THE Jamaica Film Academy announced plans for the fourth staging of the Reggae Film Festival to be held February 22-26 at the newly opened Whitter Village, Ironshore, Montego Bay.

The five-day event, to be hosted by JFA Chairman Carl Bradshaw and co-ordinated by festival director Barbara Blake Hannah, will open with the screening of animated, documentary and feature films from Jamaica, Antigua, the USA, and the UK in the presence of Jamaican and international film and music stars.

The 2011 event will once again feature a Make A Film In 24 Hours competition, a Children’s Programme and a Film Seminar. Invited VIP guests include David ‘Steel Pulse’ Hinds – star of the festival feature film Rocksteady; heavyweight champ-turned-actor Lennox Lewis (Johnny Was, Ghett’A Life); J-American actress Sheryl Lee Ralph; Jamaican film-makers Chris Browne, Ras Kassa and Storm Saulter; and Mitzie Allen, producer/director of HamaFilms Antigua.

Rocksteady is a US feature film about a young boy of Jamaican parentage who tries to become a winning driver on the drag car racing circuit and is inspired by a Rastaman he meets, played by David Hinds. A rocking reggae soundtrack by the real-life Steel Pulse band accompanies this film.

The premiere of the Caribbean feature film The Skin co-starring Carl Bradshaw by Mitzie and Harold Allen of HamaFilms Antigua continues the groundbreaking film work by this husband-and-wife team, whose first feature The Sweetest Mango will also be shown at the 2011 festival. Documentaries include Superstonic Sound: The Dread Documentary about Black British DJ and film maker Don Letts.

Innovative animation of Bad Influence by digital genius Reinardo ‘Mental’ Chung is just one of several expressions of Jamaican Cinema to be screened, and the festival introduces the work of three new female directors: Jovel Johnson – USA (Reckoning), Denise Campbell – JA (Bubblin’) and Tameka Jarvis-George – Antigua (Dinner).

The move to bring a major international entertainment event to Montego Bay has been welcomed by leaders of the resort community, and a high-level committee headed by Round Hill Hotel Manager Josef Forstmayer will serve as patrons to the event to ensure that it delivers all possible benefits to the Montego Bay community and as a visitor attraction.

In 2011, the JFA will develop its international links by undertaking an international tour of the Best of the Reggae Film Festival, with a series of programmes in Europe, the USA and Africa that will provide films entered in the festival with multiple opportunities for screenings, sale and distribution to international audiences and media outlets. The tour will give sponsors associated with the Reggae Film Festival visibility and advantages from association and exposure of their products and services.