It is the second high-profile festival to try to make Port Royal its home, the Port Royal Music Festival having tried for the last two years and, notably, faced a debacle of a production in its last staging.

(I am, of course, not disrespecting the Port Royal Seafood Festival, but unlike Flashpoint and the Port Royal Music Festival, that builds on something that the area is known for and hence has a natural base from which to expand.)

The Port Royal Music Festival has not fared as well as would have been expected, considering its proximity to the capital and its potential huge audience and distance from major housing developments which should prevent it from being shut down prematurely.

Of course, with its lack of expansive, grassy grounds to give it that 'lie down and relax' feeling, the Old Coal Wharf main venue is not ideal for festival-type events.

Flashpoint, on the other hand, does not require an amphitheatre. It also brings to the city something that is building on an existing desire for films outside of the American fare which dominates the Palace circuit. A movie night is hosted regularly at Redbones the Blues Café in New Kingston, often with subtitled films; there is a regular film evening on Fridays at the UWI's Mona campus; the Francophone Film Festival is long established.

So while Port Royal is not necessarily a movie town, certainly the conditions are good for the film buffs in Kingston to roll out to Port Royal for a session of flicks, fun and, maybe, fish.

However, unlike a music festival, a film festival seems unlikely to provide immediate spin-offs for the community in terms of vending. As such, it would seem that the Flashpoint organisers would be well advised to plant the seed of close ties on the ground in order to shore up local support.

The Calabash International Literary Festival has done this (although, of course, as it is free, there are no access issues) in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth and continues to grow like how Cash Plus investors wished their money would have continued to.

It is up to Flashpoint to follow this pattern and not have the audience seen as a set of snooty uptowners driving out to Port Royal and lording it over the natives.