Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA) is set to host Shot List — an unprecedented cultural showcase — on Sunday, March 26 at the Sunken Gardens (Hope Gardens) commencing at 2:00 pm.

The short film showcase is a collaboration with the UK-based ‘We Are Parable’ and British Council.

Shot List is about showcasing creativity in film-making and sensitising both industry players about the countless possibilities and business opportunities that exist within the Caribbean and the Diaspora when we collaborate through sharing effective business practices and technical expertise indicated Saeed Thomas, president of JAFTA.

“We are excited to partner with We Are Parable, who will be showcasing works of black film-makers in the UK, and we also get to expose our patrons to Jamaican film-makers who have had success internationally with writing and pitching their films for television and other distribution channels,” Thomas continued.

The event will showcase two workshops commencing at 2:30 pm. One features Jamaican British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) winner and Emmy-nominated Writer/Actor/Director of Dreaming Whilst Black, Adjani Salmon, who will be leading the conversation of writing for television. Opal Levy, strategic planner and business transformation specialist, will give insights on how to effectively pitch films for funding and distribution.

Subsequent to the workshops, there will be three blocks of short film screenings from film-makers in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the United Kingdom. Each block will feature three films. The Jamaican block will showcase three short films from the 2022 JAFTA Propella Programme — Parolytic, Time to Go and A Shade of Indigo.

Parolytic directed and produced by Nadean Rawlins and written by Maylynne Lowe is a psychological thriller about coming to your senses by going out of your mind. Time to Go, directed and written by Gemmar McFarlane and produced and written by Brandy Royal, is a story about how a young woman’s reality begins to unravel when a young woman claiming to be her daughter arrives on her wedding anniversary. A Shade of Indigo, directed and written by Hanif James and produced by Tanya Batson-Savage, explores the issues of beauty and trauma.

“Shot List represents a great opportunity for film-makers across the Diaspora to communicate with each other via their work. We Are Parable is enthused about this collaboration with JAFTA and British Council to achieve this goal and through the UK Showcase we hope to give even more exposure to the film-making talent from Jamaica and Trinidad,” said We are Parable co-founder and Director of Operations Teanne Andrews.

This year’s staging of Shot List will also feature videos and a conversation with Jamaican music video directors Damaniac Visualz, Jay Will (Game Over), RD Studios, and Xtreme Arts.

“Music videos are a vibrant element of our creative culture here in Jamaica. It is how the world immerses in our dances and the visual aesthetic of our music genres. It is also a unique art because music videos tell a story in an even shorter time frame than a short film. Essentially, it is where two cultural genres (film and music) converge for added business opportunities,” said business development and initiative chairperson at JAFTA, Lesley-Ann Wanliss.

Dancehall recording artiste Stalk Ashley, whose music video was a part of the 2022 video screening of Shot List, will perform live at this year’s event.