Buju Banton's US tour has been hit hard by gay activists. - Photo by Noel Thompson

As the second Jamaica Digital Arts Festival headed to a close at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, on Sunday afternoon, prizes were handed out to entrants in the four categories for which submissions were invited ahead of the two-day festival.

There was one winner, though, who did not have his entry screened by a panel of judges, although he earned his top spot under the critical eyes of scores of participants and observers. André Harris is officially the 'Best Gamer in Jamaica', with Christopher Ellis in second and Kareem Campbell taking third spot. "We had no idea so many people would be interested in video games," Creative Productions and Training Centre (CPTC) CEO Angela Patterson, who hosted the awards ceremony, said.

CPTC chairman Christopher Samuda handed out the awards. The Jamaica Digital Arts Festival was staged by the CPTC through its Media Technology Institute (MTI) arm.

Competition overview

Neil McIntyre gave an overview of the competition, saying 83 entries were submitted in four categories - film/video, music, web design and digital art. However, while it was stipulated that the entries should have a development-related focus on tourism/hospitality, entertainment and music, community development, agriculture and education and training, very few entries satisfied the criteria. As such, there were no top-three places, 25 persons, instead, were acknowledged with certificates of participation, those persons present collecting them.

There was no outright winner in web design, but the judges determined that five persons' entries were of a sufficiently high standard to warrant them earning 50 per cent scholarships to MTI. The recipients were Shane Lewis, Kevin Brown, Carlton Parks, Donovan Smikle and Oneal Anguin.

Scholarship winner

Theodorus Koolmees' entry in the film/video category, 'First Considerations After Dying', won him $100,000 in production services from CPTC, while in digital art, Craig Linton and Brian Williams of Pixel 3D Studios were highly recommended and will be interviewed on CTV. Richard Whyte's digital art entry won him a scholarship to MTI.

Andrea Haynes-Peart was the biggest winner, earning the highest commendation and winning an IBM digital tablet and CPTC production services valued at $200,000.

SLR, singing as a duo just for the evening, closed off the awards ceremony and the festival.