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In fact, everyone was hoping they'd get the call to the front of the room - and while everybody couldn't be a winner - there were a lot of very sore losers -making a hometown argument - over the top film - a charming, well-made documentary about a trans-Atlantic connection to Belize - here's how it all played out:...

Monica Bodden reporting
Among those present at this morning's ceremony were a handful of local Film Directors along with sponsors of the festival.

Films in 4 categories were awarded. Those categories included Best Featured Film, Best Short Film, Best Belizean Film and Best Music Video.

Suzette Zayden - Director Belize International Film Festival
"The award ceremony is actually the closing if the festival. Today we awarded films in 4 categories; best feature film, best short film, best music video, and best Belizean film. There is a 5th category for best animated film but that's on pause for some films that were tied up."

Best featured film was awarded to Love Child - directed by Leticia Tonos from the Dominican Republic. Best short Film went to FISH Directed by SHAUN ESCAYG from Trinidad and Tobago While best MUSIC VIDEO was awarded to BABY IT'S YOU -Directed by JUAN REYES from Belize.

Best Belizean Film went to - MRS. ROBINSON Directed by THOMAS HINES- a Belizean living in the UK.

And then there was a segment in this morning's event where the judges opened the floor for other Belizean Directors to voice their concerns. With that said, things got a little overheated as emotions ran high. The film which won in the Best Belizean Film category stirred up quite a controversy.

Matthew Klinck - Belizean Film Director
"Not a single Belizean appears in that movie was not shot in Belize, it has nothing to do with Belize, it doesn't have any Belizean texture to it. I don't know what you guys were thinking but it horrible."

Participant
"I am a Belizean."

Matthew Klinck - Belizean Film Director
"I am not complaining, but that movie had nothing to do with Belize period."

Some Film makers even stormed out of the room - hot and heated.

Ras Pin- Local Film Director
"I don't know what them judges been smoking but it ain't grown in Belize. They are going to pick a movie - they got their own justifications for that but compare to like what it should be - they say they want to make a festival to make this thing bigger - support people that come here and put in work. It was just one of them things - you are saying that you want to big up the artist and big up the industry and big up this - show improve. That's all I am saying. I am not saying that it should have been our movie that got pick; It should have been a movie that actually dealt with something dealing with Belize. I am not going to call any names of the movie that won, let them figure it out, but trust me, this is robbery. This specific category was Belizeans films; they put a little catch 22 in it just to justify their equation. What it is - jobless, it ain't Belizean."

Judge
"I think what we decided is that we were not going to talk about the things - we are not going to say what we didn't like about xyz, so that's not helpful. What I will say is that I had issues with choosing Mrs. Robinson but I came around in the end and I am united with the other judges. The film maker is Belizean, his father is a black, mixed race man, his mother is an English woman who came here to live many years ago - his grandmother. They are - a Belizean story - the story is who - married an English person and she came back here and they raised a family here. That is a Belizean story and those are Belizean characters, they are not the only ones, Belize has huge diversity and I look forward in the coming years to see all those stories."

"That particular story whether you like it or not is a uniquely and authentically Belizean tale. So that's not true ok and whatever you think about it - the language that was used, the characters were all authentic out of this country."

Actress
"The best Belizean film was supposed to capture the essence of Belize. It's like what Ras-pin says, it's not that it was bad film. I saw the film and I thought it was decent, but I don't believe that that capture the essence of Belize. I can speak about the movie that I was in and I must say that we expected to win - "2012 Kurse A Di Xtabai" a full Belizean cast and shot totally in Belize and the best feature of it was that we all did what we do best - we improvised. All the actors, we improvised, we wrote that story ourselves, we acted it out as it came to our minds. Tell me that is not what us Belizeans do. That film did not capture the essence of Belize - the one that won, the best Belize film. It did not. In my opinion, in my humble opinion and I don't know nothing about cinematography."

Film Director
"She is justifying stating why the film won because the person's maybe grandmother came from England and she came to Belize and maybe married a man here and went back to England and that's the reason why the movie is pertained to Belize. That's all she is stating, nothing else."

Actress
"I am not dissing the film Mrs. Robinson, I think of a Simon and Garfunkel song "Mrs. Robinson." Our movie finish with the song "long time bwoy I never see you, come mek a hold yu hand." that was how our movie done."

Matthew Klinck - Belizean Film Director
"I was a little too emotional in the room but I really sincerely felt and I still feel that the film that won although I really enjoyed it was not really a Belizean film the way the judges describe it - the judging process. They say they were looking for something that was uniquely Belize, a Belizean texture, a Belizean story and all this kind of thing. It was not film in Belize, it showed no Belizean characters, there was no Belizean language such as creole. There was nothing about it that was not British. In fact the director lives in Britain as well and all the characters shown are in England and this won Best Belizean Film. I just believe so much that we need to recognize the efforts that are being made here locally to develop a film industry here for the people of Belize. I juts don't see how this movie was competing against our local film makers here. No short films or featured films or even Belizean film was awarded to a Belizean."

Film Festival Judge
"I'm offended, they sent me home and I should be home but I think that in the explanation that the president of the jury gave - she mentioned the technical aspect of productions we judge and among them Mrs. Robinson had the more standard technical level. One cannot forget that the worst cinema has develop to a point that there is a standard way of telling things and If I am going to take the opposite film by the Canadian actor - turned film maker - I must say that it has immense technical flaws. I know his intentions was good but it had immense technical flaws and my main opposition to the film is that it took a Belizean mate and turn it as interpret by other people as a dark woman with dark hair and a beautiful Xtabai and it turning into this monster the blond wig and face of a lion. I don't think they should be shouting, they should make other films and learn to do better cinema."

Suzette Zayden - Director Belize International Film Festival
"Whenever you have more than one people competing for an award somebody would not be the winner. In this case the ones who were in the room were not the winner of this award and of course naturally felt some disappointment at not winning. Unfortunately not everyone can be winners. We thought the wisest thing to do would be to invite an international jury that would choose the Belizean films amongst other films - that best define what for them a film should be."

Best Animated Film is still in the judging process.