"The decision to postpone the second Reggae Film Festival scheduled to have taken place February 23-27, was one of the saddest decisions I have ever had to take. Sad, yes, but inevitable, given that funding had not been sourced to stage the event whose six months of planning was now in the completion stage.

Dilemma

"A comprise was requested to 'contract' the event to an item on the nightly entertainment of live music and dance scheduled for the newly conceptualised Reggae Village, to be housed at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre.

"But this solution presented me with the dilemma of trying to choose one film per night out of the more than 40 entries submitted to the Reggae Film Festival from film-makers in Jamaica, the USA, Italy, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Israel, France, Serbia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

"At the 2008 event, we found that we needed more than three nights to show all the films, introduce film-makers and present awards, so we planned a five-day festival with day and night screenings to handle all the submissions.

'Contracting' compromise

"We considered a 'contracting' compromise. Should we show Under My Garden, the short feature that won Spike Lee's Babelgum Film Festival at Cannes 2008 and was not strictly a 'reggae film', but whose director, Andrea Lovicetti, had already purchased his non-refundable air ticket from Italy just to be at the Reggae Film Festival in Jamaica?

"We would have to forego the fabulous music documentary Made In Jamaica featuring a line-up of reggae greats, including Bunny Wailer, Third World, Capleton, Beenie Man, Elephant Man and more, who were going to be present at a star-studded opening night Jamaican premiere, but whose producer, Jerome Lapouroussaz, had offered a free screening of this award-winning film only if he was flown in from France - a cost that was beyond budgetary possibilities without an airline sponsor.

"It was hard to consider the film festival without the two foreign feature films we were so glad to receive: Babylon, the UK classic by Franco Rossi, starring Award's Brinsley Forde, or What Goes Around, by US director Steve McAlpine, with a cameo role by Mavado. These films at least have Jamaican and reggae content. These are the films that put stardust on a film festival and bring out the VIPs and celebrities.

Event in its own right

"The Reggae Film Festival deserves the opportunity to be an event in its own right. In the 12 months since the first one was staged, interest from outside Jamaica has been pleasantly surprising and the event has a major impact on the Internet. Apart from entries from around the world, we have been offered and are considering invitations to stage the event in three European countries and at several international reggae festivals. This shows the organisers that the Reggae Film Festival can be aflag bearer for several Jamaican products and organisations through sponsorship branding.

"Postponing the event to a later date will provide ample time for proper funding and planning to be put in place to create a proper event. We already have serious sponsorship interest from twoprivate-sector companies, as well as some Government support that will take the burden off the Ministry of Culture's stretched resources.

"So, instead of disappointmentat having to postpone the Reggae Film Festival, I am now pleased to be given more time to ensure that the festival's benefits are maximised, both locally and internationally."