The Second Edition of the Venezuelan Film Festival “See who we are” held in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from November 4th to 16th, 2019 ended with great success reaching seventeen (17) Vincentian institutions with the screening of five (5) films to more than one thousand one hundred (1,100) persons including children, adolescents and adults.
The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, through the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Cooperation (IVCC) “Hugo Chávez Frías”, in the context of the 2019 Cultural Offensive Plan of the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela; held this 2nd Edition of the Venezuelan Film Festival “See who we are” in 17 spaces of the Caribbean country: primary and secondary schools, colleges and prisons; with the aim of bringing the Venezuelan film culture to as many persons as possible under the itinerant cinema modality.
A total of fourteen (14) consecutive days of the development of the Festival served to demonstrate internationally, the quality of Venezuelan film productions because in each space where the films selected for this edition were screened, the public expressed their joy for being given the opportunity to enjoy the experience. In turn, films such as “Haiti, the Hidden Face” served as the basis for discussions on the Caribbean identity.
As part of the humanist culture promoted by the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela, the closing of this edition of the Festival “See who we are” took place in the “ Her Majesty’s Prison”, with the participation of more than one hundred and eighty (180) inmates (women and men): “because we believe that these spaces are necessary for the exchange of ideas and conceptions about the Caribbean … Prisons are spaces that must be humanized from a revolutionary culture,” said the Head of the Venezuelan mission at SVG, Francisco Pérez Santana.
The holding of this Festival for the first time in the prisons, motivated the authorities to propose the creation and signing of an educational agreement with the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in SVG to carry out this type of educational and cultural exchange on a monthly basis.
A collaboration with the Ministry of National Security, Air and Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce, the Ministry of Education, National Reconciliation, the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, “Invest SVG” and the Group “Solidarity ”in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the coordination of the Ministry of the people’s Power for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the People’s Power for Communication and Information, the Villa del Cine, Amazonia Films and the National Autonomous Center for Cinematography (CNAC) of Venezuela, this Festival was able to be converted into a linguistic and cultural event to promote the cultural identity of Venezuela from the production of Venezuelan cinema as a vanguard in audiovisual content in our America.
In the coming days, within the framework of this Festival, several functions will be performed in some Vincentian communities as part of the plan of action and solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution carried out by the Solidarity Group. Among the proposed films are: Haiti the hidden face, Azú, soul of a princess and Shoot to kill.
This type of academic, political and cultural experiences are part of the Diplomacy of Peace promoted by the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela with the aim of deepening the bonds of friendship, solidarity and unity between the peoples of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. By 2020, a continuation of this successful Venezuelan Film Festival is expected, heading to the 2020 Latin American and Caribbean Film Festival.
