At the 2016 Barbados Film & Video Association awards, Above Barbados were awarded the inaugural Drone Film category award for our film Rising Forwards - Barbados at 50. We are honoured to receive this award and would like to thank the BFVA for recognising this genre and our work. 

Aerial filming may be a relatively new area in the film industry but it is a hugely important, and often overlooked, one - you need only pay attention to the amount of aerial footage being used in films, documentaries and shows to see this.

We have had the pleasure this last of year of contributing to shoots both locally and internationally, from the BBC and New York Times, to Channel 8 and local film. Frequently, the aerial aspect of a production is seen as an afterthought with little time or attention paid to it by directors, however, when you see the final productions typically the aerial shots are the opening shots used to wow the audience and in many cases the aerial footage is the stand-out attention grabbing part of a production that sticks in audience minds.

Aerial footage, provided by Above Barbados, was used to great effect in the showcase Best Film production of 2016 'Once Upon a Time in Ichirouganaim', featuring near exclusively as the opening montage, prominent on the B-reel and used to set nearly every location in the beautifully produced film.

To this end, it is important that the genre is recognised and that as a community we continue to grow and push our worth. This can only be achieved with the help and support of the Barbados Film & Video Association, the industry as a whole and of course the government. Once again, we thank the BFVA for creating this category and we are deeply honoured to have been chosen.

Find out more about the Barbados Film & Video Assocation.