The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the blending of the Caribbean and the diaspora cultures and talent to create unique and outstanding work and to raise global awareness of the new renaissance of filmmaking and music production that the Caribbean basin is currently experiencing.

The festival also aims to celebrate all filmmakers and welcomes a limited number of submissions from our international friends.

The festival will also serve as a celebration of the host island's culture.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 Caribbean Heritage Salute to Hollywood & Excellence Awards Gala to be held on Saturday, June 10, 2023 Los Angeles
.
Cash prizes and certificates to Best Feature, Best Animation, Best Friend of the Caribbean, Best Short, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Screenplay.

All entries must be received by March 10, 2023
•Running time for all documentaries must be less than 50 minutes.
•Running time for features must be more than 60 and no more than 120 minutes.
• Selected films must be made available on DVD/. A backup thumb drive may be requested. Selected shorts must be submitted online.
• Films produced, financed or initiated by major motion picture studios are not eligible for the competition. However, any film conforming to the above guidelines and purchased by a studio after completion is eligible.
• Film submissions in a foreign language must be subtitled in English.
• Once accepted, all projects (prior to Festival screening and during its run) must not be available for sale, or available to watch in its entirety on YouTube, Vimeo, or any other website, free or otherwise. ​
• All decisions made by judges, programmers and organizers will be final, and NO REFUND of entry fee will be permitted.
• The CaribbeanLens International Film Festival reserves the right to remove a film, project, or screenplay from the festival program for any reason or for no reason, and shall not be liable for any refund or claims of any kind arising out of such removal. In case the film, project or screenplay in question is disqualified, or is unable to screen due to technical, or operational difficulties, or if your film needs to be rescheduled, delayed, or removed from the program for any reason, the filmmaker(s) (cast, crew, or anyone involved with the project in question) are not entitled to any refund or damage claims of any kind.

SUBMISSIONS:
• Entries MUST include a film synopsis and a complete cast/credits list. The synopsis should be a well-written, concise description of the basic plot and premise of your film. Maximum synopsis length is 150 words for features, 50 for shorts.
• You are not required to submit film stills with this submission (this is only necessary after a film has been accepted). However, if you’d like to, please follow these specs and guidelines.
----HI-RES STILLS (300 DPI, AT LEAST 3” X 5”) CAN BE SENT ON DISCS OR YOU CAN PROVIDE A LINK FOR ONLINE ACCESS TO IMAGES.
----The synopsis and stills may be used in the program guide and will be available to distributors, members of the press, and filmmakers.
• If submitting more than one film, a separate completed entry is required for each title.
• No refunds

PRINT SHIPPING INFORMATION:
If your film is accepted, you will be advised where to send the film.

Certification of Entrant:
By submitting your film for consideration you acknowledge that:
• you have read, understood, and complied with the rules and regulations;
• To the best of my knowledge, all statements in this submission are true;
• This film is not subject to any litigation nor is any litigation threatened;
• You am duly authorized to submit this film to the CaribbeanLens International Film Festival;
• The use of the rights granted here and of any material supplied do not violate the rights of any third party.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Great film festival! I was able to attend LA and have a great discussion with other filmmakers selected for the film festival.

    June 2023
  • Charysse Tia Harper

    I screened my film, "Panomundo Part 1: The Evolution of the Steelpan," at this festival in June 2017. The screening went so well that I was asked to screen again in the next couple of days. The organizers -- Marva, Beverly and Jennifer -- were very supportive and excited about all the films that were shown. They gave each filmmaker the time for a Q&A (if they were present) after their film was shown.

    I was unable to attend the gala, but I heard the networking there was amazing! I would highly recommend submitting to this festival and I will do so again!

    July 2018
  • Great experience and communication outstanding.

    June 2018
  • RACHEL BETTS

    *****5-STARZZZZZZZ ALL AROUND*****
    My film, "Mr. Windy" had been selected into 18 film festivals. CaribbeansLens was its 19th selection. Ms. Marva and the staff operated in pure EXCELLENCE. There were some issues on my end with submitting the correct format of the film for screening, but they were so incredibly patient and extremely helpful in helping to make our selection process complete. By far the creme de la creme of festivals. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thank you all so much for having us. God bless you and I wish you continued blessings/success with the festival.

    July 2017
  • THIS CELEBRATION OF HERITAGE WAS BEAUTIFUL, and EVERYONE ON THE STAFF WAS A PLEASURE TO BE AROUD. THANKS FOR COMING TO HOLLYWOOD!!! #It's Really Renee

    June 2017