Mauritius Cinema Week, 18th - 21st October 2018, Mauritius
15 Oct 2018
THE MAURITIUS CINEMA WEEK
The Mauritius Cinema Week 2018 will be held from Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st October 2018, under the branding East Meets West.
During this most special of years, one of the areas the Government of Mauritius wishes to champion and build awareness and support for is the creative industries on the island.
Mauritius is creating an annual film festival that will honour global talent and achievements from the global film industry. High-profile international guests from Bollywood and Hollywood, as well as film industries from France, the United Kingdom and South Africa, will be present for the event.
The first edition of the Mauritius Cinema Week, held in October 2017, was based on the themes of “freedom” and “independence”, in the context of the 50 years of independence of Mauritius. The festival was a real success with the presence of international film stars from India, United States, Europe and South Africa, helmed by renowned film directors and producers which shaped the spirit of Mauritius as an ‘incontournable’ film destination.
The second edition of the Mauritius Cinema Week shall be more business centric, with a shift from an Audience Festival to a Business Festival, under the same branding known as East meets West.
Several sub-events will be conducted as part of the Mauritius Cinema Week: A Conference on Film Financing; A Workshop on the Jobs of Tomorrow in the Film Industry; and Masterclass Sessions on the Creative Aspects of the Film Industry.
The event will also be graced by an award ceremony to honour high-profile practitioners of World Cinema for their outstanding contributions to the film industry.
As part of the Cinema Week, the Mauritian population will be given the opportunity to watch great international films on the big screen that remind us of the people and stories that should never be forgotten. This event shall also give the audience the unique opportunity to watch significant classic films that have been shot in Mauritius in different cinemas on the island.
THE MEANING BEHIND THE LOGO
The logo of the Mauritius Cinema Week has been inspired from the famous novel “Paul et Virginie” written by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, a French writer and botanist.
The two characters in the novel, Paul and Virginie, are friends since birth who fall in love with each other. Set on the island of Mauritius under the French rule, the story gives a perfect description of equality of social relations on Mauritius, where the inhabitants live in harmony, without violence or unrest. The story also emphasises on the emancipation of slaves, whose work are very much appreciated by Paul and Virginie in the novel.
The logo based on “Paul et Virginie” is the ideal blend between ‘freedom’ and ‘independence’, the core elements around the first edition of the Mauritius Cinema Week. In The French Revolution: A History, Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish writer and historian, wrote: “[‘Paul et Virginie’ is a novel in which] there rises melodiously, as it were, the wail of a moribund world: everywhere wholesome Nature in unequal conflict with diseased, perfidious art; cannot escape from it in the lowest hut, in the remotest island of the sea.”
OBJECTIVES
- Build awareness and support to the emerging creative industries
- Promote business linkages and development of the film industry
- Create a forum to encourage linkages between local and international film producers
- Stimulate, popularise and give a spot light to the young local film industry
- Market the incentives under the Film Rebate Scheme
- Position Mauritius as an attractive shooting destination in the region
For more information on the Mauritius Cinema Week 2018, please visit the website on http://mauritiuscinemaweek.mu/
