Black Immigrant Daily News

Last weekend saw another successful conclusion of GATFFEST 2022 with over 14 filmmakers walking away winners at the Palace Cineplex Sovereign.

The re-branded Greater August Town Film Festival hosted by the newly merged Mona Social Services/UWI Community Film Project ran from June 9 to July 2 with overwhelming responses from both filmmakers and patrons turning out for eight film nights culminating in the awards ceremony.

Filmmakers garnered awards for Most Original Screenplay “Patty versus Patty”, Franklyn St. Juste Award for Best Directing, “Timoun Aw (Your Kid)”, Best Cinematography “No Entry”, Lennie Little-White Award for Best Local Film “Traytown”, Best International/Regional Film “Timoun Aw (Your Kid)”, Best Animated Film “Mother Finch”, Best MSS/UWICFP Film “A Day in the Life of a Mangrove Warden”, The Lamar Dookie Award for Best Edited MSS/UWICFP Film “A Day in the Life of a Mangrove Warden”, The Spirit of GATFFEST Award “Timoun Aw (Your Kid)”, Archibald McDonald Award for the Best of GATTFEST “Timoun Aw (Your Kid)”, International Viewers’ Choice Award, “Timoun Aw (Your Kid)” and “The Bathtub”, Jamaican Viewers’ Choice Award, “Traytown and Nice Lady”.

Professor Ian Boxill, former Gatffest Festival Director and Eka Patterson, filmmaker share a photo opportunity

The Mona Social Services/UWI Community Film Project Award for Change in the Community was presented to a graduate of the UWI Community Film Project who uses what has been taught in the programme to make a significant impact on the community. This year’s winner is Phillip Watson.

In 2021, Phillip Watson was accepted into the Mona Social Services/UWI Community Film Project (MSS/UWICFP) under the Kingston Harbour Ecosystem Adaptation Measures (KHEAM) Project. He is a part of 3 cohorts trained in film and video production with an emphasis on environmental issues facing the Kingston Harbour and the communities that immediately surround it. He graduated in August 2021.

Phillip Watson now runs a community-based organization/social enterprise; Supm Fi Talk Bout; that empowers and uplifts the youths of 16 different inner-city communities of downtown Kingston. Most of these youths are motherless or fatherless and Supm Fi Talk Bout provides a safe haven for them; a space to develop them creatively and intellectually. This is done through academics, sports, permaculture, music, arts, farming, dancing, and community tours/skateboarding.

The organisation also visits the sick and afflicted to pray for them and feed them, teaching the youths the power and importance of empathy; helping the youths to understand the importance of being upstanding, contributing members of society in a positive and impactful manner.

As GATFFEST brought the curtain down on celebrating a decade in filmmaking, Festival Director Savannah Peridot proudly chronicled their journey with 1,950 total film submissions, 323 films screened at GATFFEST, 31 UWICFP student films screened, 130 Jamaican Films submitted, 33.5 hours of film master-classes and workshops and 115 Jamaican films screened.

Savannah Peridot was full of praise for the GATTFEST Planning Committee and the festival’s partners which include the Embassies of Colombia, France, Germany, Japan, the Bob Marley Foundation, Jamaica Social Investment Fund and Rum Fire, Hampden Estates.

The festival had its genesis in 2013 when it was introduced as an avenue to showcase the films produced by the graduates of the UWI Community Film Project, a community-based initiative supporting the UWI Township Project. It offers training in film and video production for youth in a number of under-served communities.

Since its inception the festival has grown significantly, from a four-day to an eight-day festival, receiving numerous international and local submissions every year. GATFFEST serves as a platform for the exposure of filmmaking talents of directors, producers, casts and crews. It is an opportunity to showcase new and emerging filmmakers who are telling stories through a mix of short films and documentaries.

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A widespread network outage from Rogers Communications Inc left many Canadian customers without mobile and Internet service Friday and caused problems for police, courthouses, passport offices, and other facilities.

A notice on the Toronto-based telecommunications company’s website said the outage is affecting both wireless and home service customers as well as phone and chat support.

The outage disrupted services across retailers, courthouses, airlines, train networks, credit card processors, and police forces, pushing many to delay business transactions, serve customers through analog means or even flock to coffee shops where they could find Wi-Fi.

The company offered no explanation for what caused the outage, its expected length, how many customers were impacted or where they were located.

“Our technical teams are working to restore our services alongside our global technology partners, and are making progress,” Rogers said in a statement.

“We know how much you rely on our networks. Today we have let you down. We are working to make this right as quickly as we can. We will continue to keep you updated, including when services will be back online.”

Toronto’s Go Transit said in a tweet that some parts of its system were affected by the outage and fares could not be purchased using debit or credit cards. E-tickets may also be unavailable, it warned.

Among the most serious impacts were warnings from police in Toronto and Ottawa of connection problems when Canadians called 911.

“If your call fails, please try again, or call from a landline or cellphone with another provider,” Ottawa Police said on Twitter.

The outage forced the postponement of The Weeknd’s tour stop at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The Toronto date was one of only two set for Canada.

Scarborough Health Network, which operates three hospitals and eight satellite sites in Toronto, requested physicians and staff to head to their workplaces for any shifts for which they are scheduled to be on-call until the disruption is resolved.

In Quebec, some court matters were hampered. Peter Nygard’s Montreal court appearance on sex-related charges was put off because the fashion mogul, who is detained in a Toronto jail, couldn’t connect by video conference. His bail hearing will now take place next week.

Service Canada tweeted it, too, was impacted by outage with call centres and offices, including ones that issue passports, affected.

The outage stands to exacerbate passport delays that have left Canadians lined up outside Service Canada offices for lengthy periods of time as the government works through a backlog.

Canada Border Services Agency warned that people may not be able to complete submissions through the ArriveCAN app — a mandatory requirement for all cross-border travellers.

Many retailers and businesses were also facing trouble when trying to accept payments because Interac, which processes electronic financial transactions, said its online and checkout debit offerings and e-transfer services were impacted.

As a result, the Confederation Bridge, which links the provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, was unable to accept debit cards Friday morning. Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, Ontario, said amusement park goers could only pay with credit cards. They were told on Facebook they must be able to access e-tickets on their phone or bring printed tickets to the park, if visiting Friday.

Downdetector, a website that tracks outages, showed people started reporting problems with Rogers’ service around 4:30am EDT and by 7am, 20,000 reports had been logged.

Many Rogers customers scrambled to find Internet service, heading to coffee shops to connect and trade tales of the outage.

Kathryn Bowen, 30, an independent fashion designer, spent Friday morning on the floor of a Starbucks in Toronto’s financial district, videoconferencing with clients.

“I don’t really know where to go because if I go home, I don’t have Internet,” said Bowen. “I can’t even step outside and text anyone because Rogers doesn’t work on my phone either, so I’m just sitting here until my phone dies basically.”
Roseanna Chen, 27, relied on a coffee shop as well, after her workplace’s Internet was hit by the outage, but found the cafe’s wireless network became unstable as it filled with people.

“We’re trying to see if (the office Wi-Fi) comes back,” said Chen, an accounting associate at Imperial PFS Canada. “If it doesn’t, we’ll probably try and head back home, but my Internet at home is also out.”

The country’s telecom sector is dominated by three large carriers — Rogers, BCE Inc and Telus Corp — and their hold on the industry has long been a concern of academics, who have called for regulators to increase competition for mobile and Internet services in Canada.

“The outage is illuminating the general lack of competition in telecommunications in Canada,” said Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy programme.

Federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement that the government was monitoring the situation closely and had told Rogers “how important it is that this matter be resolved as soon as possible and for the company to provide prompt and clear communication directly to those impacted”.

Meanwhile, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launch an inquiry under the Telecommunications Act into the outage.

The commission said it was reviewing the request.

Telus wasn’t impacted by the outage, but the Rogers rival warned that some customers may experience “slower than normal” data speeds because of increased usage by customers without access to home Internet.

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Campaigners have hailed a ruling by Antigua and Barbuda’s high court declaring the country’s law criminalising same-sex acts between consenting adults unconstitutional.

The court handed down the ruling on Tuesday in response to a case filed by a gay man and two rights groups.

According to the ruling, the law contravened constitutionally guaranteed rights to liberty, freedom of expression, and protection of personal privacy.

Antigua Observer reported that Justice Marissa Robertson ruled that sections 12 and 15 of the Sexual Offences Act of 1995 contravene sections 3, 12, and 17 of the constitution of Antigua and Barbuda.

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The online publication said the sections speak to a person’s right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination based on sex.

Women Against Rape and the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE)welcomed the court ruling.

“We are very much hoping the Antigua ruling will prompt other legal systems in the Caribbean to review their laws and policies, and how they impact on vulnerable populations,” Women Against Rape President Alexandrina Wong told the BBC.

And ECADE says seven Caribbean countries still have versions of statutes that prohibit same-sex intimacy.

The BBC quoted the group as saying that other constitutional challenges in Barbados, St Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia are expected to be concluded before the end of the year.

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Creative Industries and Culture Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire, declaring that the 2022 Carnival Queen show was a ‘great’, has congratulated the newly crowned Queen and other contestants.

“Indeed, it was a great show,” Hilaire, the MP for Castries South whose Ministerial responsibilities include Tourism, Investment, and Information, wrote on Facebook.

“It feels good to wake up to the news that the 2022 National Carnival Queen is from Castries South! Congratulations to Miss Xenia Douglas – who was crowned last night as our new Carnival Queen,” the Minister stated.

” I also would like to congratulate the other beautiful contestants who graced the stage with confidence and elegance,” Hilaire wrote.

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A Carnival Planning & Management Committee (CPMC) release on the Queen Show described Xenia Douglas, Miss BOSL Wise, as having put on a ‘consistent display of poise, confidence, and elegance’ throughout the Competition.

The results for the 2022 National Carnival Queen Pageant are as follows:

Miss Photogenic – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Miss Congeniality – Miss WASCO, Nyambi Jn. Baptiste
Best In Swimwear – Miss BOSL Wise, Xenia Douglas
Most Outstanding Talent – Miss WASCO, Nyambi Jn. Baptiste
Best In Costume – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Best Evening Wear – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
Best Interview – Miss Massy Stores, Kejean Smith

The order of winners is as follows:

3rd Runner Up – Miss Windjammer Landing, Kurnisha Augustus
2nd Runner Up – Miss Massy Stores, Kejean Smith
1st Runner Up – Miss Chestertons, Shaniah Richards
2022 National Carnival Queen – Miss BOSL Wise, Xenia Douglas

According to the CPMC, after being crowned National Carnival Queen, Xenia Douglas said the pageant had been very fulfilling.

 I enjoyed my time on stage and meeting my fellow contestants. During my reign I hope to spread the message of holistic health and wellness, physically, emotionally, and mentally,” Douglas expressed.

She will receive a 4-year scholarship from the Embassy of Morocco.

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