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Alliouagana Festival of the Word

“From Script to Screen: A Film Festival“

The Alliouagana Festival of the Word (AFW) moves into its 4th year. The Festival is intended to strengthen a culture of excellence in creative writing and a greater appreciation of the power of the spoken and written word on Montserrat. A 2009 grant under the Tourism Challenge Fund made the launch of this literary festival possible with a goal of stimulating the local economy.

This year, AFW is joining forces with the Montserrat Festival Committee in celebrating the 50th Christmas Festival here. AFW has moved its activities from the customary mid-November period to entertain Montserratians and other visitors returning early for the Christmas celebrations and to heighten awareness of the Alliouagana Festival of the Word in the Diaspora. Mark your calendars for December 8 and 9, 2012 when AFW will be hosting a Film Festival at the Montserrat Cultural Centre in collaboration with HAMA Productions of Antigua & Barbuda.

The Film Festival will use the theme From Script to Screen to explore screenwriting and its role in creating memorable films. Two full days of films and discussions are planned that will profile productions made mostly in Antigua and Montserrat. The films include a range of genres such as thriller, documentary, romantic comedy, and Caribbean folklore. Events over the weekend are intended to appeal to the whole family and include the Film Lovers’ Parade and  free screenings from the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase. In addition, animations in Spanish with English sub-titles will be shown and local films and documentaries will be showcased. Good Screenwriting: How to Make it Happen is a three-hour workshop scheduled for Saturday, December 8 from 10 am.

The workshop will be an interactive session led by experts in the field and intended to simplify the scriptwriting process by making it less intimidating and much more imaginative. It should be of interest to those who are curious about how film scripts, including those developed from existing print materials, are created and to those who may be interested in trying to write a screenplay themselves. You will not want to miss the free screening of Calypso at Dirty Jim’s immediately after the official opening on Saturday 8 December, 2012 at 6:15 pm. This is a documentary that explores the development of the Calypso and will have the audience laughing and singing.

During the Film Festival, the new publication Festival at Fifty: 1962 – 2012 by Professor Sir Howard A. Fergus will be available for sale along with other local publications and videos. Prizes for winners of the annual creative writing competition will also be distributed at the opening ceremony. Sincere thanks to LIME (formerly Cable and Wireless) and the Montserrat Foundation for jointly sponsoring the 2012 Alliouagana Festival of the Word.