fact that it's celebrating Belize and it's bringing attention to Belize and its culture and its people but also because it has been winning awards in the United States at various different film festivals and we are very happy to have it here in Belize and to have it showcasing Belize."
Actors Kerby Garcia and Keisha Sierra told the press that they are eager to see more film projects that are uniquely Belizean produced by the great pool of talent that they found here while making the film.
Kerby Garcia, Plays "Cousin Nigel" in My father Belize "Belize has got major talent, you know, so it's really heartwarming to come back home and represent our country you know there are people coming inside our country that are just taking bits and pieces of it but we want to make sure that we show the really Belize so if you want to see a movie that's heartwarming , you know, and that's just touching and just shows you the real Belize come see my father Belize."
Keisha Sierra, Plays "Aura" in My father Belize "I feel like this film is really shining a light on who we are and what we're about, from the food to the music, the people, I mean Kerby does a great job at really bringing in the personality you know the full flavor that we have. So I truly hope that you enjoy this movie as much as we enjoyed making it."
My father Belize is premiering now at the Bliss Center For The Performing Arts but if you're missing it, you can catch it again within the Belize International film Festival on Friday night at 7:00 at the Princess Hotel and Casino.
Email
Print
The Belize International Film Festival started tonight and the first film up for viewing is a short called "My Father Belize."
"It's family and I mean we all know how important family is and connecting with family. So that's kind of what we really wanted to bring in relationships and mending and helping heal but we do it in a way where it's not boring, it's not completely dramatic, we have great elements of some laughs which we love to laugh and we all have a family member that can bring out that laughter within us when there's moments of like pain and or like drama within our lives. Mr. Kirby Garcia here he does an amazing job of bringing that out within the film, so the meat of the film is basically family."
"All in all we're exploring the theme of fatherhood in the film."
"The beauty behind this film is not only the fact that it's celebrating Belize and it's bringing attention to Belize and its culture and its people but also because it has been winning awards in the United States at various different film festivals and we are very happy to have it here in Belize and to have it showcasing Belize."
Actors Kerby Garcia and Keisha Sierra told the press that they are eager to see more film projects that are uniquely Belizean produced by the great pool of talent that they found here while making the film.
My father Belize is premiering now at the Bliss Center For The Performing Arts but if you're missing it, you can catch it again within the Belize International film Festival on Friday night at 7:00 at the Princess Hotel and Casino.