Hairouna Film Fest kicks off Saturday with Caribbean’s first full-length animated film

This year the Hairoun Film Festival (HFF) team is taking another step in discovering talent with action!; an acting and directing workshop, as well as Animation Night, featuring the Caribbean’s first full length animated film, that will kick off the festival this Saturday, March 15.

The festival, in its sixth year, will see a total of seven nights of movies ranging from Vincentian, Haitian, Martiniquan, Dominican, Dominicanos, Barbadian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and European creators.

Being featured this Saturday are ‘Opal’ created by French director, Carlo Vogele, and ‘Icarus’ by director Alain Bidard, from Martinique, being the Caribbean’s first to create a full-length animated film.

According to a press release, the festival has brought impactful and unique cinematic experiences to the shores of SVG which aim to either captivate, educate, or inspire audiences through Caribbean storytelling.

Last year’s screening was classified as one of the biggest of the festival where it screened a record number of films from Caribbean and international creators. This year will be no different, as plans have been made to host a total of seven nights of screenings across St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The official opening night on Friday, March, 21, 2025 will be comedy- themed, featuring two short movies submitted by Trinidad and Tobago, and United Kingdom creators. The feature film for that night- Kidnapping Inc, is by Haitian Director, Bruno Mourral. This would all take place at Flow Beach Bar.

Mourral will be accompanied by actor, Marcus Boereau to host the acting and directing workshop scheduled for Saturday, March 22, at the Beachcombers Hotel conference room. The workshop will be built around Kidnapping Inc, the duo’s multi-award-winning film.

On the featured night, Saturday, March 22, ‘Vincy Movie Night’ will once again screen 10 short movies done by locals. ‘Ring the Bell, Shout Hallelujah,’ a documentary about the Spiritual Baptists by Searchlight’s Senior Reporter, Christina Smith, and Videographer/Reporter, Eldonté Samuel, will be among those to be screened on March 22, at the Calliaqua Playing Field.

Works from Sean Roache, Jemmel Williams, Hayden Billingy, Vonnie Roudette, Javed DaSouza, Dynamite, Fabian Guerra, and Aiko Roudette will also be on show during the Vincy Night.

Screenings are also scheduled for Union Island and Canouan on March 27 and 28, respectively. The festival will then return to the mainland on March 29 to bring the curtains down on this year’s fest with a night featuring two short movies- Storm in Regian, and The Genie, created by French Guiana and French directors, respectively. Boca Chica, directed by Dominican Republic Director, Gabriella Athena Moses, will be the featured film then.

The island of Bequia will have its separate screening in April where four short movies and one feature film will be featured at the Bequia Plantation Hotel.