[MEDIA ALERT] Screening of the Movie "Pretending Reality"

Press invitation

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 — The OECS/USAID JJRP I funded movie "Pretending Reality" produced by La Cours des Arts de La Dominique Inc. will be screened on September 22, 2018 in Saint Lucia. The short film highlights the pain of a young boy who is inquiring about the identity of his father. The scenarios provoke the conversation on the question: "Does a child have the right to know the identity of his/her father no matter the circumstances of his/her conception or his/her father’s history ?"

WHAT

The Juvenile Justice Reform Project (JJRP) coordinated by the OECS Commission and currently implemented in six independant OECS Member promotes the rights of children. JJRP is funded by the Government of the United States through USAID. The project pursues multiple objectives which are to:

increase the use of alternative sentencing for youth in conflict with the law;
ensure detention centers and diversion programs
provide support services to foster rehabilitation and;
support the reintegration of youth leaving detention facilities and returning to their families and communities.

In an effort to support the reform, the general public has to understand some pressing issues affecting children and among them the effects of not knowing the identity of a parent, usually their father.

"Predenting Reality" was written by Dominican Magistrate Gloria Septra Augustus and directed by Curtis Clarendon with the assistance of the Caribbean Cultural Icon Dr Alwin Bully. The movie was produced by La Cours des Arts de La Dominique Inc. with the financial support under Phase I of the OECS/USAID Juvenile Justice Reform Project. The screening is being facilitated by the Division of Human Services of the Government of Saint Lucia.

The film seeks to sensitize the public on the rights of children to a name, nationality and family ties. The screening will be followed by an open discussion about the rights to knowledge of parental identity and its impact on children and how it is related to areas of Juvenile Justice Reform undertaken in the Eastern Caribbean.

The film also raises issues related to the status of the children and the maintenance and child justice harmonised legislation under the reform. Some information related to these areas will be given during the open discussion that will follow the screening. The programme also entails light entertainment.

WHO
Participants include: