The Caribbean Youth Film Festival this year celebrates its eighth anniversary.

Having employed as its mechanism a strategic module of teaching the art of film and television to youth, one of the festival’s main objectives is the building of uniquely holistic and productive citizens.

Festival Director Colin Weekes, stated that participation has grown from local to regional with an abundance of interest being shown from the youth of the Eastern Caribbean and beyond. Weekes also explained that the shift in dynamics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed for an international pool of professors as well as particpants.

“One of the first things that we had to do were the usual workshops online, however this allowed us to have more capacity to bring in more persons and more professional filmmakers. Persons like of Carl Scrowfield who is an Oxford professor, and Leslie Anne, the managing director from Film TT joined us. We also had a cohort of OECS filmmakers from Antigua, Guadeloupe, and Dominica. The discussions over the six weeks were very informative, and very educational.”

This year, the Caribbean Film Festival competition is being held under the theme “COVID Diaries”, giving young people the opportunity to express themselves and portray their experiences through film.

“We know it is not just an economical crisis, it is a social crisis as well. So we’re hoping that they will go out, conduct interviews, and tell their stories of their experienced during COVID-19,” Weekes said.

In an effort to support the youth and develop the film industry, Export Saint Lucia has partnered with the Caribbean Film Festival for competition. Hyde Constantine-Felix, Client Manager of Marketing and Promotions at Export Saint Lucia, said: “This festival is all about raising awareness of the film festival and raising the standard of the film festival, and for us at Export Saint Lucia this is one of the goals of our export strategy. We aim to take our films beyond our shores and provide support for the next generation interested in this sector.”

The COVID Diaries film competition was launched on aug. 24, at the Export Saint Lucia headquarters.