Earl Hazel Jr. of Wes Indie Film dominated the BVI Film Commission’s 30/30 Major Milestone Film Competition, after winning seven of the nine awards of the night.
For his short film entitled ‘The Filmmaker’s Dilemma’, Hazel won Best Director, Best Soundtrack, Best Editing, Best Acting, Best Screenplay, the Neil Blyden Memorial Award for Best Cinematography and the pivotal $3000 grand prize attached to the Rhodni A Skelton Production Award for the Best in Film.
The first runner-up for Best in Film went to Naudia Turnbull of Misen Creative Group for her film ‘Add Essence’, an animated film that won Fan Favourite and Best Animated Short.
The second runner-up went to the duo of Camron Peters of Frostmedia Digital and Enya Douglas for their film ‘The Big Break’.
Some of the requirements for the submission of the film included: a short film between 7-11 minutes in length containing a fictional or non-fictional story; shot primarily in the British Virgin Islands; a camera and the number 30; a historical site in the BVI; a Virgin Islands song; branded products from the BVI; the phrase “Endless opportunities beyond your imagination” verbal or text; must have ended with “Seize the moment” in text or verbal exchange; a cameo by a popular/famous musician, politician, published author or model; a video diary of the film maker’s completion; and behind the scenes footage.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley congratulated the Film Commission for the accomplishments achieved over the past three decades.
He pledged his government’s financial support to local filmmakers in the territory, stating that he will be investing money into the industry.
“The support of the local film industry is certainly keen even for our tourism product and for our tourism ambassadors who’ll promote our destination not just locally but also regionally and internationally and we saw the talent to do it,” he stated.
“My role as now Minister of Culture along with Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism, we’re going to be working on providing more funding to local filmmakers so that hopefully we can produce more documentaries. We can even produce – and I think it is something that we need to start working on – a mini movie produced, filmed, acted by all persons right here from the Virgin Islands,” he added.