Written and directed by Trinidadian film maker Shaun Escayg, FISH tells the fate of two homeless cousins that struggle to survive by hunting the local market for unsuspecting shoppers. The story submerges you into the dark underworld of Trinidad through the eyes of a spectator. Will fortune favor the brave? Or will their desperate actions lead to their demise. “It’s gritty realness is meant to shock and provoke thought and awareness of the daily struggle of the homeless.” says Escayg who’s also an acclaimed animator specialsing in 3D character amination. The Los Angeles-based Trini makes his directorial debut with FISH amidst rave reviews and accolades as the short film has already been selected at the 2012 Los Angeles New Wave Film Festival, the 2012 Belize International Film Festival and has also garnered him a prized place as a semi-finalist for the ground breaking Your Film Festival competition. Now your votes are needed to send FISH all the way to the top.

Watch FISH

In January, YouTube and Emirates, in partnership with La Biennale di Venezia (the Venice Film Festival) and Scott Free Productions, launched Your Film Festival - a global competition to find the world’s best storytellers, connect them with a global audience and provide one deserving entrant with a career-changing opportunity. Directors, producers and writers from around the world were invited to submit a 15-minute, story-driven video of any format, style and genre, to Youtube.com/yourfilmfestival.  Scott Free had the difficult task of narrowing down more than 15,000 submissions from more than 160 countries to 50 semi-finalists including Trinidad’s very own FISH. YouTube users are now invited to cast their votes, choosing ten finalists. The ten finalists will travel to Italy, where their work will screen at the 69th Venice International Film Festival in August. A grand prize winner will then be named by a special jury and awarded a US$500,000 YouTube original production grant to work with Scott Free, ultimately creating a brand new work for the world to see. The competition brings together YouTube’s cutting-edge technology with the finest traditions of the world-renowned Venice Film Festival, to help discover and nurture new talent.

MAKE YOUR VOTES COUNT AND LET’S REPRESENT THE CARIBBEAN FILM INDUSTRY TO THE WORLD ! CLICK ON THE PIC BELOW TO #VOTEFORFISH NOW.

Voting instructions : Scroll the videos in the playlist until you find FISH, click Play, click VOTE on the right side. You can vote daily, until July 13th, 2012.

Watch critically acclaimed director and Your Film Festival judge, Ridley Scott, discuss the 50 semi-finalists and the voting process in depth.