Virgin Islander Verna M. Corbin has been awarded the excellence in animation award by the Black Star International Film Festival for her animated short film “Jumbie Kids.” The annual event was held in Accra, Ghana, and brought together filmmakers from across Africa and its diaspora including Haiti, the Virgin Islands and other Caribbean countries.
“My middle school years
were dotted with scary stories I would overhear from my classmates or older
neighbors. All of these stories involve jumbles coming out at night and scaring
unsuspecting people in scary yet hilarious ways. I found that with each story,
the interpretations of the spirits differed from each other. Some jumbies would shape shift,
some would be 12-feet tall. With this animation, I fused many of the visuals
I’ve seen/heard or imagined and interpreted them into a spirit with its own personality.”
Corbin intends to expand the “Jumbie Kids” film into a web-series in conjunction with other ongoing animated film and illustrated projects she is currently pursuing.
Black Star International film festival is a non-profit festival in Ghana founded by Juliet Asante in 2015. It is a festival celebrated annually to bridge the gap between African movie cinema and the global community of movie makers, and focuses on the business aspect of film making.
