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Dear All: My name is Anabel Fernandez. I'm a Cuban sociologist researching on Caribbean Cinema. I just presented my master degree thesis entitled "The image behind the screen, Film Consumption in the Nederland Antilles", focussed on studying the shaping of film consumption practices in the island of Aruba, with the specific objective of deciphering how people react to indigenous and regional cinema after decades of consuming almost exclusively American films. My view is that there is an important change of perspective when watch a film that refers to a distant reality and tells you a story from which you can take a certain distance and when you are placed in front of a film that references your own reality. The uses are not the same and the subject's position changes. This is a situation that one can find reproduced in virtually every island in the Caribbean, since regional cinema is still emerging; this is an issue deeply intermixed with important cultural and identity related issues in the whole Caribbean, and has been so far poorly studied. What I did was a study case, conducted in the Island of Aruba, an includes a description of the exhibition system, a characterization of the consumption practices and an exploration of the possible factors that intervene in the shaping of those practices. I had the opportunity of surveying a large sample of youngsters (1700+ aged 12 to 17) and also interviewed many of them, as well as cultural authorities and exhibitors in the Island. Now the study is finished I would like to share the results. I would like to consult list members if they are aware of any related studies that I could consult to compare data, and if you know about publications that could be interested in publishing an article on the aforementioned topic. Thank you all for your time, I really appreciate your comments. Warmest, Anabel [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>