Community News
New Grenadian Film Festival is here to stay and slay
BY SELINA McCALLUM
This annual film festival is only in their second year, but has a bright future ahead of them. 12°N61°W Grenadian Film Festival (1261GFF) will take place in Grenada between May 2nd and May 9th, 2020.
The festival promotes films with distinct themes exploring multicultural norms and diversity within the Caribbean communities and films that have strong cultural, political and social elements that are also representative of Caribbean people’s experiences worldwide.
Founded by Meschida Philip, a Grenadian-American Filmmaker, the 1261GFF executive group consists of an all-female international team with over twenty years of production and business experience. Most of the team are Philip’s friends volunteering their time to help Philip’s vision come to light.
“I started the festival as a way of airing my own personal experiences navigating the film world with film,” said Philips. “I wanted to provide Caribbeans and Grenadians with a platform to showcase their work.”
She was born in Grenada, and the name of the film festival pays homage to that.
Meschida is a writer, director, producer, photographer, and editor based in New York.
Her directorial work includes Scars of Our Mothers Dreams, a documentary looking at the impact on children separated from their parents due to migration, and Searching For Crystal, a film exploring human trafficking in the Caribbean.
“These are topics that a lot of people shy away from, but I am attracted to do them because I think awareness is key,” said Philip. “Especially for what’s in our community, not much of the stories are told and I think it takes us to tell the stories so people can be aware of it.”
Currently, she is serving as the Festival Director for the 12°N61°W Grenadian Film Festival. In her current role, Philip is dedicated to promoting the work of people of colour, women and Caribbean filmmakers.
She is an activist that is mainly interested in social issues affecting Caribbean families and communities, including immigration, education, children and women’s rights and human trafficking.
“Our stories are forgotten. There are so many dimensions and so many things to tell about our experiences,” said the Founder of 1261GFF.
Philip has her Masters of Fine Arts in film from The City College of New York with a concentration on Documentary Filmmaking. She freelances with different production houses including CaFA as a program liaison assisting with securing and promoting Caribbean Films throughout the Caribbean diaspora.
In the next five years, Philip would like the film festival to have a stronger international reach.
“After the festival, we tend to travel throughout different communities to reach a wider audience and to expose the works that are being done by the filmmakers. We feature a segment of films that took place at the festival,” said Philip.
Last year the festival left an impressive mark on the community in Grenada, which does not yet have an established film community. Seeing this as a need, Philips funded the entire festival with the help of her family and friends.
“A lot of emphasis is on the music component, and not the visual arts component. In order for a change to take place, we need to start reviewing the influences that the visual art component has, and the effects that it also has in a holistic view of the cultural tourism aspect within the countries,” said Philip. “Art is a huge driver of social change. It bridges communities beyond borders.”
Philip will be speaking at a seminar in the Dominican Republic at the end of the month about exploring ways in which the Caribbean film community can find ways to further access funding and grants from government institutions.
“In this business it’s all about collaboration. What became quite apparent within the last year of starting the festival is there is a lot of Grenadians throughout the diaspora that are both in the film and entertainment industry, but we are not aware of who they are,” said Philip.
A part of the franchise is the Grenadians Creative Network Group which is in the developing stages. The goal is to build the community and help people find experienced, passionate creatives for their projects in Grenada and beyond at no charge.
As a Grenadian-American, Philips wanted to ensure she was including both her identities in her work.
“Because my life is embedded in both worlds, it was important for me to marry both. I felt that if I excluded my experiences here in North America then I’m doing that side of my life an injustice, and if I just focus on the Caribbean then I am not serving my community. The richness comes from seeing the stories and the experiences of people of colour all on the same screen. To me that is powerful and that’s why we do what we do,” said Philip.
If you’re interested in learning more about 12°N61°W Grenadian Film Festival and how you can submit a film to their 2020 film festival, visit https://www.1261filmfestival.com/