Caribbean cinema is as varied as the many territories which make up the region. Its history stretches back almost to the beginning of cinema itself, and as it continues to evolve and grow, scholars and writers have taken on the important task of documenting and analysing Caribbean cinematic practice.
Adding to the store Caribbean cinema studies is a new book, Exploring Caribbean Cinema (or, to give the book its Spanish title, as it is yet to be translated into English, Explorando el Cine Caribeño). Co-edited by Cuban film scholar Luis Alberto Notario and Bruce Paddington, founder and director of the trinidad+tobago film festival, the book is divided into four main sections, covering the cinemas of the Spanish, French, English and Dutch Caribbean. The essays look at both individual films and trends in Caribbean cinema, as well as the various regional film industries and film production in the different countries in general. Contributors include writers and scholars from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, Suriname, Martinique, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
Exploring Caribbean Cinema had its launch earlier this year at the International Book Fair of Havana, and its T&T launch took place recently at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus. An English-language translation of the book is expected in the near future.
