September 2013 / February 2014
the screener
↖ Smartphone Film Festival Film Festival
what’s inside
1.Smartphone Film Festival 4.Documentary Call Awardees 5.Upcoming Events 6.Film Company funds ttff/13 winners 7.Caribbean Association of Film Festivals 8.TTFC boosts T&T at regional, international festivals 10.Animae Caribe 2013 12.Film Nights 13.Feature film call 14.SSSFF 15.Science Agriculture Film Competition Back Cover.T&T Films on the Inter-Island Ferry
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the screener
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l a v i t s Fe m l i F e n o as h t p s i t r v a ew Sm n p u opens
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Smartphone film festival opens up new vistas
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
↘Successfully launched on December 6, 2013,
at Rossco’s lounge, Fitt Street, Woodbrook, the Trinidad and Tobago Smartphone Film Festival is set to make a big impact using a small platform.
THE FESTIVAL TAKES THE FORM OF A COMPETITION THAT CLOSES ON MARCH 17, 2014. IT IS SPONSORED AND ORGANISED BY THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FILM COMPANY (TTFC). Its objective is to encourage the creation of local content and create an avenue for aspiring filmmakers who do not readily have access to more professional camera and editing equipment. Individuals, and groups of up to eight people, may enter the competition with films no longer than five minutes. With the festival, the TTFC hopes to further nurture the trend of T&T audiences becoming filmmakers themselves. Dominic Koo, the 25-year-old filmmaker whose smartphone film was shown at the festival launch, said in an interview after the event, “There’s an increasing number of shorts on YouTube [and other Internet video uploading sites] that are made on a phone; the short made for the Internet is quickly expanding” as a genre. Koo shot his film “Missed Call” on a smartphone he borrowed—pointing to the fact that literally anybody can make a smartphone film, whether or not they own one of the devices. Indeed, the festival is open to anyone who is a national or permanent resident of Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of age. A 2013 graduate of the UWI Film Programme, Koo said filming on a phone is different
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from using traditional camera equipment. “I think for nowadays it’s become a separate sort of medium on its own.” He explained, “It’s not quite the same [as traditional camera work]; there’s a lot of factors to consider, such as quality, such as apps.” Apps—applications the phone uses—can be used to make frames and filters and even edit movies. “It does free you up,” he added. “You’re not limited by having to carry around a lot of equipment.” A professional or high-quality consumer camera can weigh anything from one to eight kilos with all attachments considered. They can cost a few thousand US dollars, too, depending on the brand and the quality. In comparison, there are smartphones and tablets available locally for under TT$1,000, and they weigh only a few grams. The festival’s guidelines specify that although the filming must be done on a phone or tablet device, external microphones, lenses, lighting and tripods can be used, and software can be used for video editing, colour correction or special effects. TTFC Chairman Christopher Laird spoke at the launch, as did CEO Carla Foderingham. They both emphasized that smartphones are part of the evolution of movie making, a new way to send local content out to the world. Koo also said, “The medium is changing and adapting so we have to as well.” What won’t change, however, is the basis for judging: the films will be adjudicated on story, cinematography, acting and sound. Complete submissions criteria for the five-minute smartphone films are posted on the TTFC web site, www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com. ▪
Smartphone film festival opens up new vistas
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the screener
Four grants awarded in 2013 documentary call ↘A call for documentary film projects went out in 2013 under the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) Production Assistance and Script Development (PASD) programme. Four projects were approved for funding from 12 completed applications. The successful applicants include two previous PASD grant winners with strong track records, Natalie Wei and Karen Martinez.
Wei’s documentary on ChineseTrinidadian women, “Chinee Girl”, not only was a selection of a number of international film festivals, it also won a 2011 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival People’s Choice award; the film was funded in part by a PASD grant. This year, Wei pitched a work called “50 Letters and Other Stories”, which also refers to her Chinese-Trinidadian heritage. It is a 60-minute documentary about the courtship of her grandmother, Chin Sue Chen, with her grandfather—who was a Chinese immigrant to Trinidad and a complete stranger to Chin Sue Chen. When told she would be made to marry him, Chin Sue Chen insisted on writing the stranger letters, a step virtually unheard of in her culture at that time. Karen Martinez, another past PASD grant awardee, was given funding to make “Dreams in Transit”, a 60-minute documentary about migration and the idea of home. Described as a “lyrical, essay-style film about a migrant’s
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Four grants awarded in 2013 documentary call
relationship to the place they call home,” the film will be set in London and Trinidad and Tobago. Martinez won a 2013 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival People’s Choice award for her film “After Mas”, a dramatic short that received PASD funding.
“THEY SEEM PERFECT FOR TV,” SAID TTFC’S REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIAR WITH THE DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS. “WE’RE HOPING THAT THEY’LL GET PICKED UP BY SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHANNELS.” Although there are relatively few projects funded under this PASD call, the TTFC representative said the chosen projects were very promising. “It was felt [a narrow selection] allows us to focus more on creating quality product that can travel the world. We believe the [T&T] industry is at that point now.” One of the projects was awarded post-product funding. “Art Connect” is a 75-minute documentary chronicling the lives of at-risk youth in Laventille, Trinidad, as they participate in a community arts project. Its producer is Charlotte Elias, a long-time arts
facilitator. The project involved giving young people cameras to document their lives as they saw them. The final grant awardee is Mikkel Khan, whose 30-minute project “The Business of Fun” is expected to be a “verite-styled documentary highlighting a new Carnival band” and “the journey of an individual masquerader as he/ she navigates social and economic hurdles on the way to having the perfect Carnival”. “It is a hard-hitting documentary that looks at what it takes to make it as a Carnival band producer,” said the TTFC. “It also looks from the masquerader’s perspective—what it takes to be the ultimate reveler.” The PASD call for documentaries was open to documentaries, docu-dramas, documentary TV series and animated documentary shorts, preferably for general audiences. Preference was given to projects on subjects relevant to T&T and the Caribbean region, according to the submissions criteria. The call closed on July 31 and submissions were adjudicated in September. All PASD submissions are adjudicated by an independent jury, which does not include board, executive or staff members of the TTFC. The awarded films have an 18-month completion target. ▪
↗ (From left) Mikkel Khan (“The Business of Fun”), TTFC Chairman Christopher Laird and Charlotte Elias (“Art Connect”) at the distribution of PASD documentary funding, TTFC office, October, 2013. Not in picture: Natalie Wei and Karen Martinez.
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
Upcoming Events TTFC signs with TTFF /2014 To Be A Leading Sponsor
↘Even as the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC)
continues to sponsor the Carnival Film Series, currently being staged by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) at venues all over the country, the Company has signed on to another year as a leading sponsor of the Festival. The TTFF, an annual event, is scheduled to take place from September 16-30, 2014, and promises once again to be the largest film festival in the English-speaking Caribbean. Under the sponsorship agreement, the Film Company will provide funding for T&T Film Nights, an ongoing initiative to take local films into communities in order to whet the public appetite for T&T films. The Company will also continue to sponsor the Carnival Film Series, which particularly highlights T&T films with Carnival-related content. As in previous years, TTFF will receive funding for awards for locally made films screened during the Festival. The Film Company, additionally, will again sponsor a Filmmakers Lounge during the Festival, a space in which local and international filmmakers can network informally. The Festival also provides an opportunity for visiting international filmmakers to learn more about Trinidad and Tobago as a location. For this reason, the Film Company will once again sponsor familiarization tours
during the Festival. During last year’s Festival, UK producer of the film “Half of a Yellow Sun”, Andrea Calderwood, and US director of “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, Behn Zeitlin, were both taken on such tours. Another part of the Festival sponsorship facilitates the screening of five-minute films produced by students as part of the Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF). Winning SSSFF films are shown in the Festival, giving the national community the chance to see the work of young film producers, writers, actors, directors, sound engineers and other audio-visual industry professionals in the making. A new aspect of the sponsorship agreement is the creation of a film marketplace to promote the financial viability of festival content. Festival marketplaces can be a way to push film as a business by encouraging international co-productions, presenting catalogues of existing films, seeking financing for projects in development, and meeting other needs of the film industry. Some of the funding allotted to TTFF 2014 has already gone towards sending three T&T films to the 36th International Short Film Festival and Market, in ClermontFerrand, France, which took place this year from January 31- February 8. This is the leading short film festival in the world, and is second only to Cannes as the largest film festival in France. Over 100,000 professionals and audience members attend the festival annually. ▪
Film Company’s Coming Attraction: TV Pitch session
T&T films to screen at water taxi terminals
↘In early February, 2014, the TTFC plans to host a
↘The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC)
pitch session to push scripts it has helped develop since it initiated the PASD in 2004. “The TTFC has some scripts that have not moved from script development stage to final production,” said Raycy Rousseau, TTFC Marketing Officer, who is spearheading the project. The intention is to bring the writers of these scripts together with investors and producers from all the local TV houses. “We will invite them to pitch to these people and hopefully the TV houses will take the scripts on and develop them,” Rousseau said. Details of the pitch session will be announced soon. ▪
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is in discussions with the National Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) to have local films screened at the Water Taxi Service terminals in Port-of-Spain and San Fernando. NIDCO administers the Water Taxi Service in Trinidad and Tobago. A popular service taking passengers between Port-of-Spain and San Fernando via the Gulf of Paria, the water taxis have been running since 2008 and serve daily commuters between the island’s two largest cities. A soft launch of the screenings at the terminals is expected to take place in January 2014. Selected local film and TV content for screening will be provided by the TTFC. ▪
Upcoming Events
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the screener he indicated. “The budget was a small music video budget in Los Angeles, [spread out] over three years. It’s like how people build houses here: little bit and little bit and then it’s finished.” He began production in 2011 and was still doing post-production just days before the TTFF opening.
↗ Damian Marcano “God Loves the Fighter” ↘ Karen Martinez “After Mas” with TTFC Chairman Christopher Laird
The TTFC provided marketing and distribution funds to “God Loves the Fighter” after the film was produced. Marcano told the small group of filmmakers at the TTFC on September 27 that he understood why it had been difficult to get production funding, as this was his first feature even though he had been making music videos for several years. “Don’t think everything is going to come to you for free,” he said. “There’s a million other people doing this and they’re all not getting money.” Another TTFC-supported film, “After Mas”, directed by Karen Martinez, took the jury prize for Best Local Short at the TTFF. “After Mas”, a 15-minute drama set during J’Ouvert, was the recipient of a Production Assistance and Script Development (PASD) Grant from the TTFC. The interracial love story starred a local cast—headlined by Khafra Rudder and Carly Coutts—and also used local crew. Martinez is Trinidad-born but based in the UK. Martinez praised the festival for the opportunity it gave filmmakers to network.
Film Company funds ttff/13 winners ↘The feature length drama “God Loves the Fighter”,
directed by Trinidad and Tobago-born filmmaker Damian Marcano, and “After Mas”, directed by Karen Martinez, both won awards at the recently concluded 2013 Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (TTFF). The films were two of four festival official selections supported by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC). “God Loves the Fighter” took the jury prize for Best Local Feature, the People’s Choice Feature Award, and a special mention in the category of Best Feature, a juried award open to 15 films in the festival. The awards were announced at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency on September 30. Marcano, whose film was entirely shot in Trinidad and Tobago and featured an all local cast and local crew, said in a talk at the TTFC on September 27, “We set out to make a cult classic film.” The drama, about underworld characters involved in drugs and prostitution in Port-of-Spain, was sold out for each of its showings during the TTFF and has been a critical hit. He made the feature with very little money,
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Film Company funds ttff/13 winners
“IT ATTRACTS SO MANY FILMMAKERS AND FILM PROFESSIONALS FROM A VARIETY OF COUNTRIES, MAKING THE TWO WEEKS A FABULOUS TIME TO NETWORK AND GET INVALUABLE INFORMATION FROM BUSY PEOPLE WHO MIGHT OTHERWISE BE IMPOSSIBLE TO ACCESS,” SHE SAID IN RESPONSE TO AN E-MAIL REQUEST FOR COMMENT ON HER AWARD. THE TTFC IS ONE OF THE FESTIVAL’S LEADING SPONSORS AND IS A FOUNDING SPONSOR AS WELL. She added the film “is being entered into a variety of international film festivals and I’m hoping to sell it to TV in the UK.” It will be screened in T&T again, she said. “I’m also filming an essay-style documentary in London and Trinidad in early 2014—it’s called ‘Dreams in Transit’ and looks at migrants and their relationship to the place they call Home. The Trinidadian actress Martina Laird (last seen in National Theatre’s production of ‘Moon on a Rainbow Shawl’) will be at the heart of it and I am working with other Trinidadian artist-migrants like the poet Vahni Capildeo and I’m hoping that Dominique Legendre will compose the musical score. Once again I’ve been very lucky to get a grant from the TTFC that will part fund the documentary.” ▪ September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
T&T heads inaugural board of Caribbean Association of Film Festivals ↗ Bruce Paddington (8th from left) President of the new created Caribbean Association of Film Festivals.
↘Founder of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival
(TTFF) Dr Bruce Paddington has been named inaugural president of the new Caribbean Association of Film Festivals (CAFF). CAFF was formed at the Summit of Central American and Caribbean Film Festivals, which was held in the Dominican Republic on November 12 as part of the seventh annual Dominican Global Film Festival.
PADDINGTON WAS ELECTED TO THE POST AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. HE IS FESTIVAL DIRECTOR OF THE TTFF, WHICH HE BEGAN IN 2006, AND WHICH THIS YEAR FILLED OVER 17,000 SEATS. The Dominican Global Film Festival initiated the Summit. Other festivals represented at the Summit were: the International Film Festival of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; the International Fine Arts Film Festival, Dominican Republic; the International Film Festival of Panama; the International Film Festival of San Juan, Puerto Rico; the International Festival of New Latin American Film of Havana, Cuba; the Regional and International Film Festival of Guadalupe (FEMI); the Escena Nacional de Martinica (CMAC); and the International Film Festival, Curaçao. CAFF’s web site, www.caribbeanfilmfestivals.com, quotes the Director of the Dominican Global Film Festival, Omar de la Cruz, as saying that it was “an honor to organize and share this space and this event to help
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develop the film industry in this region and to be here with all of you. This in itself is cause for celebration”. Paddington, in an email to the TTFC, said that Trinidad and Tobago’s election to the CAFF presidency “is testament to the great strides this country has made in developing an indigenous and Caribbean-wide film industry and in promoting Caribbean film”. Other members of the inaugural board are (by country and representative): first vice president, Cuba (Martha Díaz); second vice president, the Dominican Republic (Omar de la Cruz); treasurer, Curaçao (Percy Pinedo); secretary, Panama (Ana Karina Smith); and public relations, Puerto Rico (José Artemio Torres). José Artemio Torres, Executive Director of the San Juan International Film Festival and founding member of CAFF, in a YouTube video on the web site, explained what CAFF’s objectives are. He said the association was formed to “share information about films, about activities, to foster Caribbean cinema also in our countries.” He said CAFF would work towards co-ordination of dates so regional festivals don’t clash, share information about filmmaking, filmmakers and films among members, deal with distributors as a group, and promote the screening of Caribbean films outside of the Caribbean as well as in the region. “We should try to get people to feel they’re involved in Caribbean film throughout the whole year and not limit it to just one week or one or one day,” said Martha Díaz, press director of the International Festival of New Latin American Film of Havana, Cuba, as quoted on the web site. ▪ T&T heads inaugural board of Caribbean Association of Film Festivals
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the screener filmmakers, and the sharing continued [because] of how lost we all felt in a Caribbean film industry that seems forgotten by the rest of the world.
↗ Bruce Paddington at the Havana Film Festival 2013
TTFC boosts T&T films at regional, international festivals ↘In fulfillment of its mandate to
“establish Trinidad and Tobago as the premier Caribbean film location and production centre within the international film and television marketplace,” the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) continues to support local films and filmmakers in their efforts to gain international visibility. In 2013 the company approved grant requests by filmmakers to assist them in attending the CaribbeanTales Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. CaribbeanTales takes place concurrently with the Toronto International Film Festival. Michael Mooleedhar, director of the short drama “Cool Boys”, and Princess Simone Donelan, co-producer of “Footprints”, a documentary feature on Grenada’s first Olympic medalist,
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TTFC boosts T&T films at regional, international festivals
400 m champion Kirani James, both attended the CaribbeanTales Incubator with the sponsorship of the TTFC. Mooleedhar said via e-mail, “My film ‘The Cool Boys’ played in the CaribbeanTales Film Festival and, in addition, I presented in the incubator what I hope to be my next film. The incubator helps you develop a pitch for your film, which includes an EPK (Electronic Press Kit). This helps the filmmaker develop a strategy for funding and marketing the project.” Mooleedhar said his new film will be a love story but didn’t want to elaborate on the plot. “The pitch forced me to totally understand my own film and caused the class to bond. The group that entered together soon became a family of people sharing the same experiences, of wanting to be
“IN THIS PROCESS WE ALL GREW STRONGER AS WE PREPARED FOR THE FINAL DAY A PITCH IN FRONT OF INDUSTRY PEOPLE [ATTENDING] THE TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. THIS, FOR ALL OF US, I WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE, BECAME A LIBERATING EXPERIENCE AS WE WENT FROM FEAR TO BEING PREPARED AND ALL SUCCESSFULLY PITCHING AND RECEIVING INTEREST IN OUR VARIOUS PROJECTS.” He added, “I am very thankful to the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company for granting me funding to attend CaribbeanTales. Without that funding I would not have been able to afford going to Toronto and having those experiences that are crucial to my development as a filmmaker. The entire trip was a real eye opener and I think it is important for the Film Company to continue to fund filmmakers to attend different film festivals.” In fact, the TTFC has assisted local films to participate in regional film festivals since then. One of them is “Tickle Me Rich,” a short dramatic film by Sonja Dumas. Four women—all played by T&T contemporary dancers—engage in guerrilla warfare over love and the upcoming marriage while on a hen night out on the town. The black and white film was selected for the Bahamas International Film Festival, taking place in December 2013.
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
Another film to be supported by the TTFC is Bruce Paddington’s evocative documentary on the Grenada Revolution, “Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution”. A painstaking, far-reaching narrative of the 1979 revolution and how it fell apart by 1983, the film was a selection of the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) 2013. It has since been selected for the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, which took place in November, and the 34th International Festival of New Latin American Film, which took place in Havana, Cuba, in early December. The short folklore-based film “One Good Deed”, by Juliette Mc Crawley, was also selected for Havana. ↗ Juliette Mc Cawley at the Havana Film Festival 2013
↗ Sonja Dumas displays a poster from her film, Tickle Me Rich with the assistance of Mr. Dion Boucaud.
DUMAS SAID VIA E-MAIL, “AFTER YOUR FILM GETS MADE AGAINST ALL FINANCIAL AND LOGISTICAL ODDS, THE MARKETING IS CRITICAL. IT'S A FILM, AFTER ALL, AND EXPOSURE IS EVERYTHING. ENTER THE ROLE OF FILM FESTIVALS. THINK OF THEM AS TRADE SHOWS WHERE THE MORE PEOPLE SEE YOUR PRODUCT (THE FILM) AND THE MORE YOU'RE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH THEM ABOUT THE PRODUCT FACETO-FACE, THE MORE LIKELY YOUR PRODUCT WILL MEET WITH DISTRIBUTION SUCCESS.” www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
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The Banyan/Bois Institute documentary “No Bois Man No Fraid”, which was screened at the gala of the 2013 CaribbeanTales Film Festival and was an official TTFF selection, is a selection of the Guadeloupe Film Festival (FEMI), scheduled to take place in late January 2014. Dumas explained that festivals present not only an opportunity for films to be screened for international audiences, but for deals and contacts to be made. “You have no idea how hard you have to work to get people to pay attention to your film,” she wrote. “They listen to you a little more closely if you've been to film festivals outside of your country And networking is a key component.” “Pan!”, Kim Johnson’s docu-drama about the history of steelpan, has also applied for funding to go to this year’s Cannes Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals worldwide. All the T&T films going to these regional and international festivals are being subtitled, a process being funded by the TTFC. Subtitling is essential “for the films to be able to enter new markets and hopefully create new opportunities for revenue streams for producers,” said TTFC CEO Carla Foderingham. She added, “We are hoping to do training of personnel in Trinidad and Tobago in subtitling, to ensure international best practice is observed.”▪
TTFC boosts Five great T&T reasons films at regional, to film ininternational Trinidad and festivals Tobago!
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the screener
Animation Festival grows and grows story. Submissions of animated content for the festival came from around the world, the festival’s founder and director Camille Selvon Abrahams said in an e-mailed response to questions on the 2013 festival. There were films from China, Spain, Germany, Belarus, Mexico, India and other countries. “We have seen a 50 per cent increase in local animation submissions,” Selvon Abrahams added. “This is a direct result of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) Diploma in Animation,” a programme that the TTFC supports through bursaries. “The festival screened 13 animated shorts from this group of students. It is expected that another 15 will be screened at the next festival,” Selvon Abrahams said.
↘Every year since its founding 11 years ago the Animae
Caribe Festival of Animation and New Media has grown larger and more relevant to the public and to the industry of film and animation. The year 2013 brought a “dramatic increase” in the number of submissions it received—a 250 per cent increase compared to last year—and has directly targeted businesses to create opportunities for collaboration with local animators, the official festival magazine said. As a founding and leading sponsor of the festival, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company is part of Animae Caribe’s success
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Animation Festival grows and grows
She added, “This year the Animae Caribe Festival, through the support of the TTFC, partnered with the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) training agency to take animation to the countryside. Starting in Rio Claro the YTEPP Bus will drive to Mayaro and then head to Toco, Maracas, Valencia, Couva and other rural areas throughout Trinidad and Tobago. “The aim of the project is to allow youths in these areas to be exposed to the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) services and in particular animation and digital media.” Annually, Animae Caribe’s school day touches hundreds of students with screenings, workshops and networking opportunities. In 2013, over 30 schools participated in the UTT Digital Media Student Forum on October 28, the opening day of the festival, at the UTT John D Creativity Campus in Port-of-Spain. “Students were exposed to workshops
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
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in stop motion animation, gaming, character design, storyboarding, 3D animation, scriptwriting, haptics, music technology and computing,” Selvon Abrahams said, “and the UTT Cinema screened over 100 animated shorts from all over the world for the week of the festival.”
“We have spoken to people in Jamaica and Barbados, but the newly announced tax incentives and potential for investment are what really drove us to look at Trinidad and Tobago. Once we discovered Full Circle and the talent pool available here, it was a no-brainer to pursue this avenue.”
In 2013, in addition to a week’s worth of screenings, workshops and a conference on regional animation, as part of the festival there was an Art of Animation exhibition, curated by T&T artists Nikolai Noel and Luiz Vasquez, at the National Museum, Port-of-Spain. Business was front and centre on the agenda of the conference, with the launch of “The Link”, an attempt to connect advertising agencies and animation producers, and the whole conference agenda on November 1, the closing day, was devoted to the “Business of Animation”. “For the first time we were able to discuss the possibility of a local production being produced here in Trinidad using the skills of local animators,” Selvon Abrahams said in reference to the Gecko project, a joint effort between her studio Full Circle Animation and the UK-based Melwood Pictures. It features a Caribbean lizard who takes a ship and ends up in cold, lonely London—just like the real West Indians who sailed to England in the early 20th century.
“THE GECKO PROJECT IS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND AND HAS THE SUPPORT OF INVESTT, BRITISH COUNCIL AND THE TTFC,” SELVON ABRAHAMS SAID. “THE HOPE IS TO GENERATE INTEREST FOR INVESTMENT THAT WILL PUT THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO ON THE WORLD MAP. THE EXCHANGE OF KNOWLEDGE WAS WELL RECEIVED BY MANY YOUNG ANIMATORS.”
UK producer and managing director of Melwood Pictures Ramsay McBean, is quoted in the festival magazine as saying, “From the moment the film was conceptualized, [the producers] wanted to ensure authenticity in the story, characters and the way the film is made. We know we wanted some element to be produced in the Caribbean and have been on the look-out for a potential opportunity.
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Visiting experts form a vital part of the knowledge exchange of the festival. The 2013 festival’s list of visitors was headlined by Peter Lord of Aardman Studios and his film “Pirates! Band of Misfits”. The Aardman Studios created the world famous Wallace and Gromit stop motion animation characters. Other visitors included Los Angeles-based Trinidadian filmmaker Shaun Escayg; Rita Street, producer and president of Radar Cartoons; and acclaimed T&T animator Wendell McShine. ▪
Animation Festival grows and grows
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the screener
Film Nights 2014 takes T&T film to rural areas ↘Taking local film to the people
is the objective of T&T Film Nights, an ongoing programme sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC). The series, which ran from November 16-December 1 this year, featured a mixture of short and feature films, and both documentaries and dramas—including one Jamaican and one Barbadian film. Beginning with a screening of the T&T feature-length documentary “No Bois Man No Fraid” at Moruga Composite School, the series took over a dozen films to venues around the country where films would not normally be screened. The other venues were the MILAT Military Academy, Mausica; Maracas Bay Community Centre; Matura Secondary School, Toco; and Buccoo Community Centre, Bucoo. At MILAT, the amusing and touching short “Pothound” by Christopher and Leizelle Guinness was paired with the documentary by Amanda Sans Pantling and Miquel Galofré, “Songs of Redemption”, a film set in the Jamaican prison system. On other dates, packages of short films were assembled. Many of the screenings were collaborations with community organisations such as the Maracas Bay Community Council and the Healing with Horses Foundation. TTFC’s T&T Film Nights created an opportunity for rural communities to see films that were awarded and talked about during the TTFF; for example, “Songs of Redemption” was co-winner of the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the ttff/13, as well as the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary. Its director Miquel Galofré was present to field questions from the audience, as were many of the other films’ directors at their screenings. “After Mas”, another film screened in T&T Film Nights, was made with TTFC funding and won
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Film Nights 2014 takes T&T film to rural areas
the TTFF Jury Prize-winner for Best Local Short Film this year. T&T Film Nights was programmed and staged by the T&T Film Festival (TTFF). Recent UWI film programme graduate Dainia Wright, whose film “Mystic Blue” was screened twice during the series, said, “These kinds of initiatives help to familiarise the wider Trinidadian public to the local and regional works that are out there. It gives us as filmmakers the opportunity for people to see and appreciate our hard work. “I applaud both the TTFC and TTFF for giving our industry room to grow.” An aspect of the TTFC outreach programme, T&T Film Nights will continue, along with the Carnival Film Series and the UNESCO Traveling Film Showcase, in 2014. T&T FILM NIGHTS FILMS SCREENED November 16 “No Bois Man No Fraid” Moruga Composite School. November 20 “Pothound” and “Songs of Redemption” MILAT Military Academy, Mausica (closed screening) November 23 “Mystic Blue”, “Knockabout”, “After Mas”, “If I Could Fly”, “One Good Deed” and “No Soca, No Life” Maracas Bay Community Centre (presented in association with the Maracas Bay Community Council) November 24 “Mystic Blue”, “Earth, Water, Woman”, “Sweet Fries”, “A Home for These Old Bones” and “Til D Well Run Dry” Matura Secondary School (presented in association with Nature Seekers) December 1 “Chrissy!” and “Captain T&T” Buccoo Community Centre (presented in association with the Healing With Horses Foundation) ▪
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
Three grants awarded after Feature Film call ↘The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC)
has awarded three grants in its Feature Film Programme, after a call for submissions last year. The three projects will be given funding for script development. Lead producer Abigail Hadeed’s “Play the Devil”, which was written and will be directed by Bahamian filmmaker Maria Govan, is one of the projects chosen. Its TTFC synopsis describes a film about art, passion and obsession. In an emailed response to questions about the film and the TTFC grant, Govan said, “We are thrilled to have the support of the Film Company!” Govan is the writer and director of the internationally successful dramatic feature “Rain”, starring CCH Pounder. Govan and Hadeed said via email, “The support of the Film Company is invaluable, in that it instills confidence as we progress our fund raising efforts and offers support as we develop our script and creative vision. [T&T] filmmakers are extraordinarily fortunate to have such support in place, not only in this form, but also in the form of such an incredible rebate offered,” they said, referring to the rebate offered by Trinidad and Tobago of up to 50 per cent of production expenses to projects filmed in this country.
“WE HAVE NO DOUBT THAT [T&T]—WITH SUCH A DYNAMIC FILM FESTIVAL, ALONG WITH THE VISION AND SUPPORT OF THE FILM COMPANY—WILL BE LEADING THE WAY FOR THIS NEW WAVE OF CARIBBEAN FILM THAT IS EMERGING.”
Hadeed and Govan added, “’Play the Devil” is a story that explores the very different relationship and power dynamics surrounding Gregory, a gifted young man from Paramin as he comes into adulthood. We hope that the film will challenge the audience to really investigate the question of morality, painting life in all of its complex grays, so to diminish one’s ability to judge so readily.” Another grant was awarded to Emilie Upczak for her film “Moving Parts of Love”, a romantic drama. Upczak said via email, “I am grateful and enthusiastic to be one of the feature film projects selected by the TTFC for script development. “This is a meaningful opportunity, one that I intend to take seriously as I understand this initiative is meant to support growing a vibrant film industry in Trinidad and Tobago. I am presently in the fundraising and script development phase and plan to go into production in 2015. I am also currently working towards my MFA in Film at Vermont College of Fine Arts where I am receiving additional support and mentorship from the administration and faculty towards the development of my film.” Upczak, a director, writer and producer, has previously made documentary and dramatic short films, including “Knockabout” and “Y-ning?”. “My hope is to utilise local and international resources to produce the best quality film I possibly can that will have a meaningful impact and reach both regional and international audiences,” Upczack said. The final grant was awarded to Brent Webster, a producer of the kidnap drama “The Cutlass”. In a telephone interview, Webster, the film’s producer, said he was happy for the film to be selected for script development. “Because we all know the story in our head we see things differently; we would tend to pass things over that a script doctor who doesn’t know the story would pick up on.” Webster said the “Cutlass” crew is still fundraising and is trying to achieve a balance between “the creative and the monetary” demands of the script. They are hoping to have the film fully shot and in post-production by end of the year, he said. Each of the projects will be sent on to international story editors for vetting. Grantees will have to show proof of other sources of funding before any further TTFC funding is granted. The successful projects will be considered for co-production arrangements with the TTFC. ▪
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
↖ September 2013- February 2014
Three grants awarded after Feature Film call
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the screener
Rule change for 2014 Secondary Schools Short Film Festival ↘Marking its 10th year in 2014 the SSSFF had a
significant change in its rules. This has been announced by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC). This year secondary school students are required to form a film club before entering the competition. The school’s principal or the head of the youth group must approve the formation of the film club. Up to two teams per school or registered youth group are allowed to participate in the festival, with each team having five to eight members aged 12-18 years. Only teams from individual schools or youth groups will be allowed to participate. As usual, each team will require a teacher or other adult supervisor, who will not be allowed to be creatively involved in the film. The production, direction, acting, writing, camera work and editing, as well as any other requirements of the production, must be done by the young people in the teams. Training for these roles will be provided at sessions over the Easter and long holidays, and the TTFC will provide trainers for the teams. The Maracas Valley Action Committee (MVAC) will be an SSSFF partner in 2014, joining the existing sponsors the Ministry of Education, the Tobago House of Assembly, and MovieTowne.
↘ Students and supervising teachers of Holy Cross College and Arima North Secondary, trained by Che Rodriguez, with their SSSFF 2013 T-shirts and filmmaking equipment
Festival Themes * Culture: “What it means to be Trinbagonian” * Peace and Social Change: “Say no to Discrimination”; or “Living in Harmony Through Co-operation” *The Environment: “Taking the lead in creating a more caring and respectful attitude to the natural environment”; or “Protecting the watersheds and forests of Trinidad and Tobago to save the water supply for future generations”; or “Protecting our wildlife and their habitats to prevent extinction in the future” * Open Theme Category: The theme must be relevant to the age group of the students. The theme must be pre-approved by the TTFC. The theme cannot be changed once it has been approved by the TTFC. All Secondary School Film Clubs and Youth Groups wishing to participate in the 2014 Festival must complete an Application Form and send it to the TTFC. Application forms are available online at www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com or can be collected at the Offices of the TTFC. The forms can be returned via email to ttfilmco@gmail.com or by post to the TTFC, Suite 015, Bretton Hall, 16 Victoria Avenue, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Last year’s winners will be awarded on January 28, 2014, at MovieTowne. Festival inquiries: Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Telephone: 625-FILM (3456) Ext 21 E-mail: ttfilmco@gmail.com Web site: www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com ▪
Photo courtesy Che Rodriguez
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Rule change for 2014 Secondary Schools Short Film Festival
September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
Science and Agriculture Film Competition
↘The second edition of a regional
film and video competition on science and agriculture was launched in Guyana on October 10. The Caribbean Young Professionals Science and Agriculture Film and Video Competition is organised by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU, which is based in the Netherlands; the Caribbean Council for Science and Technology; UWI; CARDI; and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company. This year’s theme is “Adding Value to Local Foods”. The competition was open to film and agriculture professionals and students in the region, aged 18-35. Up to 30 semifinalists will be chosen to participate in a training workshop on
film and video production. Scientists and experts will mentor semifinalists to help them make their films.
THE WINNER WILL SHOWCASE HIS OR HER FILM AT THE CARIBBEANTALES FILM FESTIVAL IN BARBADOS NEXT YEAR. CARLA FODERINGHAM, CEO OF THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FILM COMPANY, SPOKE AT THE LAUNCH, WHICH TOOK PLACE AT THE GUYANA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE, GEORGETOWN. HER REMARKS TOUCHED ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FILM AS A VISUAL MEDIUM THAT CROSSES BOUNDARIES OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. Film has the potential to reach a great number of people because viewers do not need to be literate to understand its message, she said. Guyanese Minister of Agriculture the Hon Dr Leslie Ramsammy gave the feature address at the event. In his address he noted the international opinion-shaping impact of “An Inconvenient Truth”, a film on climate change made by former US Vice-President Al Gore. Vincent Lewis, of Trinidad and Tobago, won the first edition of the competition (held in 2010/2011) with his film “Beewise.” He also spoke at the launch on October 10. The competition deadline was January 30, 2014. Fifty six (56) entries received, with Trinidad and Tobago submitting the most entries. For more information go to: http://tinyurl.com/sci-ag-film. ▪
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
↖ September 2013- February 2014
Science and Agriculture Film Competition
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the September 2013 / February 2014 screener
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T&T Films
↗ CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Inter-Island Transportation Company, Mr. Leon Grant (left) accepts a package of T&T films from Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Chairman Christopher Laird, in front of the T&T Spirit, on February 7, in Port-of-Spain. The Film Company and the Inter-Island Transportation Company have agreed to screen local content on the ferry's sailings between the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Photo courtesy: Trinidad and Tobago Film Company.
↘ The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) and the Port Authority
on the Inter-Island Ferry
of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) have agreed that the Inter-Island Ferry service will begin screening local films on its sailings on February 14, 2014.
The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) and the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT) have agreed that the Inter-Island Ferry service will shortly begin screening local films on its sailings. The T&T Inter-Island Transportation Company runs the ferry service under the aegis of the PATT. Two vessels, the T&T Spirit and the T&T Express, sail between Port-of-Spain and Scarborough up to ten times daily. Each sailing transports hundreds of passengers between Trinidad and Tobago. Many passengers pass the voyage by watching the films played on the ferries’ on board screens. ▪
the screener September 2013- February 2014 ↗
www.trinidadandtobagofilm.com
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