Island Hopping

Not all film festivals are created equal. Winning the Golden Turkey at the Live Oak Movie Hoedown is nice and all, but it probably won’t help get your film into distribution. Receiving a Special Jury Mention at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival, however, is nothing to sneeze at. This is what happened to director Maria Govan and her debut feature, Rain, which will play this Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Atrium.

The plot: When Rain’s grandmother dies, the young Bahamian teenager seeks out the mother she’s never met, in the process traveling from her rural island to the big city of Nassau. What she finds is leagues away from a Jimmy Buffett song. This led the Palm Springs jury to make special note of Rain’s realistic take on a place too often turned into a cliché by the tourism industry.

Govan will be on hand for a 7 p.m. pre-party and afterward to conduct a Q&A. The film is presented by the Women’s International Film Festival and is part of the “All Tingz Caribbean” Heritage Month celebration.
Sat., June 27, 7 p.m., 2009