The U.S. Embassy hosted an evening of film and conversation at 1ofK Penthouse in Limegrove Tuesday, March 22, to share information on the upcoming American Film Showcase Documentary Workshop April 19-24. Applications are now open to film students, amateur filmmakers, and professionals to work alongside U.S. filmmakers Cole Sax and Mack Woodruff to develop, shoot, edit, and produce two short documentaries about Barbados. Two teams of five individuals will be selected to participate in the program.
Tuesday night, 40 members of the arts, film, and creative community gathered to virtually meet with Mack Woodruff to discuss the program and watch an episode of one of his previous projects, Rogue Trip. The final episode in the six-part series detailed his visit to Ukraine in 2019.
“Kyiv is really one of my favorite cities. I was struck by how beautiful it was,” Mack explained. “We had an entire team working on that series – from a medic to a team of drivers – but I’m excited to get to Barbados, meet the film community in-person, and collaborate on a new project.”
Film Commissioner Annette Nias who attended the event applauded the upcoming initiative. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our film community – especially our young people – to gain experience and network with an international group of filmmakers,” she explained. “There are so many stories to be told right here in Barbados.”
As one of the young Ukrainians Mack met in Rogue Trip explained, “You don’t have to travel 3,000km to discover something new for you. Just dig deeper in your culture, where you stay, and you will find something new.”
Online applications for the documentary workshop are due April 1 and are available on the U.S. Embassy’s website – bb.usembassy.gov.