Fort Lauderdale, June 12 2006 - Will Brothers Entertainment and Imagine Haiti are proud to announce that the movie "Cousines" won two certificates for outstanding achievement at the 2006 edition of the Brooklyn International Film Festival. The certificate for the best female actor went ex-equo to Jessica Geneus for her fabulous performance in "Cousines" and to Olga Kurylenko of the movie "The Ringfinger". The certificate for best producer went to Wilkenson Bruna for his work in "Cousines". The awards were granted Sunday night in a ceremony at the Brooklyn Museum auditorium.

 

"Cousines" was screened last Tuesday at the festival. Producer Wilkenson Bruna and actors Jimmy Jean-Louis and Rudolf Moise attended the screening. The movie was warmly acclaimed by the international audience and David Ratzlow of the Brooklyn International Film Festival  said that "as the first Haitian movie to be selected at Brooklyn, Cousines is a story anyone can understand and reflects the exact situation of the society in which the film was shot in".

 

"Cousines", produced by Haitian Director and Producer Wilkenson Bruna (Wind of Desire) is written and directed by Haitian Filmmaker Richard Senecal (Barikad, I love you Anne). The movie features Haitian international actor Jimmy Jean-Louis (Phat Girlz, The game of their lives, Tears of the sun, Le président a-t-il le sida...), rising Haitian star Jessica Geneus (Barikad, Le président a-t-il le sida?) as well as newcomers like Soledad Elizabeth Jean, Jerry Lentz Rocher or prestigious guest stars such as Rudolf Moise (Wind of Desire), Roland Dorfeuille "Pyram"(Bouki nan Paradi), Catherine Hubert (Cicatrices, La Face de l'Ombre), Ricardo Lefevre (Piwouli et le zenglendo, La victime, Le president a-t-il le sida?).

 

The Brooklyn International Film Festival (BiFF), was established in 1998 as the first international competitive film festival in New York. Conceptually unique, the festival has grown exponentially each year in terms of number of submissions, program quality and size, international exposure, media coverage, audience attendance and participation, sponsorship, endorsements, community outreach, and budget. Since 2002, BiFF has been partnering with the Brooklyn Museum, which is BiFF's main venue. BiFF's primary work is to connect filmmakers to distribution companies and expose them to the media. As a result, every year an increasing number of films get sold at the festival. Many films that premiered at BiFF in the past few years had their theatrical release and/or are available at video stores everywhere.