The St. Barth Festival of Caribbean Cinema (Cinéma Caraïbe) celebrates its 15th season April 24-30, 2010 on the island of St. Barthélemy in the French West Indies. This fourteenth edition of the festival once again offers the population of St. Barthélemy the chance to discover films and filmmakers of the Caribbean basin, as well as thought-provoking international films. Festival guests include filmmakers, producers and cinematographers, and scholars, as well as cinema professionals from around the world who have a strong interest in Caribbean film and culture.

This year we will present a special focus on Haiti, beginning with a Haitian evening featuring a series of documentaries and first hand reporting on the recent earthquake last January 12. We are especially proud to present works from the Ciné Institute de Jacmel presented by students from that school. We conclude our Haitian program with a round table on current issues in Haiti and a special presentation of Moloch Tropical, Raoul Peck's powerful new film about the decline and final days of a (fictional) Haitian President.

Continuing another tradition, we are working once again with Jean-Marc Césaire, of Ciné Woulé, to bring cinema to the beach. Given our past success with outdoor beach screenings, this year we will be on the sand twice. On Tuesday evening we will show Araya a classic neo-realist drama from the noted Venezuelan director, Margot Benacerraf. Reprising our success in the past two years, we will hold our closing night screening on the open sands of Flamands beach as well.

The third special feature of this year's festival is our presentation of selections from the Third Traveling Exhibition of Caribbean Cinema. This year, this exhibition once again comprises an array of extraordinary films from various Caribbean countries and cultures.

THE 2010 SCHEDULE

All films in original language, with subtitles in French

Saturday April 24

El Benny, (126 minutes, Cuba, 2006) by Jorge Luis Sánchez. Presented by the producer Iohamil Navarro. AJOE 8pm.

Sunday April 25

Les 16 de Basse-Pointe (108 minutes, Martinique, 2009) by Camille Mauduech. Presented by the director.
AJOE 8pm.

Monday April 26

Capitainerie 5pm. Haitian Evening
Chronique d'une Catastrophe Annoncée de Arnold Antonin. Presented by Moise Camille
Chimen Pasyon by Camille Moise
Plus: Short films from the students at the Ciné Institute de Jacmel in Haïti
presented by Frero Pierre and Claudel Chery

Tuesday April 27

Short: Rose Murray: Portrait of a Photographer by Alex Bendahan (14 minutes, USA)
Feature: Araya (90 minutes, Venezuela/France, 1959 restored, 35mm) by Margot Benacerraf. Presented by the director. 8pm on the beach at Flamands.

Wednesday April 28

Moloch Tropical (107 minutes, Haiti/France, 2009, digital) by Raoul Peck
Presented by the lead actress, Mireille Métellus. AJOE 8pm.

Capitainerie: Table Ronde: Haiti: Looking forward. 4pm

Thursday April 29

Orpailleur (90 minutes, France, 2009,35mm) by Marc Barrat. Presented by the director. AJOE 8pm.

Friday April 30:

Closing Night: 8pm on the beach at Flamands
Jab by Alex de Verteuil (46 minutes, Trinidad) presented by the director
Calypso At Dirty Jim's by Pascale Obolo (85 minutes, Trinidad)
Presented by the producer Jean-Michel Gibert,
Oasis Surf Generation with Eliott Ivarra, student at the collège Mireille Choisy

The St. Barth Film Festival was launched in 1996, allowing the island to open its doors to the cultural richness of the Caribbean by way of its cinema. The success of the first festival encouraged its growth into an annual event, with the second festival in 1997; the third, fourth, and fifth years of the festival confirmed the role of "Cinéma Caraïbe" as an important showcase for Caribbean cinema. Now an established event on the island's cultural calendar, the festival has put St. Barth on the map as a meeting place for regional filmmakers to come together to screen and discuss their work.

In addition to the 35mm films screened in the evenings at A.J.O.E. in Lorient, the video programs at the Capitainerie, and the screenings on the beach at Flamands, the St. Barth Film Festival also organizes film-in-the-schools programs in which filmmakers work with the island's students to help them discover filmmaking as both a career option and a tool of cultural expression. The festival will also present an annual round-table discussion on Caribbean Cinema and an afternoon of video screenings, open free to the public. All films and videos in the festival are presented in their original language and sub-titled in French.

Cinéma Caraïbe is organized by Ellen Lampert-Gréaux, Joshua Harrison, Rosemond Gréaux and Sophie Maupoil under the auspices of the non-profit French association, Ciné Saint Barth along with the generous support of the Collectivity of St. Barthélemy, the DRAC in Guadeloupe (Regional Cultural Affairs Office of the French Ministry of Culture), the Conseil Régional de la Guadeloupe, La Direction Départementale de la Jeunesse et des Sports, A.J.O.E., Ciné Woulé, and the St. Barth Tourist Office, as well as other cultural organizations in St. Barth. Numerous island hotels, restaurants and businesses have been among the local sponsors since the festival was launched in 1996.

For additional information contact:

St Barth Film Festival
New York office: +1212-989-8004 tel / 212 727-1774 fax
St. Barth office: +590 590 27 80 11 tel / +590 590 29 74 70 fax