The Cineffx Photo and Film Expo officially opened yesterday with the intention of providing a platform for photographers and filmmakers to not only showcase their talents to a wider audience but also learn from some of the best in the industry.
The exhibition, which is expected to continue until tomorrow, will offer 15 workshops, presentations from 21 skilled speakers and 50 exhibitors, all at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, at Liliendaal.
Included among the list of speakers are photographers Michael C. Lam, Saajid Husani and Brian Gomes, cinematographer Yaphet Jackman, film director Denise Harris and filmmaker Tiffany D. Vasquez.
According to Jason October, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cineffx, the journey to the launch of the exhibition was plagued with challenges which set back the event by almost three years.
His story was accompanied by a testimonial from Chairman of the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) Ramesh Persaud, who spoke of October’s persistence in bettering himself and his business proposals, even after being rejected on several occasions.
“This event is the outcome of several ‘no’s’ that I had to tell to Jason when he started this thing two and half years ago, and he will tell you how many times I had to tell him ‘no’ before the fifth time came and I told him ‘yes.’ When he came to us those years ago, he made a pitch that he wanted to have an exhibition so the first day he came to see me, I told him this is not structured properly, the idea is bad in principle and we would not be able to support it,” Persaud shared.
“Sometimes ‘no’ is the best thing someone could tell you to give you motivation when it comes to business…the dedication that this man has put out here is definitely something that will benefit Guyana in the years to come; it may seem like just a small gathering but there is a lot of work that went behind the scenes to get this going; there were a lot of lessons that we learned in this. There are lots of people who dream, who have an idea or a concept but to realise the concept tends to be a difficult task. If you envision, dream, conceptualise, you also have to move to the stage where you realising what you conceptualise,” Persaud added.
He took the opportunity to inform the audience about the funding that IPED offers to the creative industry. “About two to three years ago, we made a public announcement that we would be setting aside funds for the creative industry. We set aside the funds which is $50 million in support of any person or any business that wants to get access to financing in the creative industry. Today, we have only managed to lend $10 million of that because we have been having a lot of requests but not requests that are bankable. People may like film and photography as a hobby but then we have a great challenge in conceptualising an income generating activity and that is where all of you have to (put) your mind together over the next three days to ensure that you talk about the business of this industry,” the IPED chairman said.Persaud also underscored the need for the industry to push for copyright laws saying, “We have been lobbying for that very hard and we need legislation that is fit for purpose. We need to move away from the concept that we are a poor country and it is necessary for us to photocopy textbooks and so forth. So I believe that copyright legislation (is) necessary. I have no fear or hesitation in saying so and we do whatever it takes to support anyone who advances that.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Dr Paloma Mohamed from the University of Guyana, who lauded the event as a landmark movement which deserves the necessary framework to support its growth in the Guyanese society.
“One of the things that is always saddening in Guyana is that when you see beautiful sparks like this, you have to wonder what is next because this should be the beginning of something; it should not just be a spark and not die and one of the things we have to seriously consider is the supporting structure, and mechanisms in place to support this and other ventures like this so that they grow from strength to strength,” Mohamed said.
Notwithstanding, she was pleased to announce that the long-awaited Master’s programme in film and visual communication, which has aspects of film and photography, will commence in September, 2019.
“We have been working on this a very, very long time but we needed to find people to teach in the programme and we have been lucky to have persons from the EU, Canada and Caribbean and Guyanese,” she added.
Meanwhile, Jackman, who described the efforts to have the exhibition as an impressive one, warned against outsiders, who have already fortified themselves in the global industry through grants and policies, stealing opportunities and concepts from those in the local sphere. He was, however, pleased to acknowledge that the majority of the presenters slated to speak over the weekend are Guyanese.
“The majority, if not all of the presenters, are local…I say this unapologetically that no westerner has to come and validate your talents. No Europeans have to come and validate your efforts. You are being encouraged by your own countrymen and women,” Jackman said.
Similarly, keynote speaker Eric Phillips expressed hope that the inaugural Cineffx photo and film expo signals the turning point of Guyanese history in fashion, photography and film.
“The theme for Cineffx is visionary. The words educate, inspire and elevate, these are well chosen words that bring significance to Guyanese life today as these are words that every Guyanese must be able to live by if they are to derive the full benefits of oil or if we want to be ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny,’” he said.
“Guyana will dramatically change within a few years at the advent of oil; it already has. I hope the participants of this event recognise the tremendous patrimony Guyana has; these assets will provide the incredible and unsurpassed canvas for creative work in fashion, film and photography,” Phillips added.
