Given the close historical bond between the Caribbean region and Central and South America, the five Latin American embassies have collaborated with the St Lucia Audiovisual and Film Association to present the Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Festival (LACFEST) for the third consecutive year.

The embassies of Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela have continuously hosted this event in an effort to strengthen ties between themselves and the region.

The Ministry of Culture and Local Development has also partnered in the event.

Featuring films from each represented embassy, as well as one from Spain, the festival, spanning six days from Monday November 27, will come to a close today, Saturday December 2, at Caribbean Cinemas in Choc. Saint Lucians are urged to attend the final event, with the added lure of free admission, and English subtitles.

LACFEST seeks to ‘enable cultural exchange through film, dance, music and food’, and features a series of cultural films as part of this year’s celebrations. The films include a Brazilian comedy ‘The Colonel and the Werewolf’, a Cuban horror film ‘Vampires in Havana’ and a Venezuelan historical biography ‘Bolivar, A Man of Difficulties’.

The Saint Lucian component of the festival includes a series of local short films screened before each full-length film from the Latin American countries. They include ‘Night Out’ by Kirnan John, ‘Two Gold Coins’ by Pierre Chester and ‘Secure’ by Imran St Brice.

According to the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ‘The event aims to deepen the awareness and understanding of the similarity of the cultures of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean’.