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contents 1 1 2 2 3 3 5 5 5 7 7 9 9 10 12 14 15 15 18 23 30 38 44 48
who we are festival basics sponsors + partners video on demand rbc focus: filmmakers’ immersion honouring local pioneers in film music videos secondary schools’ short film festival tribute to john akomfrah university of the west indies studiofilmclub women in film participating filmmakers unesco conference awards + juries panels / presentations / pitches opening night gala closing night film caribbean + diaspora feature films panorama feature films short films new media schedule at a glance index of films
who we are THE FESTIVAL TEAM Bruce Paddington Founder + Festival Director Annabelle Alcazar Programme Director Emilie Upczak Creative Director Jonathan Ali Editorial Director Nneka Luke External Relations Director Melanie Archer Art Director Melvina Hazard Director of Community Development Magella Moreau Director of Public Relations Nickesha McDowell Office Manager Shea Best Operations Coordinator Dominic Koo Technical Operations Coordinator James Barber Online Strategist + Coordinator Roma Zachemba Filmmaker + Guest Services Coordinator Rhian Vialva UNESCO Conference Coordinator Nicola Cross Immersion Coordinator Christopher Meir University of the West Indies Holly Bynoe ARC Magazine Nadia Huggins ARC Magazine Peter Doig Studiofilmclub Ayana Rivière Guest Services Azreena Khan Communications Assistant Tracy Assing Writer Susanne Müeller-Seidel Event Manager Marlon James Event Photographer Rayya Mustapha Little Carib House Manager Dainia Wright Little Carib House Manager Pauline Mark MovieTowne House Manager Kedon Charles MovieTowne Technical Operator Dominic Roopa MovieTowne Technical Operator Aurora Herrera Blogger Laura Jensen Videographer Warren Chanansingh Intern Ayrïd Chandler Intern Zico Cozier Intern Alicia Greene Intern Nikita Ramos Intern Kyna Rampersad Intern Adanma Raymond Intern Leeanna Seelochan Intern
Welcome to the eighth annual trinidad+tobago film festival! The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is an annual celebration of films from and about Trinidad+Tobago, the Caribbean and its diaspora. We screen films from more Caribbean countries and more Caribbean films than any other film festival. We also screen films curated from contemporary world cinema. As ever, the ttff presents a varied lineup of feature-length and short films — narrative, documentary and experimental — screening at venues on both islands. This year there will be a retrospective of the work of pioneering black British filmmaker John Akomfrah (p. 5). In addition to screening films, the ttff also seeks to facilitate the growth of the Caribbean film industry by hosting workshops, panel discussions, seminars and networking opportunities. This year, our main initiative in that regard is a UNESCO-ttff conference entitled Cameras of Diversity (p. 10). Filmmakers and industry professionals from around the region and beyond will attend this conference from 25-27 September, at our new official partner hotel, the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. You will also find the ttff Secretariat office there. Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors and partners for their support, notably Flow, which has committed to being our presenting sponsor for another three years. This means that we will continue to be able to share great films with you, and keep getting hotter!™
festival basics WHERE TO GET TICKETS Tickets are available at venues at the time of screenings, and in advance at the box office. Tickets at MovieTowne and The Little Carib Theatre are $30. Screenings at all other venues are free. VENUES MovieTowne Audrey Jeffers Highway Port of Spain Lowlands Mall, Tobago Children in school uniform $5 Tel: (+)1.868.627.8277 movietowne.com Please vacate the cinema between screenings. The Little Carib Theatre Corner White and Robert Streets Woodbrook, Port of Spain Tel: (+)1.868.622.4644 littlecaribtheatre.com Please vacate the cinema between screenings. University of the West Indies Film Programme building 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine sta.uwi.edu/fhe/film
Studiofilmclub 7 Fernandes Business Centre Laventille, Port of Spain studiofilmclub.blogspot.com Medulla Art Gallery 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook Port of Spain Tel: (+)1.868.622.1196 MERCHANDISE Film festival merchandise will be sold at The Little Carib Theatre and in the ttff Secretariat at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. Hyatt Regency Trinidad 1 Wrightson Road Port of Spain Tel: (+)1.868.623.2222 trinidad.hyatt.com ttff Office 199 Belmont Circular Road, Port of Spain, Trinidad+Tobago Tel: (+)1.868.621.0709 Tel: (+)1.868.621.3473 ttfilmfestival.com Cover photograph: Abigail Hadeed © 2013
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
sponsors + partners
rbc focus: filmmakers’ immersion + pitch session The trinidad+tobago film festival would like to acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors. Presenting SPONSOR Flow Leading SPONSORS RBC Royal Bank BPTT Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Ministry of Tourism RBC Focus 2012
Supporting SPONSORS National Gas Company National Lotteries Control Board Official Partners North Eleven Hyatt Regency Trinidad Copa Airlines The T&T Guardian SCRIP-J BOSS Drink Lounge and Bistro Heineken All Italian Fine Wine and Foods MINI
Special Initiatives United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Diplomatic PARTNERS Embassy of Argentina Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Embassy of Brazil The British High Commission Embassy of Chile Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Embassy of France
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy of Mexico + AMEXCID Embassy of the United States of America AWARDS Agostini Insurance Brokers Limited BPTT Flow National Gas Company National Lotteries Control Board NH International RBC Royal Bank Trinidad and Tobago Film Company
PROGRAMMING PARTNERS ARC Magazine University of the West Indies Studiofilmclub VENUE PARTNERS MovieTowne, Port of Spain MovieTowne, Tobago The Little Carib Theatre Medulla Art Gallery
IN-KIND SPONSORS Aveda Day Spa Button Guys Buzo Osteria Italiana Chaud Café & Wine Bar Cocobel Chocolate Flair The Restaurant Levels Ultrabar & Lounge Mélange More Vino The Shanghai Experience Subway Veni Mangé Zanzibar
For the third year running, the ttff is hosting RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion. An intensive four-day development programme, it will give ten selected emerging Caribbean filmmakers the opportunity to learn from film professionals.
develop a detailed treatment.
RBC Focus takes place from 24-27 September at the ttff office in Belmont. This year, the selected filmmakers will enter the programme with a concept for a feature-length narrative film, from which they will be expected to
The programme is open to Caribbean filmmakers (citizens of Caribbean countries living and working in the Caribbean); filmmakers of the diaspora (persons of Caribbean descent resident outside of the Caribbean
You can show your support for local short films from the comfort of your home. VOD puts the power in your hands. A still from The Tombs, one of the films available on VOD this October
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The ttff, with our presenting sponsor Flow, offers subscribers an opportunity to see selected
For more details, visit VOD on Channel 1000 or discoverflow.com.
At the end of RBC Focus, the main facilitator will choose the top five participants. These five participants will then pitch their project to a jury at a public event on 28 September. The participant with the best project and pitch, as determined by the jury, will win a cash prize of TT$20,000, courtesy of RBC Royal Bank.
About the Facilitator Julia Solomonoff is an Argentine filmmaker with an MFA from Columbia University, New York, where she teaches film directing. Her most recent film is The Last Summer of La Boyita (2009). Her directorial debut, Sisters (2005) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. She has produced a number of films for other directors, and was first assistant director on Walter Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries (2004). She has taught directing workshops across the globe.
2013 pioneers in film
A G Anthony Joseph shoot in progress
short films from the Festival once the ttff/13 comes to an end. Films range from local to regional documentaries and narrative films, and 100% of the profits go to the filmmakers.
RBC Focus will include group discussions on a range of topics concentrating on the artistic side of narrative filmmaking, sharpening the skills and abilities of participants.
who intend to shoot at least part of their prospective project in the region); and international filmmakers living and working in the Caribbean.
RBC Focus 2013 facilitator, Julia Solomonoff
ttff pioneers in film
video on demand Video on Demand (VOD) is helping to broaden audiences for filmmakers by giving cable viewers the option to view at their leisure short films that have participated in the ttff.
2012 finalists at the pitch session
Sullivan Walker with Bill Cosby Animae Caribe
Since 2011 the ttff, in partnership with bpTT, has implemented the Pioneers in Film initiative. This initiative has sought to document the history of cinema, film and television production and exhibition in Trinidad+Tobago since the start of the 20th century. Thirty pioneers, many of whom made their mark in the international arena, have been honoured over the past two years. In 2013, this unique and important initiative moves into a third phase: recognising pioneers who have been making their mark in the more recent past. Here we seek to honour 14 visionary individuals and organisations, many of whom
are still very much part of the landscape, who have recently made major contributions to the film and television industry in Trinidad+Tobago. As the indigenous film and video industry grows and has increasing impact locally, regionally and internationally, bpTT and the ttff salute these visionaries for their contribution. A luncheon in honour of these visionaries will be hosted on 13 September. Detailed information on each of the awardees is available at ttfilmfestival.com/pioneers, and at an interactive display at MovieTowne, Port of Spain for the duration of the Festival.
• B arry McComie and Fred Thornhill of Advance Dynamics Video producers • Tony Hall, Christopher Laird, Bruce Paddington of Banyan Ltd Television and video producers • Michael Cherrie Actor • Danielle Dieffenthaller Television writer and producer • Carla Foderingham CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company • Jean-Michel Gibert Film producer • G Anthony Joseph Film producer and actor • Timothy Mora Video producer • Robert Yao Ramesar Filmmaker • Camille Selvon Abrahams Founder of Animae Caribe • Frances-Anne Solomon Writer, director, producer and distributor • Lorraine Toussaint Actor • Sullivan Walker Actor (posthumous award) • Horace Wilson Writer, director and producer for television and film
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music videos
secondary schools’ short film festival
video on demand
A still from Jumbie
Guests at the ttff/11
This year we are excited to introduce a section of music videos, to recognise filmmakers working in this popular medium. This section is open to filmmakers and works from the Caribbean and the diaspora. The music videos will screen together as part of a shorts film package. See the schedule on pages 44 – 47 for the dates and times they will be screening.
2013 marks the ninth annual Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF), which is open to students of all secondary schools and registered youth groups in Trinidad+Tobago. From 2010, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) has managed this initiative.
Yaphotto – Concrete Jungle Director: Ackley Olton
Gyazette – Jumbie Director: Anthony Edward
Mungal Patasar and Pantar – Fallen Director: Ricki Manmohan
Jermaine Edwards + Island Worship – Number One Director: Darren Scott
Rembunction – Five Director: Roland Yearwood
I-Sasha – Tell Me Director: Sheridan Edwards
Simple Rattigan – It Nuh Pretty Director: Stephen Williamson
Since its inception, more than 2,500 students have participated in the SSSFF, submitting over 200 short films on themes such as: “A Day in Your Life”, “Culture”, “Bullying”, “Planning for My Future”, “Playtime”, “Health and Safety”, “Peace and Social Change” and “The Environment”. The main objective of the SSSFF is to encourage T+T’s student population to produce responsible local content, to promote career opportunities in the industry and to encourage innovation in the youth of Trinidad+Tobago. This year’s films will premiere at the trinidad+tobago film festival. They are also screened in various communities nationwide, at events hosted by the TTFC.
tribute to john akomfrah
A still from Peripeteia
John Akomfrah
This year, the trinidad+tobago film festival honours the work of filmmaker John Akomfrah. Known principally as one of the founders of black British cinema — and lately as a trailblazer for British digital cinematography — his projects have received scores of international film awards and prizes, while he has earned a string of honours. In 1982, Akomfrah was a founding member of the seminal Black Audio Film Collective, and produced a broad range of work within this critically acclaimed group, including his
provocative debut, Handsworth Songs (1986). He has made fictional films, tape slide installations, gallery installations, experimental videos and creative documentaries. His work has been theatrically exhibited and broadcast worldwide. Lyrical, poetic and essayistic, Akomfrah’s films have always spanned the worlds of fiction and non-fiction, cinema and television, the art gallery and the film festival, the community centres and the cultural institutions, conferences, symposiums and academic institutions. All the
while, Akomfrah has maintained a concern for interrogating and documenting the black British experience. In 2003, Britain’s Screen Nation Film and TV Awards awarded Akomfrah their most prestigious accolade, a lifetime achievement award for his “pioneering and overwhelming contribution to a black and British cinema culture”. In 2008 he was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. He is also a governor of the British Film Institute.
Akomfrah’s experimental documentary The Nine Muses (2010), which used Homer’s Odyssey to explore Caribbean and African migration to post-war Britain, was screened at the ttff/11. His newest film, The Stuart Hall Project (2013, p. 22) — a portrait of the Jamaican-British intellectual — will screen at the ttff/13. Also to be screened will be a selection of his other work, comprising Handsworth Songs (p. 25), Who Needs a Heart (1991, p. 29), The Last Angel of History (1996, p. 33) and Peripeteia (2012, p. 35).
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
university of the west indies
ttff/10 lecture at UWI
Once again, the ttff partners with the University of the West Indies’ Faculty of Humanities and Education’s Film Programme to present Festival films on campus. These screenings will take place over four days (20, 24, 27 and 30 September) and three nights (21, 25 and 27 September) at the Film Programme’s building, 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine. Screenings will include films by filmmakers from T+T and the region, as well as films by students and alumni of the Film Programme.
Andrea Calderwood
The ttff and the University will host a presentation on 19 September by BAFTA awardwinning producer Andrea Calderwood, sponsored by Flow. As producer and managing director of independent film and television production company Slate Films, Calderwood has produced several feature films. She won the British Academy of Film and Television Award (BAFTA) for Best British Film for her work on The Last King of Scotland (the film won three
Malini Guha
BAFTAs and an Academy Award for Forest Whitaker in 2007). She also produced this year’s opening night film, Half of a Yellow Sun. On 25 September, visiting scholar Malini Guha will give a talk entitled “London Reimagined by Caribbean Filmmakers”. Finally, the ttff’s New Media programme will also present an evening of avant garde and experimental film works on 26 September. This is being held in association with the Post-
New Media at UWI
graduate Programme in Cultural Studies, which will also host a day and evening of screenings of John Akomfrah’s films, including his latest documentary, The Stuart Hall Project, on 30 September. See pages 44–46 for the schedule of films that will be screened at UWI. Details of the presentations are on page 14.
studiofilmclub
EXPERIENCE UWI Choose from a variety of our creative programmes: CERTIFICATE
UNDERGRADUATE
POSTGRADUATE
Dance & Dance Education
Carnival Studies Film Musical Arts Theatre Arts
Arts & Cultural Enterprise Management
Music (Pan) Technical Theatre Production Visual Arts
Creative Writing (Fiction) Creative Design: Entrepreneurship Cultural Studies
Drama/Theatre
Peter Doig + Hilton Als at SFC, 2009
At SFC, 2012
Portrait of Jason
Founded by artists Peter Doig and Che Lovelace, Studiofilmclub (SFC) began screening independent and art-house films in Building 7 of the Fernandes Compound, Eastern Main Road in Laventille in 2003.
has created for the regular screenings at SFC was hosted at the ttff/11. In 2012, the work of British-Caribbean filmmaker Steve McQueen took centre stage.
Directed, produced and edited by Shirley Clarke, this criticallyacclaimed documentary was shot in one night. It is the story of Jason Holliday (Aron Payne), a gay, African-American hustler and aspiring cabaret performer who narrates his troubling story to the camera.
In 2006, SFC began hosting screenings and guests as part of the ttff. Guests of SFC have included British-Caribbean artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien (ttff/08), and Hilton Als, theatre critic for the New Yorker (ttff/09). An exhibition featuring some of the iconic posters Peter Doig
The 2013 SFC programme is as follows: Thursday 19 September Doors open at 7.15pm Film begins at 8pm PORTRAIT OF JASON Director: Shirley Clarke 1967, USA English Narrative feature / 105 mins
New Yorker, the film employs avant-garde and cinéma vérité techniques to reach the tragedy underlying Jason’s theatrical, exaggerated persona. The film’s long-lost original print was rereleased in April 2013 following a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Filming for Portrait of Jason took place in the living room of Clarke’s Hotel Chelsea penthouse apartment. The shoot started at 9pm on Saturday 03 December 1966, and ended 12 hours later. Hailed as “a masterwork of grand-scale intimacy” by The
Visit www.sta.uwi.edu for a full listing of all the opportunities. 6
Applications open in November.
17 september – 01 october
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women in film 2013 Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of films selected for our programme made by women filmmakers, as well as an increase in content exploring the female experience.
Yema, directed by and starring Djamila Sahraoui
In recognition of this, we have introduced a sidebar intended as an annual offering to the Festival, entitled Women in Film. This initiative is presented in association with the Cuban Women Filmmakers’ Mediatheque.
This year there are 47 films (features, shorts, New Media works) directed, co-directed or produced by women in the Festival, and we will have guest women filmmakers who will participate in the presentation of films, Q&A sessions and discussion panels. In addition, we will host a special panel focusing on women in film; this panel will be part of the threeday UNESCO-ttff conference on developing the Caribbean film industry.
participating filmmakers
Director Kevin Macdonald at the ttff/12
ttff/12 filmmakers’ lounge
ttff/12 filmmakers’ beach trip
Every year, the ttff invites local and guest filmmakers and industry experts to participate in the Festival, to interact with audiences and one another, sparking conversations and forging connections. Our guests make our Festival hotter.™ SELECT 2013 FEATURE FILM AND NEW MEDIA GUESTS ARE: Julia Solomonoff / The Last Summer of La Boyita (Argentina) Juan Francisco Pardo / Abo So (Aruba) Selwyne Browne / Payday (Barbados) Marcia Angela and David Weekes / Chrissy! (Barbados) Francisca Gavilán / Violeta Went to Heaven (Chile) Lina Rodriguez / Señoritas (Colombia) Carlos Lechuga and Claudia Calviño / Melaza (Cuba) Mary Wells / Kingston Paradise (Jamaica) Olivia McGilchrist / New Media (Jamaica) Mariana Gaja / She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone (Mexico) Carlos Sama / Lu’s Dream (Mexico) Jeroen Leinders / Tula (Netherlands Antilles / The Netherlands / Curacao) Javier Colón / I Am a Director (Puerto Rico) Ida Does / Poetry is an Island (Suriname / Aruba / The Netherlands) Thomas Weston / The Wind That Blows (SVG / USA) Miquel Galofré / Songs of Redemption (T+T / Spain) Christopher Laird / No Bois Man No Fraid (T+T) Ernest Che Rodriguez / Ten Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay (T+T) John Akomfrah and Lina Gopaul / The Stuart Hall Project (UK) Andrea Calderwood / Half of a Yellow Sun (UK) Everton Wright / New Media (UK) Vishnu Seesahai / Candid (USA) Damian Marcano / God Loves the Fighter (T+T / USA) Shola Lynch / Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (USA) Keith Miller / Welcome to Pine Hill (USA) Benh Zeitlin and Eliza Zeitlin / Beasts of the Southern Wild (USA) Our 2013 industry guests include: Frances Anne Solomon / Caribbean Tales Worldwide Distribution (Barbados) Suzette Zayden / Belize International Film Festival
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Rasha Salti / Toronto International Film Festival Brad Deane / Toronto International Film Festival Maykel Rodríguez Ponjuán / The Intl School of Film and Television (Cuba) Alquimia Peña / Fundación de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (Cuba) Yumey Besú, Muestro Joven Film Festival (Cuba) Rigoberto Lopez / Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase (Cuba) Marian García Alan / Intl Festival of New Latin American Cinema (Cuba) Alina Pérez Gallardo / Intl Festival of New Latin American Cinema (Cuba) Luis Notario / The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) Percy Pinedo / Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam Omar de la Cruz / Dominican Republic Global Film Festival Marco Herrera, FUNGLODE, Dominican Republic Fely Sedicias / FEMI, International and Regional Film Festival of Guadeloupe Patricia Monpierre / Association for the Development of the Cinematic Arts (APCAG) (Guadeloupe) Annabelle L Mullen Pacheco / Producer and Lawyer (Puerto Rico) Eddy Wijngaarde / TBL Cinemas and The Back Lot Foundation (Suriname) Holly Bynoe and Nadia Huggins / ARC Magazine (SVG and Saint Lucia) BC Pires / Independent Journalist (T+T / Barbados) June Givanni / African Movie Awards (UK) Hebe Tabachnik / Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals (USA) Dan Mirvish / Slamdance Film Festival (USA) Peter Belsito / Film Finders (USA) Michelle Materre / Professor of Media Studies and Film (USA) Dennis Dembia / Publicist, Rogers & Cowan (USA) Stephen Galloway / The Hollywood Reporter (USA) Anna Marie de la Fuente / Variety (USA) Lauren Wissot / Filmmaker Magazine (USA) Susanne Bohnet / CEO, Serafini Pictures (USA) Leslie Fields Cruz / National Black Programming Consortium (USA) Joshua Jelly-Schapiro / Independent Journalist (USA)
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
unesco – cameras of diversity Cameras of Diversity for a Culture of Peace: Thematic Debates on Developing the Caribbean Film Industry
Thursday 26 September Panel 4: Beyond Damsels in Distress: Women in Film
25–27 September 2013 Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain, Trinidad All sessions are free of charge and open to the public, except where indicated Pre-registration recommended. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register.
9.00am–10.30am
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Cameras of Diversity Since 2004, UNESCO Havana’s Cameras of Diversity project has promoted the access, enjoyment, capacity, creation, production, dissemination and distribution of local audio-visual materials of, in particular, indigenous communities and communities of people of African descent in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Region. The first cycles of implementation revealed profound differences between beneficiary countries with regard to the institutional capacities to establish operative policies that could support the implementation of a UNESCO normative framework in the field of culture, as well as the lack of a regional platform and strategy to support national and local counterparts in developing those policies. The thematic debates As part of the overall Culture of Peace programme, UNESCO Havana and the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) agreed to organise, during this year’s 8th edition of the Festival, an international conference to address the role that the film industry may play in strengthening a culture of peace. The conference contributes to one of the aims of the Culture of Peace Programme, namely “exploring opportunities offered by the media, including new social media, as a vehicle for reconciliation, tolerance and intercultural understanding”. A number of themes have been chosen that reflect UNESCO’s mandate in the fields of education, culture, and communication and information: (1) Education, (2) Communication and Archives, (3) Women in Film, (4) Film Criticism, (5) Social Development, (6) Film Industry Development, (7) Legal Frameworks, and (8) Film Exhibition. The thematic debates will also address the importance of
culture for sustainable development, enhancing therewith the efforts of local, national and international organisations and institutions, headed by UNESCO, to have culture included as a main element of the Sustainable Development Goals, to be adopted in 2015. Film professionals and experts will speak to the eight themes, addressing the challenges and opportunities of the film industry in the Caribbean. Each session will be managed by a moderator, who will give the audience the opportunity to participate in the discussion at the end of each debate. The eight sessions will be filmed to serve as record of the event. UNESCO The United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) works to create the conditions for dialogue among civilisations, cultures and peoples, based upon respect for commonly shared values. It is through this dialogue that the world can achieve global visions of sustainable development encompassing observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which are at the heart of UNESCO’s mission and activities. UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. The broad goals and concrete objectives of the international community — as set out in the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — underpin all of UNESCO’s strategies and activities. Thus, UNESCO’s unique competencies in education, the sciences, culture, communication and information contribute towards the realisation of those goals.
10.30am–10.45am
9.00am–10.30am 10.30am–10.45am
Opening by UNESCO and ttff
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Coffee Break
Panel 5: Making Film Count: The Role of Film in Social Development 10.45am–12.15pm
12.15pm–1.15pm
The role of the film industry as a vehicle to promote a culture of peace and as a tool for sustainable development. Shola Lynch, filmmaker, USA; Leslie Fields-Cruz, VP National Black Programming Consortium/Afro-Pop Worldwide, USA; Bruce Paddington, filmmaker, T+T; Maria Govan, filmmaker, Bahamas. MODERATOR: Georgia Popplewell, Managing Director, Global Voices Lunch
Panel 6: If You Build It, They Will Come (Part 1): Film Festivals and Industry Development 1.15pm–2.45pm
2.45pm–3.00pm
The networking and exhibition circuits as entry points to the film industry. Suzette Zyden, Belize International Film Festival; Omar de La Cruz, Dominican Republic Global Film Festival; Alina Pérez Gallardo and Marian García Alan, Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, Cuba; Felly Sedicias, Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe; Percy Pinedo, Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam; Yumey Besú, Muestro Joven Film Festival, Cuba. MODERATORS: Annabelle Alcazar, Programme Director + Emilie Upczak, Creative Director, trinidad+tobago film festival Coffee Break
Panel 7: If You Build It, They Will Come (Part 2): Film Commissions and Industry Development 3:00pm–4.30pm
Meet the film commissioners. The public initiatives and creative policies to support the industry. Kim-Marie Spence, Jamaica; Carla Foderingham, T+T; Craig Woods, Bahamas; Ellis Perez, Dominican Republic; Demetrio Fernandez, Puerto Rico; Tony Coco-Viloin, Guadeloupe; Rhodni A. Skelton, British Virgin Islands; Nigel Miguel, Belize. MODERATOR: Chris Meir, Coordinator of the Film Programme, University of the West Indies, T+T campus
Friday 27 September Panel 8: By the Book: Legal Frameworks 9.00am–10.30am
Conference schedule Wednesday 25 September
The role of applying a gender-equality approach when supporting creative industries for sustainable development. Female audio-visual production in the Caribbean. Luis Notario, Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), Cuba; Lina Rodriguez, filmmaker, Colombia; Michelle Materre, Professor of Media Studies and Film, The New School for Public Engagement, USA; Claudia Calviño, producer, Cuba. MODERATOR: Dr Patricia Mohammed, filmmaker and lecturer in Gender Studies, University of the West Indies, T+T campus
10.30am–10.45am
International and national legal frameworks regarding the film industry. Leire Fernández-Gomez, consultant, UNESCO, Cuba; Carla Parris, entertainment lawyer, T+T; Annabelle L Mullen Pacheco, lawyer + producer, Puerto Rico. MODERATOR: Courtenay Williams, lawyer, Trinidad + Tobago Coffee Break
Panel 9: Four Stars: The Role of Film Criticism 10.45am–12.15pm
Coffee Break
The role of specialised journalism and criticism in strengthening the film industry Stephen Galloway, The Hollywood Reporter, USA; Holly Bynoe, ARC Magazine, St Vincent and the Grenadines; Joshua Jelly-Schapiro, independent journalist, USA; Raymond Ramcharitar, writer and culture critic, T+T. MODERATOR: BC Pires, journalist, T+T / Barbados
Panel 1: Live It, Learn It: Development of Film Culture Through Education 10.45am–12.15pm
12.15pm–1.15pm
The quality of audio-visual production training. Challenges and opportunities in the Caribbean. Interregional cooperation to develop scholarship programmes and exchanges of professionals. Chris Meir, Coordinator of the Film Programme, University of the West Indies, T+T campus; Camille Selvon Abrahams, Creative Director of Animae Caribe and lecturer at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Animation Department; Maykel R. Ponjuán, International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV), Cuba; Marco Herrera, FUNGLODE, Dominican Republic MODERATOR: Professor Funso Aiyejina, Dean of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies, T+T campus
2:45pm–3:00pm
Exchange of experience and possibilities to provide access to a joint Caribbean audio-visual archive. Christopher Laird, CEO of Banyan, T+T; James Barber, Online Strategist, New Technologies, T+T/UK; Maureen Webster-Prince, Government Information Service Limited, T+T; Alquimia Peña, Fundación de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano (FNCL), Cuba; Patricia Monpierre, APCAG, Guadeloupe. MODERATOR: Susan Shurland, Secretary General UNESCO National Commission
Lunch
Panel 10: Walking the Tightrope: Getting Your Film Made, Marketed and Seen 1.15pm–2.45pm
Lunch
Panel 2: Remembering Ourselves: Communication and Archives 1.15pm–2:45pm
12.15pm–1.15pm
2.45pm–3.00pm
Financing through crowdfunding, how to effectively use social media to market and promote independent films, and the importance of the film festival circuit. Dan Mirvish, filmmaker and Director of the Slamdance Film Festival; Dennis Dembia, Vice President of global public relations agency Rogers & Cowan; Peter Belsito, Executive Vice President of Film Finders Division at Without A Box, Inc; Susanne Bohnet, CEO, Serafini Pictures. MODERATOR: Michelle Materre, film programmer and board member, Women Make Movies Coffee Break
Closing: Towards a Sustainable Caribbean Film Industry: Discussion and Recommendations 3.00pm–4.30pm
Coffee Break
This session will give participants of the conference the opportunity to make practical suggestions towards the future sustainability of the Caribbean film industry. FACILITATOR: Nirad Tewarie, CEO, Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries (TTCSI)
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Panel 3: Windows to the World: Film Exhibition in the Caribbean 3:00pm–4:30pm
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The opportunities and strategies to strengthen the distribution and exhibition of films, and to fight against the geographical unbalance in the industry. Eddy Wijngaarde, Founder TBL Cinemas/Chairman Backlot Foundation, Suriname; Rigoberto Lopez, Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase, Cuba; Frances-Anne Solomon, CaribbeanTales Worldwide, Canada/Barbados; Michael Look Tong, Director Media Group, Columbus Communications Jamaica Ltd; John Morgan, distributor, Barbados. MODERATOR: Carla Foderingham, CEO, Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, T+T
17 september – 01 october
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Indicates closed session
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
awards + juries AWARDS The trinidad+tobago film festival awards prizes in three categories: jury prizes, people’s choice awards and special awards. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 29 September at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad in Port of Spain. JURY PRIZES BEST FEATURE FILM – NARRATIVE US$4,000 / Sponsored by the National Gas Company In Competition: Abo So – Juan Francisco Pardo, Aruba God Loves the Fighter – Damian Marcano, Trinidad+Tobago I Am a Director – Javier Colón, Puerto Rico Kingston Paradise – Mary Wells, Jamaica Melaza – Carlos Lechuga, Cuba BEST FEATURE FILM – DOCUMENTARY US $4,000 / Sponsored by the National Gas Company In Competition: Carmita – Laura Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas, Dominican Republic/Mexico Fatal Assistance – Raoul Peck, Haiti No Bois Man No Fraid – Christopher Laird, Trinidad+Tobago Poetry is an Island: Derek Walcott – Ida Does, Suriname / Aruba / The Netherlands Songs of Redemption – Miquel Galofré + Amanda Sans Pantling, Jamaica/Spain BEST SHORT FILM US $2,000 / Sponsored by the National Gas Company In Competition: Alex and Fabio Are No Longer Here – Alejandro Orengo, Puerto Rico Auntie – Lisa Harewood, Barbados
The Gardener – Jo Henriques, Aruba A Home for These Old Bones – Julien Silloray, Guadeloupe Passage – Kareem Mortimer, The Bahamas Previous Scenes – Aleksandra Maciuszek, Cuba Holy Saturday – Gisela Ramos, Puerto Rico Siblings – Leo Aguirre, Aruba Vivre – Maharaki, Guadeloupe Yolanda – Cristian Carretero, Dominican Republic BEST LOCAL FEATURE FILM TT$20,000 / Sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company In Competition: God Loves the Fighter – Damian Marcano Ten Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay – Ernest Che Rodriguez BEST LOCAL SHORT FILM TT$10,000 / Sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company In Competition: After Mas – Karen Martinez Mystic Blue – Dainia Wright The Silver Dollar – Steve Hernandez BEST CARIBBEAN FILM BY AN INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER US$1,000 / Sponsored by National Lotteries Control Board In Competition: The Stuart Hall Project – John Akomfrah, United Kingdom Three Kids – Jonas D’Adesky, Haiti/Belgium Tula: The Revolt – Jeroen Leinders, Curaçao/The Netherlands
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PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS BEST FEATURE FILM TT$5,000 / Sponsored by Flow BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM TT$5,000 / Sponsored by Agostini Insurance Brokers Limited BEST SHORT FILM TT$5,000 / Sponsored by NH International SPECIAL AWARDS BEST NEW MEDIA FILM TT$5,000 BEST STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES FILM PROGRAMME An all-expenses paid trip to the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014 / Sponsored by bpTT BEST LOCAL FILM IN DEVELOPMENT TT$20,000 / Sponsored by bpTT RBC FOCUS: FILMMAKERS’ IMMERSION PITCH WINNER TT$20,000 / Sponsored by RBC Royal Bank THE JURIES Three juries, each comprising three members, will judge the ttff/13 jury awards. All jurors are film industry professionals, independent of the ttff. Before the Festival, the jurors watch all the films in competition. Having selected their short list, the jurors meet during the ttff/13 to decide on the winners. FEATURES JURY June Givanni is a film curator, archivist and international consultant in African and African diaspora cinema. She worked at the British Film Institute where she ran the African and Caribbean Film Unit, and at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she programmed the Planet Africa section. She is currently an advisor on Focus Features’ Africa First programme and works with numerous international film festivals. June was born in Guyana. DAN MIRVISH is co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, and an active director, screenwriter and producer. Labeled a “cheerful subversive” by The New York Times and “Hollywood’s bad boy” by the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Mirvish has been named one of Variety’s Top 50 Creatives to Watch. He led a successful crowdfunding campaign for his 2012 film Between Us. HEBE TABACHNIK is a film curator and has participated as a juror, project evaluator and panelist at film festivals around the globe. She is the Feature Film Ibero American Programmer for the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) and the Palms Springs International Film Festival, and the Short Film
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Programmer for LAFF. She has worked for the Sundance Film Festival and is Co-Founder and Vice President of Lokro Productions, a film production company in Los Angeles. DOCUMENTARY + BEST CARIBBEAN FILM BY AN INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER JURY PETER BELSITO graduated from the postgraduate film programme at UCLA. He then worked as a cinematographer, produced feature films and documentaries and wrote screenplays. Along with Sydney Levine, he co-founded Film Finders in 1988, a film acquisitions firm. Both Peter and Sydney have been involved for the last 15 years in professional education, and with young filmmakers via countless festival and market panels and forums. PATRICIA MOHAMMED is a scholar, writer and filmmaker. She is a professor at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad + Tobago, where she developed and teaches a course on cinema and gender. She has directed several short documentary and narrative films, which have screened at numerous film festivals and university conferences, regionally and internationally. MICHELLE MATERRE is an African-American television and film producer. She was a founding partner of KJM3 Entertainment Group, a film distribution and marketing company that specialised in multicultural projects. For more than a decade, she has programmed the Harlem Film Festival series in New York City. Materre is an assistant professor of media studies and film at The New School for Public Engagement and a primary programmer at MIST theatre, Harlem. SHORTS JURY RIGOBERTO LOPEZ is a Cuban filmmaker, and has made several documentaries and short films. A graduate of The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), he leads conferences, workshops and seminars on Cuban cinema around the world. He is currently director of the Travelling Caribbean Film Showcase, an institution that promotes the exhibition of Caribbean films throughout the region. RASHA SALTI is the film programmer for Africa and the Middle East at the Toronto International Film Festival. She was a programmer at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and the film programmer and creative director of the New York-based ArteEast where she directed two editions of the biennial CinemaEast Film Festival. She is based in Beirut. GEORGIA POPPLEWELL is a media producer and writer from Trinidad+Tobago. She has written extensively on culture, film and music, and is an active participant in film industry planning and policy development. Popplewell is Managing Director of Global Voices, an international citizen media non-profit founded at Harvard University’s Berkman Center.
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
panels / presentations / pitches
opening night gala TUESDAY 17 September Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s 6.00pm – Cocktail reception 7.15pm – Film screening: Half of a Yellow Sun Limited tickets are on sale for $150. To order, please call 621.0709.
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN
Director: Biyi Bandele 2013, Nigeria / United Kingdom English Narrative feature / 106 minutes / CARIBBEAN premiere
Audience at a 2012 presentation
ttff/12 Filmmakers’ Panel – participants get ready
WEDNESDAY 18 September University of the West Indies, Film Programme building 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine 10.00am–1.00pm PRESENTATION ON PRODUCING WITH ANDREA CALDERWOOD Sponsored by Flow Award-winning producer and managing director of independent film and television production company Slate Films, Andrea Calderwood has produced several feature films. She won the British Academy of Film and Television Award (Bafta) for Best British Film for her work on The Last King of Scotland (the film won three Baftas and an Academy Award for Forest Whitaker for Best Actor in 2007). 30 spaces available, $150 / session Pre-registration required. Call the ttff office at 621.0709 to register. Friday 20 + Saturday 21 September Hyatt Regency Trinidad 1 Wrightson Road, Port of Spain 9.00am–12.00pm DIRECTORS’ BOOT CAMP Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Presenter: Bill Duke Bill Duke will break down the fundamentals of directing, and the key aspects of what one needs to know to become a competent director. Cost: $350.00 per day Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register. Friday 20 September Hyatt Regency Trinidad 1 Wrightson Road, Port of Spain 1.00pm–3.00pm MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION: HOW TO SELL AND DISTRIBUTE YOUR FILM Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Cost: $350.00 Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register. saturday 21 September The Little Carib Theatre Corner Roberts + White Streets, Woodbrook 12.30pm FILMMAKERS’ PANEL Every year, the Festival provides a public platform for local and visiting filmmakers to discuss their craft, from the creative idea to production to the business of financing, marketing and, ultimately, distribution of films. The filmmakers’ panels provide an opportunity for local, regional and international filmmakers to come together to discuss the shared experience of making films within an independent industry context. Free of charge and open to the public.
Hyatt Regency Trinidad 1 Wrightson Road, Port of Spain 1.00–3.00pm BEHIND THE CAMERA: THE KEYS TO PRODUCTION Sponsored and presented by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Presenter: Poppy Hanks / Moderator: Corey Redmond Poppy Hanks is the Vice President, Production and Development at Tyler Perry’s 34th Street Films. Ms Hanks will discuss current filmmaking and production methods, equipment and advancements, as well as ways to stand out and improve one’s skills in these areas, from a “behind-thecamera” aspect. Cost: $350.00 Pre-registration required. Call the TTFC office at 625.3456 to register. Medulla Art Gallery 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook 7.00pm NEW MEDIA ARTISTS’ TALK Local and visiting participants in this year’s New Media programme of experimental film and video works discuss the field and their individual practices. See pages 38–39 for details of the New Media programme. Free of charge and open to the public. WEDNESDAY 25 September University of the West Indies, Film Programme building 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine 6.00pm London Reimagined by Caribbean Filmmakers Malini Guha is Assistant Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University in Canada. She is currently working on the completion of a book manuscript on cinematic Paris and London as migrant cities. Her lecture will focus on how London was reimagined in films, including Pressure by Horace Ové and Babylon by Franco Rosso. Free of charge and open to the public. Saturday 28 September The Little Carib Theatre Corner Roberts + White Streets, Woodbrook All events on this day are free of charge and open to the public. 12.30pm FILMMAKERS’ PANEL PART 1 1.30pm RBC FOCUS FILMMAKERS’ IMMERSION PITCH SESSION The second and final stage of the RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, the pitch session, will see five of the ten participants make a public pitch of the projects they worked on during the first three days of the workshop to a panel of film industry professionals. The person with the best pitch as determined by the panel will win a prize of $20,000, sponsored by RBC Royal Bank. 2.30pm FILMMAKERS’ PANEL PART 2
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Networking after ttff/12 panel
Olanna and Kainene are twins from a wealthy Nigerian family. Returning to a newly-independent 1960s Nigeria after studying in England, the two women make very different choices. Olanna goes to live with her lover, the “revolutionary professor” Odenigbo, in the university town of Nsukka. Kainene, meanwhile, takes over the family businesses, and falls in love with Richard, an English writer. Soon everyone becomes caught up in the events of the Nigerian civil war, in which the lgbo people fought to establish Biafra as an independent republic, ending in chilling violence that shocked the world. An adaptation of the celebrated novel by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun is an epic film about moral responsibility, the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, race and class — and how love can complicate them all. The producer of Half of a Yellow Sun, Andrea Calderwood, will be present to introduce the film. About the director Biyi Bandele studied drama in his native Nigeria before moving to the United Kingdom in 1990. As a playwright he has worked with the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1997 he adapted fellow Nigerian Chinua Achebe’s classic novel Things Fall Apart for the London stage, to great acclaim. Half of a Yellow Sun is his first feature film.
closing night film Tuesday 01 October The Little Carib Theatre, Port of Spain 7.30pm – Cocktails 8.30pm – Film screening: Tula: The Revolt Limited tickets at $50 will be available at the box office.
TULA: THE REVOLT
Director: Jeroen Leinders 2013, Netherlands Antilles / The Netherlands English Narrative feature / 102 minutes / T+T premiere Based on true events that took place in Curaçao in 1795, this is the story of Tula (Obi Abili), an enslaved African on the island of Curaçao, who is becoming more and more aware of the injustice existing between his people and the white oppressors. When he hears of the revolution in St Domingue and that France has ended slavery in her colonies, he downs tools and demands to meet with the governor, de Veer (Jeroen Krabbé). His peaceful resistance is not looked upon kindly by the rulers. But it resonates with his own people, including old Shinishi (Danny Glover). Inspired by Tula’s example, they unite in a passionate struggle for equality, freedom and brotherhood. The director of Tula: The Revolt, Jeroen Leinders, will be present to introduce the film. This event will take place in association with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. About the director Jeroen Leinders, who is Dutch, spent a large part of his youth in Curaçao. After a career in advertising directing numerous photo shoots and television commercials, he moved towards filmmaking, and has made several documentary and and short narrative films. Over the past five years he has been regularly living and working in Curaçao, which is where he came across the inspiring story of Tula. This led to the making of Tula: The Revolt, his first feature film.
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
meet the ttff/13 lineup CARIBBEAN
PANORAMA
RETROSPECTIVE
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The Caribbean section includes films from the diaspora as well as films by international filmmakers made in and about the Caribbean. Selected Caribbean films comprise the official competition. The Panorama section consists of films from heritage countries of Trinidad+Tobago, including India, countries in Africa and Europe, and, for the first time, China. Also included in the Panorama section are films from Latin America and the USA. The ttff/13 honours the work of pioneering Ghanaian-British filmmaker John Akomfrah. A selection of his films, both feature-length and short, will be screened.
SHORTS
MUSIC VIDEOS
NEW MEDIA
As ever, there is a section of shorts. This section is comprised almost exclusively of films from the Caribbean and its diaspora. For the first time, the ttff features a section of music videos, to recognise filmmakers working in this popular medium. This section is open to filmmakers from the Caribbean and the diaspora. Film and art are natural partners and the ttff annually screens a selection of video art and experimental films. These works are shown as part of the New Media initiative, held in partnership with ARC Magazine. (See pages 38–39 for details on New Media.)
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caribbean features
ABO SO
ANA’S FILM
FATAL ASSISTANCE
FORWARD EVER: The Killing of a Revolution
Director: Juan Francisco Pardo 2013, Aruba Papiamentu, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 72 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director : Daniel Diaz Torres 2012, Cuba Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 99 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Raoul Peck 2013, Haiti French, Haitian Creole and English, with English subtitles Documentary feature / 99 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Bruce Paddington 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary feature / 150 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Tatiana is a smart and demure young woman who moves with her mother and brother to their aunt’s house. In her new neighbourhood Tatiana meets Santiago, a quirky young man of Latin origin who can’t take her diva attitude. When they discover secrets about each other, a beautiful love grows. This love, however, brings new challenges. Abo So features memorable songs by Padu del Caribe, Aruba’s most celebrated musician.
Ana is an actress who can’t seem to do better than land limiting parts in lurid historical soap operas. One day she impetuously announces to her family that she has won the lead role in a major film, which will enable her to buy the household a new refrigerator. Yet, to actually make the money, Ana will have to take on a rather different role — she must pretend to be a prostitute for a foreign documentary about Havana’s streetwalkers. It can’t be long before the ruse unravels and trouble begins.
Over three years after the earthquake that ravaged the country, conditions in Haiti remain far from acceptable. Why is this the case, despite billions of dollars in aid and the intervention of everyone from movie stars to former US presidents? This gripping documentary by Haiti’s most acclaimed filmmaker dissects the recovery effort and exposes its inner workings. In the process, it paints a damning picture of a country in thrall to a paternalistic aid system almost as invidious as any dictatorship.
The invasion of Grenada by US forces in 1983 echoed around the world and put an end to a unique experiment in Caribbean politics. What were the circumstances that led to this extraordinary chain of events? This comprehensive, gripping and revealing documentary tells the story of the Grenada revolution as never before. The film features extensive, previously unseen file footage, as well as old and new interviews with many of the key players of the time.
Sun 22 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Tue 24 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Fri 20 Sept, 11.45am, UWI Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
Fri 20 Sept, 3.15pm, UWI, Q&A Sun 22 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne, Q&A
CARMITA
CHRISSY!
GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER
I AM A DIRECTOR
Directors: Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas 2013, Dominican Republic / Mexico Spanish, with English subtitles Documentary feature / 80 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Marcia Weekes 2012, Barbados English Narrative feature / 90 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Damian Marcano 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / USA English Narrative feature / 104 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Javier Colón 2012, Puerto Rico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 87 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Fifty years ago Carmen Ignarra left her Cuban homeland and travelled to Hollywood, hoping to become a great actress. But her initial success was followed by a slow, painful decline. Today, at 80, she lives forgotten in an old mansion in Monterrey, Mexico. Laura, a young woman from the Dominican Republic, arrives to work as a housekeeping assistant. She brings a video camera and the secret intention of making a documentary about Carmita. Together they talk about the past, about wasted talent and lost loves.
Ten-year-old Chrissy lives on the rough side of town in deplorable conditions with her two siblings and their sick, bedridden mother. Chrissy becomes a target for teasing and discrimination from her fellow students at Redemption Primary. She then meets a new student at her school, Melissa, who is rich, and begins a friendship. Will Chrissy ride this gift horse to the top? Or will her intellect be enough to help elevate her and her family out of their poverty-stricken life?
Charlie is a young man seeking to make ends meet on the streets of Port of Spain. Reluctantly, he takes a job from a gang leader as assistant to a drug courier. This is how he meets Dinah, a prostitute, who works for the fearsome Putao. Dinah convinces Charlie to escape with her, in a move that triggers serious consequences. Shot in an urgent and unflinchingly gritty style, God Loves the Fighter is an honest yet sympathetic tale of real life as lived in contemporary urban Trinidad.
After spending several years in Los Angeles, Carlos, a budding filmmaker, returns to his native Puerto Rico with plans to make a movie, Hollywood style. There are just a few small complications: he has no script, no money and no discernible talent. Yet along with his producer and only believer, Joa, Carlos is determined to make his dream a reality. This is a hilarious satire on the filmmaking process, by turns both savage and affectionate.
Wed 25 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Fri 20 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Tue 24 Sept, 5.30pm, UWI, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Tue 01 Oct, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Wed 18 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Tues 24 Sept, 12.00pm, UWI Fri 27 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Fri 20 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
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Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
ttfilmfestival.com
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caribbean features
kingston paradise
melaza
poetry is an island: Derek Walcott
RED, WHITE AND BLACK: A Sports Odyssey
Director: Mary Wells 2013, Jamaica English Narrative feature / 82 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Carlos Lechuga 2012, Cuba Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 80 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Ida Does 2013, Suriname / Aruba / The Netherlands English Documentary feature / 70 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Robert Dumas 2012, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary feature / 87 minutes
Life on the streets of Kingston is about frantic survival for Rocksy, a taxi driver and pimp, and Rosie, his roommate and a prostitute. Rocksy eyes a fancy sports car belonging to a businessman, Faris, and devises a plot to steal and sell it for parts. Rosie, though dead set against the plan, is drawn in. When things fall apart, Rocksy becomes desperate and does the unthinkable. In the resulting chaos, something changes within him in a world where real change is hardly ever found.
In the town of Melaza (Molasses) the sugarcane industry is at a standstill and work is hard to come by. Monica, receptionist at the sugar mill, still goes to the factory daily, although it has been shuttered for a year. Her husband, Aldo, teaches swimming in a pool with no water. To make extra money, they engage in a lucrative but illegal venture. When the police discover their scheme they charge the couple a hefty fine. To get out of their predicament, Monica and Aldo must consider doing the unthinkable.
As a poet, playwright, painter and even filmmaker, Derek Walcott has been hymning the Caribbean for over 60 years. This documentary presents an intimate portrait of the Saint Lucian Nobel Laureate for literature, set in his beloved native island. The film observes Walcott in places essential to his work and life, such as his art studio and childhood home, and gathers the thoughts of his closest friends. Most importantly, this documentary is a celebration of the greatest gift Walcott has given the world: his poetry.
Tue 24 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sat 28 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
In association with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
When Keshorn Walcott threw his javelin to gold-medalwinning lengths at the 2012 Olympic Games, he joined a distinguished group of athletes who have made Trinidad + Tobago proud at the world’s premier sporting event. This film documents the history of T+T’s participation at the Olympics, from the country’s first medal in 1948 right up to the finest overall performance ever last year in London. Narrated by four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon, the film features interviews with the likes of Hasely Crawford, Richard Thompson and Kelly Ann Baptiste.
Sat 21 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Tue 24 Sept, 3.45pm, UWI Thur 26 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Sat 21 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sun 22 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Tue 01 Oct, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
no bois man no fraid
payday
silent music
songs of redemption
Director: Christopher Laird 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary feature / 72 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Selwyne Browne 2013, Barbados English Narrative feature / 97 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Melissa Gomez 2012, Antigua English and English sign language, with English subtitles Documentary feature / 70 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Directors: Miquel Galofré, Amanda Sans Pantling 2013, Jamaica / Spain English Documentary feature / 79 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Keegan Taylor and Rondel Benjamin are young martial arts experts from Trinidad and Tobago. In this uplifting and eye-opening documentary, they embark on a discovery of their roots by deciding to learn the local martial art of stickfighting. In the process, they receive guidance from living legends such as Congo Bara, King Stokely and King Kali, and set out to compete in the annual national stickfighting championships.
Romie and Pack are best friends who dream of becoming mechanics and escaping their boring jobs as security guards. They’ve been saving their salaries and plan to make a down payment on a garage in their village of Pickletons. But their efforts are being challenged on all sides: by their loving but eccentric families, a violent drug dealer, a charity collector and a still-obsessed ex-girlfriend. The boys will have to go to extreme measures to keep their dream alive.
Everything in the Gomez family seems perfect, but appearances are deceiving. Kenneth and his wife Teresa are deaf, and this isolates them. There is also a communication breakdown that prevents the family from having genuine relationships with each other. It is Melissa, the youngest of three hearing children, who embarks on a journey of discovery, exploring delicate subjects never before discussed. Through difficult confrontations and unexpected revelations, Melissa is ultimately forced to ask herself: Are some secrets best left hidden?
At the General Penitentiary in Kingston, where inmates are serving sentences for crimes as serious as murder, a remarkable experiment is taking place. Through the progressive vision of the prison’s former superintendent, a rehabilitation scheme has been implemented that involves inmates creating and recording reggae music. Featuring riveting interviews and moving live performances, Songs of Redemption is an uplifting testament to the healing, even transformative power of music.
Mon 23 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Wed 18 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Fri 20 Sept, 1.30pm, UWI, Q&A Tue 24 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Wed 18 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Fri 20 Sept, 10.00am, UWI, Q&A Fri 27 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
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Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Thur 19 Sept, 6.30pm, MovieTowne POS Wed 25 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Thur 26 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
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caribbean features
THE STUART HALL PROJECT
THE SWIMMING POOL
viva cuba libre: Rap is War!
THE WIND THAT BLOWS
Director: John Akomfrah 2013, United Kingdom English Documentary feature / 100 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Carlos Machado Quintelas 2012, Cuba Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 66 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Jesse Acevedo 2013, Cuba / Mexico / USA Spanish, with English subtitles Documentary feature / 82 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Thomas Weston 2013, USA / St Vincent and the Grenadines English Documentary feature / 60 minutes T+T PREMIERE
In 1951 Stuart Hall left his native Jamaica to study at Oxford University. He would later become one of the United Kingdom’s foremost cultural theorists and intellectuals of the Left, and be hailed as the father of modern British multiculturalism. This powerful documentary portrait of Hall, spanning over 50 years, is comprised entirely of footage from his archives. The film is completed by a potent soundtrack comprising music fragments from Hall’s lifelong love of Miles Davis.
Esteban, an ex-professional swimmer and now instructor, waits for his students to arrive. The four teenagers have one thing in common: their physical disabilities have made outsiders of them all. Diana is bossy; Rodrigo is weak-willed; Dany is an innocent; and Oscar flatly refuses to speak. As one languid, carefree day at the pool runs its course, conflict within the group slowly arises, until the idyllic scene is filled with animosity, rivalries, power games and an unspoken mutual longing for love.
Los Aldeanos (“The Villagers”) are an electrifying rap duo sweeping the Cuban underground with their urgent lyrics about the economic and political state of their beloved country. Heralded as the voices of the lost generation, El B and his partner Aldo are banned from performing in official venues, and distribute their music by hand, in total secrecy for fear of government reprisal. Shot in true guerrilla style with hidden cameras, this powerful and provocative documentary takes viewers inside a new revolution brewing in Cuba.
For well over a hundred years, men of the tiny island of Bequia in the Grenadines have engaged in a dangerous and (now) controversial activity: the hunting of humpback whales. Spanning a generation, this revealing and compelling film gently examines this group of men whose lives are indelibly entwined with nature. Amidst the clamour of modernisation, the steadfast voices of a people reverberate as they cling to a proud past.
Sat 21 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 6.00pm, UWI, Q&A
Mon 23 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Fri 27 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Thur 19 Sept, 4.15pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
TEN DAYS OF MUHARRAM: The Cedros Hosay
three kids
ANINA
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Director: Ernest Che Rodriguez 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary feature / 106 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Jonas D’Adesky 2012, Haiti Haitian Creole, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 81 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Alfredo Soderguit 2013, Colombia Spanish, with English subtitles Animated feature / 80 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Benh Zeitlin 2012, USA English Narrative feature / 93 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Hosay is a Shia Muslim ritual commemorating the martyrdom of Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad. In the southwestern Trinidad community of Cedros, the observance of Hosay in the month of Muharram crosses ethnic, gender and even religious lines. This film documents significant aspects of Hosay, while recording for posterity the collective memory of the Hosay artists and celebrants from Cedros.
A steadfast friendship binds Mickenson, Pierre and Vitaleme, three 12-year-old boys living in a children’s home in Port-au-Prince. When an earthquake devastates the city, the lads escape to seek their fortune on the streets. Mickenson and Pierre then have an accident, and are placed in care. This separates them from Vitaleme, who refuses to accept the new situation. Three Kids — Twa Timoun in Haitian Creole — is a moving portrait of three boys’ attempt at survival; it also shows their exuberance in the midst of a devastated city where life must go on.
Anina Yatay Salas is a ten-year-old girl who does not like her name. Each part is a palindrome — it reads the same forwards and backwards. One day, Anina and her arch-enemy Yisel get into a schoolyard skirmish, so the principal disciplines them with a weird punishment: they are both given a sealed black envelope which they are not allowed to open for a week. Anina’s efforts to understand the contents of the envelope turn into a journey to understand the world and her place in it.
Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in the Bathtub, a community in the Mississippi delta that feels like the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares Hushpuppy for the unraveling of the universe; for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack, temperatures rise, and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother.
Sat 21 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 3.30pm, movieTowne POS, Q&A
Sun 22 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Sun 29 Sept, 12.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
22
panorama features
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Wed 18 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Tue 24 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Sat 28 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS
Fri 27 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
ttfilmfestival.com
23
panorama features
born to hate... destined to love
CANDID
GLORIA
HANDSWORTH SONGS
Director: Habib Faisal 2012, India Hindi, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 120 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Vishnu Seesahai 2012, USA / Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative feature / 92 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Sebastián Lelio 2013, Chile Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 110 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: John Akomfrah 1986, United Kingdom English Documentary feature / 60 minutes
In the northern Indian town of Almore, the Qureshis (who are Muslim) and the Chauhans (a Hindu family) have been rival political clans for generations. Boisterous and impulsive Zoya Qureshi campaigns for her father to win the upcoming election. Meanwhile, Parma Chauhan, an immature bully, will do anything to help his grandfather triumph. The young rivals brandish guns and trade insults, but their hatred soon ignites a passionate romance. When the families discover their secret affair, all hell breaks loose.
Jim is a videographer who lives in New York and suffers from recurring nightmares. His latest project, in which he surreptitiously shoots strangers and then uploads the videos to his website, brings him into contact with Samantha, a model who invites Jim to take risqué pictures of her. When Jim witnesses a shocking event at Samantha’s apartment one night, he is drawn into a downward spiral of horrific deeds from which there seems no escape.
Gloria is a 58-year-old divorcée. Her children have left home and she has no desire to spend her nights alone. Determined to defy old age and loneliness, she rushes headlong into a whirl of singles’ parties, which leads repeatedly to disappointment and emptiness. But then she meets Rodolfo, an ex-naval officer to whom she feels romantically inclined. However, the encounter presents unexpected challenges and Gloria finds herself being forced to confront her own dark secrets, in this tragi-comedy of fragile hopes and painful truths.
This seminal documentary explores the civil disturbances in the district of Handsworth in Birmingham and in London in 1985. Running throughout the film is the idea that the riots were the outcome of a protracted suppression by British society of black presence. On its release in 1986, Handsworth Songs not only stoked controversy, it also heralded, in John Akomfrah, the arrival of a brilliant and provocative new voice in British filmmaking.
Sat 21 Sept, 11.00pm, MovieTowne POS Thur 26 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
In association with the Embassy of Chile
Mon 23 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 2.00pm, UWI
Sat 21 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Thur 19 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS Sat 28 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS
THE DREAM OF LU
FREE ANGELA AND ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS
THE KID WHO LIES
THE LAST SUMMER OF LA BOYITA
Director: Carlos Sama 2011, Mexico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 106 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Shola Lynch 2012, USA English Documentary feature / 102 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Marité Ugás 2011, Venezuela Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 100 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Julia Solomonoff 2009, Argentina Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 93 minutes T+T PREMIERE
After her young son and only child, Sebastian, dies of a brain aneurysm, Lucía, a classical guitarist and single mother, suffers a nervous breakdown. Family and a support group provide solace and stability as Lu slowly works her way through her grief. Finally, she reaches out to an old friend and embarks on a journey to the Pacific Ocean, where the natural world embraces her with pure poetic force.
Political activists don’t come any more intelligent, inspiring or incendiary than Angela Davis, a leading figure of the US civil rights struggle. As a member of the Communist Party and an associate of the Black Panthers, she was anathema to the establishment, which set out to have her silenced. Free Angela and All Political Prisoners is the gripping story of how Davis faced down her enemies and embarked on the road to becoming a global icon of social revolution.
A 13-year-old boy (who doesn’t give his name) is on a journey along the Venezuelan coast. In order to get by, he tells people fanciful stories about his past, stories that often contradict one another. These stories, however, eventually reveal the truth: ten years previously, his mother disappeared in a great mudslide. Believing she’s still alive he has set off in search of her, propelled by memories he can’t erase.
Jorgelina and Luciana are sisters. As Luciana enters puberty, she begins to grow apart from her adoring younger sibling. Rather than tag along with Luciana at the beach, Jorgelina decides to spend the summer with her father in the country. There she develops a friendship with Mario, a farm boy. As the children explore the Pampas prairies, they begin to question the similarities they share, and what makes them different. This is a tender portrayal of the unexpected revelations that affect two children as they begin the bumpy transition to adolescence.
Sun 22 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sat 28 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago, Q&A Tues 01 Oct, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Mon 23 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Tue 24 Sept, 1.45pm, UWI Fri 27 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS
In association with the Embassy of Mexico and AMEXCID Wed 18 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS Thurs 19 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Fri 27 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Tues 01 Oct, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
24
you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
In association with the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Tue 24 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS
ttfilmfestival.com
25
panorama features
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS
THE Pirogue
rock, paper, scissors
Director: Ava DuVernay 2012, USA English Narrative feature / 97 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho 2012, Brazil Portuguese, English and Mandarin, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 131 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Moussa Touré 2012, Senegal Wolof, French and Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 87 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Hernán Jabes 2012, Venezuela Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 111 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby, a nurse, drops out of medical school in order to better focus on his wellbeing and to help him get early parole. This leads to tensions in Ruby’s relationship with her mother, Ruth, and sister, Rosie, a single mom. When she meets the handsome, sensitive Brian, Ruby is confronted with new challenges and desires, and finds herself reconsidering the path she has chosen.
An upscale neighbourhood in the city of Recife is the setting for this ambitious and unsettling drama of class conflict and societal change. João is a young man who manages his grandfather Francisco’s considerable property interests. Bia, a bored housewife, smokes weed and feeds sleeping pills to the dog next door to keep it from barking. And Clodoaldo, who runs a vigilante-style security outfit, takes an unhealthy interest in Francisco’s affairs. Events build uneasily to a stunning and provocative conclusion.
Baye Laye is the captain of a fishing pirogue. Like many of his Senegalese compatriots, he dreams of new horizons, where he can earn a better living. When he is offered the captaincy of one of the many pirogues illegally taking migrants to Europe, he reluctantly accepts the job. Leading a group of 30 men who don’t all speak the same language — some of whom have never even seen the sea — Baye Laye will confront many challenges on the perilous journey.
In this riveting Caracas-set drama, separate lives intersect and are changed forever over the course of one eventful day. Mari and Hector are a middle-class couple with a young son, Luis. Valentina is a waitress whose boyfriend, Christian, is in debt to some gangsters. When Hector is forced to leave Luis in Valentina’s care, a desperate Christian attempts to rob the café where Valentina works. An innocent Luis is swept up in dangerous events from which his parents become desperate to save him.
Fri 20 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
In association with the Embassy of Brazil
Tue 24 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
In association with the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Thur 19 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 11.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Wed 18 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Mon 23 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
no
papilio buddha
señoritas
she doesn’t want to sleep alone
Director: Pablo Larraín 2012, Chile Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 118 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Jayan Cherian 2012, India Malayalam and English, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 108 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Lina Rodríguez 2013, Colombia Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 87 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Natalia Beristain 2012, Mexico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 83 minutes T+T PREMIERE
In 1988 Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, was forced to call a referendum. The country went to the ballot box to vote YES or NO to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. In this drama inspired by actual events, Chile’s opposition leaders persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead the NO campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and under scrutiny by Pinochet’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.
In the state of Kerala in India live the dalits, a group of indigenous, landless people who face discrimination and displacement by political entities and upper-caste landlords. This provocative film tells their story through the experiences of Shankaran, an educated dalit youth. At first indifferent to the struggle, Shankaran has an awakening and joins in rising up against the injustice being endured by his people. This is fiction filmmaking at its most socially and politically aware, set against the stunning landscape of the Western Ghats.
Alejandra is a free spirit who lives with her mother in a comfortable apartment in Bogotá. She spends most nights drinking or dancing with her friends, including her best friend Véronica and her sometime boyfriend Tomás. Alejandra expresses her playful independence in these friendships, as well as in her sexual conquests with various men. Yet Alejandra’s comfort is also where the complexity lies, and gradually the intensity with which she lives comes to a head. Señoritas is a subtle, contemplative and intimate examination of the way one young woman navigates the daunting terrain of sex, desire and identity.
Amanda is a young woman with a problem: if she’s alone, she can’t sleep. Her solution is to fill her nights with a string of casual lovers, while by day she looks for a job. Amanda’s world is turned upside down when she is suddenly forced to look after her eccentric elderly grandmother, Dolores, a former actress battling alcoholism and dementia. Though she mostly lives through her memories of past glories, Dolores is able to understand Amanda’s difficulties, and over time the two women find themselves forming a tender bond.
Mon 23 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Thur 26 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Fri 20 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
In association with the Embassy of Chile Fri 20 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Mon 23 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS
26
you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Thur 19 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Wed 25 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
In association with the Embassy of Mexico and AMEXCID
ttfilmfestival.com
27
panorama features
ship of theseus
spring in a small town
welcome to pine hill
who needs a heart
Director: Anand Gandhi 2012, India English, Hindi, Arabic and Swedish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 140 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Fei Mu 1948, China Mandarin, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 93 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Keith Miller 2012, USA English Narrative feature / 81 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: John Akomfrah 1991, United Kingdom English Documentary feature / 78 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
When an unusual photographer has a life-changing clinical procedure, she has to grapple with the loss of her intuitive brilliance. Meanwhile, an erudite monk, confronting an ethical dilemma, must choose between principle and death. Finally, a young stockbroker, on the trail of a stolen kidney, finds out how intricate morality can be. Following the separate strands of their philosophical journeys, and their eventual sublime convergence, Ship of Theseus is a cinematic marvel pulsating with humanity, humour and cosmic wonder.
Liyan is the patriarch of the Dai family, a once-prosperous clan brought to ruin by the Second World War. An invalid, his marriage to Yuwen has long been loveless. Into their dreary existence comes Liyan’s childhood friend Zhang, who is also Yuwen’s old flame. Feelings are rekindled, and Yuwen finds herself torn between loyalty to her husband and a chance to begin life anew. Exquisitely shot and brilliantly acted, Spring in a Small Town is considered by many to be the greatest Chinese film of all time. In association with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
Beginning with an unexpected encounter surrounding a lost dog, Welcome to Pine Hill blurs the line between documentary and fiction. The story follows its protagonist, Shannon — a reformed drug dealer who is now an insurance claims adjuster — in the days following a grim medical diagnosis. Shannon, portrayed in an extraordinarily intimate performance by first-time actor Shannon Harper (of Trinidad and Tobago descent), sets out to make peace with those around him and, in turn, find his own peace beyond the cacophony of New York City.
Who Needs a Heart is a parable of political becoming and transformation. It explores the history of British black power through the fictional lives of a group of friends caught up in the metamorphoses of the movement’s central figure, the Trinidadian Michael Abdul Malik, formerly known as Michael X and christened Michael De Freitas. A largely silent film, the soundtrack (which includes John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman) investigates the expressionist potential of music to create the conditions for the movement of images.
Tue 24 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Mon 30 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sun 22 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Sat 28 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Sat 21 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 3.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Sun 29 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, UWI
tanta agua
violeta went to heaven
yema
zarafa
Directors: Ana Guevara, Leticia Jorge 2012, Uruguay Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 102 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Andrés Wood 2011, Chile Spanish, Polish and French, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 110 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Djamila Sahraoui 2012, Algeria Arabic, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 90 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Directors: Rémi Bezançon, Jean-Christophe Lie 2012, France French, with English subtitles Narrative feature / 78 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Fourteen-year-old Lucía would rather do anything than go on vacation with her father, Alberto, and her younger brother Federico. But Alberto, who is divorced from Lucía and Federico’s mother, is determined to get closer to his children over a week at a family resort. The kids’ initial reluctance and the constant rain threaten to derail his plans. Slowly, circumstances start to bring the three of them together, in ways none of them could have suspected.
“Creation is a bird without a flight plan,” the musician Violeta Parra once said. “It never flies in a straight line.” It’s fitting, then, that this drama inspired by the life of one of Chile’s heroes goes beyond linear biography, to present a poetic portrait of a woman whose songs echoed the soul of her nation. Key moments of Parra’s life — from her impoverished childhood to her international stardom — are beautifully woven together. At the film’s core is a rapturous performance by Francisca Gavilán as the magnetic, tempestuous and self-contradictory Parra.
Yema (Mother) opens with an audacious sequence: Ouardia, who lives in the mountains, drags the body of her beloved dead son, Tarek, who was a soldier in the Algerian army, to her hut, where she washes and buries it. She despises her other son, a rebel leader, whom she blames for Tarek’s killing. When the rebel son is injured in combat and comes to Ouardia seeking help, she is torn between lingering resentment and maternal duty. Whether viewed as political allegory or pure human drama, this is a beautifully spare, intimate and unforgettable film.
Maki, a ten-year-old boy, is friends with Zarafa, an orphaned giraffe. Hassan, Prince of the Desert, is instructed by the Pasha of Egypt to deliver Zarafa to the King of France. But Maki will do everything in his power to stop Hassan and bring the giraffe back home, to fulfill a promise to Zarafa’s late mother. During an epic journey that takes them from Sudan to Paris, Maki and Zarafa have many adventures, in this heartwarming tale of everlasting friendship.
Thur 19 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS
In association with the Embassy of Chile Sun 22 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
28
you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Mon 23 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Sat 21 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS
ttfilmfestival.com
29
shorts
AFTER MAS
ALEX AND FABIO ARE NO LONGER HERE
ANSWERING THE CALL: A Tribute to Clive Pantin
AUNTIE
A CHILD OF TWO WORLDS
CONTRACT
DADDY’S GARDEN
DANCE
Director: Karen Martinez 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 20 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Alejandro Orengo 2013, Puerto Rico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative short / 18 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Clifford Seedansingh 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 58 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Lisa Harewood 2013, Barbados English Narrative short / 15 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Judy Alcantara 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 49 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Marlon Pinder 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / USA English Narrative short / 11 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: M Jay Gonzalez 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / United Kingdom English Narrative short / 11 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Janine Fung 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 10 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
After Mas is a story of love that flourishes under the cover of darkness during J’ouvert on the streets of Port of Spain. In the cold light of day, will these young lovers from very different backgrounds stay true to their desires?
Alex and Fabio were once a couple, but have now broken up. Separately looking back over their relationship, they explore the intricacies of love, how they got together and what drove them apart.
When a barrel arrives from London bearing an unwelcome parcel, a caregiver in Barbados makes a hasty decision that risks destroying her special bond with a beloved child.
Annie Lalande is a young woman from Canada, the child of a Quebecois mother and a Trinidadian father she has never met. In this poignant film, she travels to her father’s homeland in hopes of finding him.
Abel is a contract killer who works for Mr Cain. Abel has what he perceives to be a spiritual encounter and decides to leave his job. Mr Cain, however, does not take kindly to this idea.
Sun 22 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Fri 27 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Wed 25 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Tue 01 Oct, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
This film celebrates the life and work of Clive Pantin and his contribution to the development of Trinidad and Tobago as a teacher, sportsman, politician and philanthropist. The film was produced by the 1975 graduating class of Fatima College, Port of Spain, where Pantin was principal.
Seven-year-old Marcie is cruelly rejected by her posh classmates because she doesn’t live in a fancy house with a nice garden. Tensions fly back home in her little apartment, as she blames Daddy for the rejection. Then she discovers he owns the biggest garden in the city... well, sort of.
Dance is the story of the ballerina Dai Ailian (1916–2006), who was born and raised in Trinidad before emigrating to China. Considered China’s mother of modern dance, she was the first person to bring western ballet to the country, in 1940, and would go on to cofound the National Ballet of China and the Beijing Dance Academy.
BARBADO’ED:
Fri 20 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Wed 18 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 1.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Wed 25 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sun 29 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI Tue 24 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sun 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Fri 20 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
EARTH, WATER, WOMAN
BEL AMZ
THE BLUE AND THE GOLD
BOUNTY
DIRTY REAL HAVANA
DRINK
DUST
Directors: Lydia Conway, Paul Arnott and Shane Brennan 2013, United Kingdom English Narrative short / 49 minutes
Director: Kareem Ferguson 2013, Belize / USA English Narrative short / 8 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Alex de Verteuil 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 47 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Finbarr Wilbrink 2013, The Netherlands Dutch, with English subtitles Narrative short / 23 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Claudia Ferman 2009, Cuba / USA Spanish, with English subtitles Documentary short / 42 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Juliette McCawley 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / United Kingdom English Narrative short / 8 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Shane Book 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / Canada English Narrative short / 9 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
When Oliver Cromwell transported 50,000 Scottish slaves to Barbados during an unprecedented act of ethnic cleansing, they disappeared from the history books. Three hundred years later, BBC broadcaster and writer Chris Dolan goes in search of their descendants, the island’s Redlegs, a small community still eking out a subsistence existence.
A hard-working single mother from Belize deals with the challenges of raising two teenagers in a new country while being pregnant again. Will she ever achieve her dream of a better life and find a loyal mate?
Poaching and habitat destruction were responsible for the disappearance of the blue and gold macaw from Trinidad’s Nariva Swamp. This is the story of one woman’s crusade to bring these birds back to Nariva, and how her efforts have resulted in one of the world’s most successful parrot reintroduction programmes.
When Tako, an adopted black boy being raised by his white lesbian mothers, finds out his biological father is a gangster rapper from Suriname, he has to “black up” to become his father’s son.
This film reveals the work and persona of Cuban writer Pedro Juan Gutierrez, author of the acclaimed Dirty Havana Trilogy. It weaves together conversations with the author, which took place in Havana over a four-year period, with excerpts from his narrative work and poetry.
An undocumented immigrant and his son are smuggled into London, hiding a desperate secret. Left alone and penniless, the young father is forced to go on an urgent quest in the dead of night. When his luck goes from bad to worse in the gritty neighbourhood, he is forced into an act of quiet desperation.
Dust braids two memories from a poet’s youth. In one memory, the young man remembers a last moment with a lover. In the other memory, he recalls his final hours with his dying grandfather. Ultimately, this contemplative examination of the nature of grief becomes a poetic meditation of “water, skin and dust.”
Mon 23 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Wed 25 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Scotland’s Sugar Slaves
Mon 23 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Fri 27 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
30
you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Sun 22 Sept, 12.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Wed 25 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Fri 27 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS Sat 28 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago, Q&A
Sun 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Fri 20 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Thur 26 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Directors: Sarah Feinbloom, Alexandra Swati Guild 2013, Trinidad + Tobago / USA English Documentary short / 22 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE Earth, Water, Woman spotlights the Fondes Amandes Community Re-Forestation Project in Trinidad and Tobago, and its charismatic leader Akilah Jaramogi, in their ongoing efforts to transform barren hillsides into a vibrant, healthy ecosystem. This documentary urges viewers everywhere to examine their relationship with Mother Earth. Sun 22 Sept, 12.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Wed 25 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Fri 27 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sat 28 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
ttfilmfestival.com
31
shorts
THE EARTHQUAKE
THE FALLEN PEOPLE OF THE BLACK LAND
FRACTION
THE GANG THAT WALKS
A HOME FOR THESE OLD BONES
HOPE
IF I COULD FLY
JAB IN THE DARK
Director: Danielle Lessovitz 2012, Haiti / USA Haitian Creole, with English subtitles Narrative short / 10 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Joanne Haynes 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 4 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Luis Fernandez Reno 2013, USA English Narrative short / 19 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Jacqueline Chan 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 18 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Julien Silloray 2013, Guadeloupe French, with English subtitles Narrative short / 22 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Shaundel Phillips 2011, Guyana English Narrative short / 15 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Maryam Mohamed 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 7 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Robert Macfarlane 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 36 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
In a cramped Brooklyn apartment nine days after the earthquake in Haiti, a pregnant refugee fears she’s carrying a stillborn, while children play a dangerous game in the next room.
Sent as punishment to spend the night with his ancestors, Kayana, an adolescent Amerindian boy, is caught between conscience and survival. Will conscience override his basic survival instincts—to find food and abate the anger of his gods with an offering?
Gabrielle’s life is shattered when her young child is killed. On the brink of insanity, she visits the prison to confront the man responsible.
The men of the Nation of Islam in Trinidad and Tobago take to the streets to spread the word about their controversial organisation.
JBB, an old man, lives in a shack on a plot of land from which he is set to be evicted. He despairingly seeks the help of Hilaire, a witch doctor. But Hilaire will cause a bigger mess for JBB than he’s already in.
When Ganeshwar and Ayanna meet, two worlds clash and passions are enflamed. They choose the path that fate has thrust upon them, but there are those who would thwart their efforts at finding happiness.
A young girl tells a tale of her unhappiness living with her mother and grandmother, and wishes she could fly as a kite does.
A security guard who works the night shift finds himself stealing from the storage containers he should be guarding. His friend coerces him into taking something from his missing brother’s container, which leads to devilish complications.
Wed 25 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Sun 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Thur 19 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI, Q&A Tue 01 Oct, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Theatre, Q&A
Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI, Q&A Sun 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Tue 24 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
THE GARDENER
GLORIOUS CHILDHOOD GAMES: Back in d’ Day
HALF: The Story of a Chinese-Jamaican Son
HOLY SATURDAY
KNOCKABOUT
THE LAST ANGEL OF HISTORY
LEROY CLARKE: A Chief Among Men?
LIME OF THE DEAD
Director: Jo Henriques 2013, Aruba Papiamentu, with English subtitles Narrative short / 8 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Nicholas Seepersad 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 15 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Jeanette Kong 2013, Jamaica / Canada English Documentary short / 26 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Karen Rossi 2013, Puerto Rico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative short / 10 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Emilie Upczak 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 16 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: John Akomfrah 1995, United Kingdom English Documentary short / 45 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Jacquie Thompson 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 55 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Andrei Pierre 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 10 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
A rich man and a poor man meet in the hallway of a hospital, where they are both being treated for the same form of cancer. For a few moments, these two gentlemen become equals.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the games children played in the past were very different to the games they play now. In this film we learn all about those old-time games.
Born in Jamaica in 1931 to a Chinese father and Jamaican mother, Vincent Lee was sent to China at the age of five. There, he endured a life of hardship and servitude in the care of Chinese relatives. Half paints a portrait of a man caught in the cultural traditions of pre-Communist China and his longing to be reunited with his family.
Gloria and Diana don’t have the best mother-daughter relationship. Diana fantasies about the reactions she’ll get when she shows her true feelings towards her mom. During one of their weekly Saturday morning visits to the supermarket, Diana loses her mom and finds out what she really feels.
The streets of Port of Spain and its varied cast of characters are the backdrop for this Trini-style neonoir. Philo, an expat detective, turns to his previous partner Monique for help in solving a high-profile kidnapping case. But where this leads them is to the past, and an old rift regarding the disappearance of Monique’s brother.
The Last Angel of History is one of the most influential video-essays of the 1990s, influencing filmmakers and inspiring conferences, novels and exhibitions. Its exploration of the chromatic possibilities of digital video is embedded within a mythology of the future that creates connections between black unpopular culture, outer space and the limits of the human condition.
Painter, poet… obeah man? This film is a portrait of the life and times of LeRoy Clarke, arguably one of the great modern Caribbean artists. In this, his jubilee year, the film sheds light on the mystery behind the man who proudly proclaims to be the best at what he does.
While liming with his friends, Lenroy becomes a zombie. His friends deal with his zombification, but fall out with each other in the process.
Wed 25 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Wed 25 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS
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you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Tue 24 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS
Wed 25 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Tue 01 Oct, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Mon 23 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 4.30pm, UWI, Q&A
Thur 19 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI, Q&A Tue 24 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
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shorts
THE RADICAL INNOCENCE OF JACKIE HINKSON
Director: Aleksandra Maciuszek 2012, Cuba / Poland Spanish, with English subtitles Documentary short / 27 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Christopher Laird 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 16 minutes
Director: Kim Johnson 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 58 minutes
In a ramshackle house full of memories, a grandfather cares for himself and his grandson. This documentary proposes a disturbing, sometimes grotesque, sometimes harsh, vision of death, which always — and in the most unexpected ways — nurtures life.
Through an exploration of the social, developmental and environmental aspects of design, Public Spaces links the work of architect Colin Laird to the development of post-independence Trinidad and Tobago.
Jackie Hinkson is one of the Caribbean’s greatest living artists, and has been painting the landscape of his native Trinidad and Tobago for over five decades. The film asks: “Why look at a work of art?” and an answer is proposed by looking at Hinkson’s artistic themes and his media, with commentary from the artist himself.
THE MOON IN THE GARDEN
THE MYSTERY OF THE SOUCOUYANT
MYSTIC BLUE
PERIPETEIA
PREVIOUS SCENES
Director: Patrice James 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 8 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Directors: Yemelí Cruz, Adanoe Lima 2012, Cuba Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative short / 9 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Christian Abdool 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 12 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Dainia Wright 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 12 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: John Akomfrah 2012, United Kingdom English Narrative short / 18 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Compelled by a burdensome long-distance familial relationship, a woman returns home to her island, to uncover some all-too-real truths about her brother’s life.
This animated film begins with the reflection of a full moon in a puddle, and then leads to a poetic dreamlike sequence in a garden. It was inspired by the novel The Garden, by the Cuban writer Dulce María Loynaz.
Mayaro in southeastern Trinidad is home to an obscure creature from folklore: the fiery soucouyant, in search of victims to bite. This film explores the legend of the soucouyant and what relevance she has today.
Mystic, a member of the Bobo Shanti faith, and Blue, a strongwilled woman who does not share her boyfriend’s beliefs, try to hold together their relationship while remaining true to themselves.
Mon 23 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Sat 21 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI Mon 30 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Peripeteia is a fictional experimental film that imagines the lives of two sixteenth-century figures, a black man and woman, who were the focus of woodcuts by the German renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. Filmed entirely on location on the bleak moors, the film is a beautifully told story of alienation, loss and memory.
Thur 19 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Tue 01 Oct, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
Sun 29 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 4.30pm, UWI
Wed 18 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Fri 27 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Thur 19 Sept, 1.15pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
NIGHTDRIVER
ON MY SHOULDERS
OUTDATED
PASSAGE
THE RIGHT THING
SIBLINGS
THE SILVER DOLLAR
SMALLMAN:
Director: Fritz Celestin 2013, USA / Haiti English Narrative short / 20 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Nicola Cross 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 6 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Ayesha Jordan 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 15 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Kareem Mortimer 2013, The Bahamas English and Haitian Creole, with English subtitles Narrative short / 15 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Anderson Edghill 2013, Antigua, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 7 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Leo Aguirre 2013, Aruba Papiamentu, with English subtitles Narrative short / 16 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Steve Hernandez 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 20 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Mariel Brown 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 10 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Gogo, a 22-year-old aspiring rapper from New York, pays the bills by providing transport for an escort service. One night his boss, Sanchez, instructs him to pick up Casey, a university student on her first job. Events, however, don’t go as expected.
This film is a universal story about love, caring, growing old, growing up, the reversal of roles and the challenges of life. The story is told through the relationship between a man and his daughter in their youth, and when they are older.
A young woman is persuaded by an older friend to step out into the dating world. She has to decide whether or not she wants to remain single after her disastrous dating experiences.
A young man struggles with the guilt of an accident and must ultimately come to terms with the consequences of his actions.
Two orphaned brothers look for ways to cope with their mother’s death. When Charlie commits a crime, Dane attempts to intervene and rescue his younger sibling from his reckless lifestyle before it’s too late.
Kareem has recently lost his father. His uncle notices his lacklustre attitude towards work and gives him the first dollar that Kareem’s father ever earned as inspiration. A series of events follows that changes Kareem’s life.
Tue 24 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
Fri 20 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Kenwyn Rawlins had a passion for making things. In a workshop beneath his house he made push toys, model battleships, miniature furniture and dolls’ houses. Smallman is an exploration of the world that Kenwyn Rawlins made, as told by his son Richard.
Sat 21 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 3.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
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PUBLIC SPACES: The Architecture of Colin Laird
MEH BROTHA
Fri 20 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
you’re in focus
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
17 september – 01 october
Fri 20 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Tue 24 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A
Passage centres around a group of Haitians locked in the hold of a fishing vessel being smuggled through The Bahamas into the USA. The story is focused on Sandrine, a 17-year-old girl who must hide the fact that her brother Etienne is sick, in order to save his life. Sat 21 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Thur 26 Sept, 8.30pm, MovieTowne POS
Fri 20 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Sat 21 Sept, 7.00pm, UWI Thur 26 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
The World My Father Made
Fri 20 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
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shorts
SWEET, SWEET COUNTRY
THAVENOT STREET
THIS IS ME
THREE CARDS
Director: Dehanza Rogers 2013, USA English Narrative short / 19 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Denith McNicolls 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 5 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Arkady Fabien 2013, Trinidad + Tobago English Documentary short / 12 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Michael James 2011, Guyana English Narrative short / 17 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Living in a small town in southern USA, 20-year-old Sudanese refugee Ndizeye struggles to support not only herself, but the family she left behind in a Kenyan refugee camp. Her struggle becomes so much more intense when her family literally shows up at her doorstep.
On 27 February 2013, residents of Thavenot Street in Tacarigua, Trinidad, spontaneously protested what they believe was a case of police brutality. This film documents that protest.
This Is Me is looks at the uniqueness of everyone’s handwriting, and how it affects our personality.
This is a family drama about how far a father will go to save the life of his ailing daughter, and how help can sometimes come from the most unexpected places.
Sun 22 Sept, 5.30pm, Little Carib Theatre Sun 29 Sept, 12.30pm, Little Carib Theatre
Fri 20 Sept, 8.30pm, Movietowne POS, Q&A Thur 26 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Tue 01 Oct, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
Wed 18 Sept, 1.00pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Wed 25 Sept, 1.30pm, MovieTowne POS, Q&A
THE TOMBS
VIVRE
YOLANDA
Director: Kojo McPherson 2012, Trinidad + Tobago English Narrative short / 22 minutes T+T PREMIERE
Director: Jerry LaMothe 2012, Haiti / USA English Narrative short / 29 minutes CARIBBEAN PREMIERE
Director: Maharaki 2013, Martinique French, with English subtitles Narrative short / 13 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Cristian Carretero 2013, Puerto Rico Spanish, with English subtitles Narrative short / 14 minutes WORLD PREMIERE
When Camille is rebuked for being a sex worker by her teenage daughter — after finding out that the daughter too is sexually active — she decides it is time to find a new line of work. However, finding a job that can support her family is easier said than done.
This film chronicles a Brooklyn man’s three-day journey through New York’s infamous central booking jail system, notoriously known as the Tombs, and the interesting personalities he encounters while incarcerated.
A teacher asks her class, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” While his joyful classmates respond, Tom, a quiet 12-year-old boy, slips away.
Yolanda, a single mother, struggles to raise her children on the outskirts of Santo Domingo. Tired of hustling in the streets, she decides to leave it all behind and illegally emigrate to Puerto Rico on an overcrowded wooden vessel.
17 september – 01 october
Fri 20 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Thur 26 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
Sun 22 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS Wed 25 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sun 29 Sept, 11.00am, MovieTowne POS, Q&A Sun 29 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago
you’re in focus
Tue 24 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Fri 27 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Sat 28 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Mon 30 Sept, 8.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
TO THE NIGHT
Fri 20 Sept, 3.30pm, MovieTowne POS Thur 26 Sept, 3.00pm, Little Carib Theatre Sat 28 Sept, 5.30pm, MovieTowne Tobago Mon 30 Sept, 3.00pm, MovieTowne Tobago
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Check the website for the ratings for all films. Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
Tue 24 Sept, 6.00pm, MovieTowne POS Sun 29 Sept, 8.00pm, Little Carib Theatre
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you’re in focus
FESTIVAL GUIDE
new media
Native Girl
For the third consecutive year, the trinidad+tobago film festival and ARC Magazine present New Media, a collection of artists’ works that explore a range of themes and issues, while pushing and blurring the boundaries between film and art. 20–27 September, Medulla Art Gallery 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook. Tel: 622.1196 New Media Opening Night Friday 20 September, 6.00pm Native Girl (performance) Olivia McGilchrist Jamaica / 2013 Native Girl is an expansion of artist McGilchrist’s “Whitey” theme. The performance re-investigates several Jamaican mythical and legendary female characters by imbuing young women with attributes of these characters. The portrayal of evocative moments from these Jamaican tales is a starting point for discussions on current gender and identity constructs. DAILY SCHEDULE Saturday 21 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme 6.00pm – PUMA films4peace 7.00pm – New Media Artists’ Talk Sunday 22 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme
DEBORAH ANZINGER
JEANNETTE EHLERS
PATRICIA KAERSENHOUT
Lizard Jamaica / 2012 / 42” A feared creature for many Jamaicans, the lizard is transformed into a carcass of little interest, and transmutated into art object. Mammary Flashes Jamaica / 2013 / animated gif Mammary Flashes references primal concepts—specifically instinctual recognition—that are active in mammals for breast feeding and facial recognition.
Black Bullets Haiti, Denmark / 2012 / 5’ Inspired by the Haitian Revolution, Black Bullets is a poetic tribute to the act of revolt. Black Magic at the White House Haiti, Denmark / 2009 / 4’ In this video, a voudon dance is performed at the Marienborg—a building with a strong connection to the triangular trade that today plays an important role as Denmark’s prime minister’s official residence.
S(K)IN The Netherlands / 2013 / 1’ A one-minute film about the complexity of the outer layer – the skin – in relation to the soul.
STEEVE BAURAS
KENDRA FRORUP
OLIVIA MCGILCHRIST
3K Senegal / 2013 / 7’ 3K features a remake of a film extract from Shock Corridor (1963) by Sam Fuller. In this extract, a young black man in seen praising the KKK – an attempt to trigger some reflection about intercommunity racism.
All Who Wander Are Not Lost Haiti, Bahamas / 2013 / 4’ An experimental new media installation response to Port-auPrince, Haiti, this video uses projection-mapping techniques to highlight contrasting spaces and objects in order to question customary beliefs and values.
Ernestine and Me Jamaica / 2012 / 10’ Olivia’s alter-ego, “Whitey”, presents herself as a cultural object to a range of contemporary Jamaicans, exposing their varied reactions to this forced encounter. Lovers’ Leap Jamaica / 2012 / 5’ A young Jamaican male executes a sequence of dancehall-style moves in an escape from a harsh reality. Memory Box #1 Jamaica / 2013 / 5’ A constructed glimpse of nostalgia of a fleeting personal memory.
MALAIKA BROOKS-SMITHLOWE
ANTOINE HUNT
JOIRI MINAYA
Wednesday 25 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme 6.00pm – You Look Like a Carriage That Not Even the Oxen Can Stop Thursday 26 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme 7.00pm – University of the West Indies
Off Track, Moving Forward Barbados / 2013 / 5’ This triptych is a meditation of sorts, revealing the frictions between progress and peace in a highdemand world.
Islet Bermuda / 2013 / 2’ There is a belief that spirits cannot pass over water; on a small island they would wander endlessly.
SANTIAGO ECHEVERRY
PATRICIA KAERSENHOUT + JEANETTE EHLERS
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17 september – 01 october
La Vie en Rose Colombia, USA / 2013 / 5’ La Vie en Rose studies how LGBTI intimacy is interpreted by scared outsiders through the beauty of three-dimensional pixelation.
The Image of Me The Netherlands / 2012 / 6’ Two women gradually change colour while a voiceover recites the poem “Lord, Why Did You Make Me Black?”.
Rotator Jamaica / Trinidad + Tobago / 2013 / 1’ 8” Breakdancing meets classical music, and the street meets concert hall, to create symmetrical, Rorschach-like patterns.
RICHARD MARK RAWLINS
Flag Party is an Independent Film Trinidad + Tobago / 2012 / 1’ 39” This film explores the inner musings of the country of Trinidad and Tobago, coming to terms with the fact that it has been an independent nation for 50 years.
Hoghole St Vincent / 2013 / 11’ Directly inspired by personal events, Hoghole is an emotional response to repeated experiences of exploitation, crime and robbery, set in St Vincent.
AIKO ROUDETTE
Binólogos Dominican Republic / USA / 2013 / 12’ 30” Binólogos is a series of short experimental and minimal videos that aims to problematise traditional gender roles.
CARLOS RUIZ-VALARINO
SHARON MOISE
Folding Bicycle Project Puerto Rico / 2013 / 3’ 20” A video art and social intervention project that presents the foldable bicycle as a medium that intervenes in the city. Unrevealed Puerto Rico / 2012 / 5’ 12” Central to Unrevealed is the concept of searching and the psychological tension of waiting.
Friday 27 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme New Media Closing Night Friday 27 September, 6.00pm Light Trap (performance) Rodell Warner / Trinidad and Tobago / 2013 Using projected animation and self-portraiture, Light Trap muses on the pitfalls of obsessively hierarchising experience by performing it.
Island Matrix Trinidad + Tobago / 2013 / 1’ 24” Island Matrix is a concise visual comment on Caribbean reality as a construct.
MARK ANTHONY THOMAS
LUIS ALBERTO VASQUEZ LA ROCHE
Monday 23 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme 6.00pm – Walking Drawings Across the Estuaries Tuesday 24 September 11.00am–4.00pm, regular programme
MARSHA PEARCE + ALEXANDER ELIAS
Wire Cockfight Barbados / 2013 / 49” This work uses stop-motion photography to explore political satire via cockfighting.
SPECIAL PROGRAMMES PUMA films4peace
Directors: Various films4peace, an annual short film commission by PUMA. Peace, curated by Mark Coetzee, features some of today’s most innovative contemporary artists visually interpreting the subject of peace. These art films are released each year at cultural and educational venues globally and online on World Peace Day on 21 September. The films are then shown year-round. Walking Drawings Across the Estuaries
Emigrante Experiments Pt. 1 (Sample #4) Trinidad + Tobago / 2012 / 53” Explored here are ideas of location, emigration and space; routine, monotony and movement. Emigrante Experiments Pt. 1 (Sample #13 + 15) Trinidad + Tobago / 2013 / 2’ Examination of the duality of inner and outer space. Emigrante Experiments Pt. 1 (Sample #9) Trinidad + Tobago / 2012 / 2’ Explored again are ideas of location, emigration and space; routine, monotony and movement.
Director: Everton Wright United Kingdom / 2012 / 42’ Artist Evewright creates large-scale freehand drawings on selected transitional British “sandscapes”. With the use of film these marks and grooves are then brought to life when members of the public and horses are invited to walk these lines to engage with and experience a “drawing” in a new way. Mon 23 September, 6.00pm You Look Like a Carriage that Not Even the Oxen Can Stop
Director: Nelson de los Santos Arias DR / USA / 2013 / 84’ Gladys and her daughter live on the periphery of New York City where they share their isolated lives together in their own little space in the same house, which is their whole world. Hidden in a city that also hides from them, they only speak Caribbean Spanish together and a few words in English they have managed to remember. Wed 25 September, 6.00pm
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you’re in focus
FESTIVAL GUIDE
INTRODUCING
NEW
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DESCRIBED AS
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17 september – 01 october
www.ttfilmfestival.com
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you’re in focus
FESTIVAL GUIDE
Our Cinnamon Sensation... The Perfect Way to Start Your Day!
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17 september – 01 october
www.ttfilmfestival.com
43
Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
FESTIVAL GUIDE
time
44
venue
wednesday 18 sept
thursday 19 sept
friday 20 sept
you’re in focus
saturday 21 sept
sunday 22 sept
monday 23 sept
tuesday 24 sept
Zarafa (GA) 78’
Children’s Shorts: The Fallen People of The Black Land 4’ (GA) + If I Could Fly 7’ (GA) + Daddy’s Garden 11’ (GA) + Vivre 13’ (GA) + Bounty 23’ (GA) Q&A
The Kid Who Lies 100’ (PG)
Anina 80’ (GA)
11.00am
MovieTowne POS
Anina 80’ (GA)
Tanta Agua 102’ (PG)
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selections 90’ (GA)
1.00pm
MovieTowne POS
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + This Is Me 12’ (GA) + Answering the Call: A Tribute to Clive Pantin 58’ (GA) Q&A
1.15pm LeRoy Clarke: A Chief Among Men? 55’ (GA) + The Radical Innocence of Jackie Hinkson 58’ (GA) Q&A
On My Shoulders 6’ (GA) + Carmita 80’ (GA)
10 Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay 106’ (GA) Q&A
Red, White and Black: A Sports Odyssey 87’ (GA) Q&A
1.15pm Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + The Moon in the Garden 19’ (GA) + Silent Music 70’ (GA)
Short Films Package: Lime of the Dead 10’ (PG13) + Contract 11’ (PG13) + Outdated 15’ (PG) + Siblings 16’ (PG13) + Jab in the Dark 36’ (PG13) Q&A
3.30 Short Films Package: Bel Amz 8’ (PG) + The Mystery of the Soucouyant 12’ (GA) + Mystic Blue 12’ (PG) + Glorious Childhood Games: Back in d’ Day 15’ (GA) + Hope 15’ (GA) + Fraction 19’ (GA) Q&A
Spring in a Small Town 93’ (GA)
Handsworth Songs 60’ (PG) + The Last Angel of History 45’ (PG)
Three Cards 17’ (PG) + Kingston Paradise 82’ (16+)
3.30pm
MovieTowne POS
I Am a Director 87’ (PG13)
4.15pm Previous Scenes 27’ (GA) + The Swimming Pool 66’ (PG)
Short Films Package: The Right Thing 7’ (PG) + Meh Brotha 8’ (GA) + To the Night 22’ (PG13) + The Silver Dollar 20’ (GA) + The Tombs 29’ (PG) Q&A
6.00pm
MovieTowne POS
Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird 16’ (GA) + No Bois Man No Fraid 72’ (GA) Q&A
6.30pm Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + Payday 97’ (PG13)
Middle of Nowhere 97’ (PG13)
Poetry Is an Island: Derek Walcott 70’ (GA) Q&A
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners 102’ (PG)
Drink 8’ (GA) Q&A + Yema 90’ (PG)
Yolanda 14’ (PG) + The Pirogue 87’ (PG13)
8.30pm
MovieTowne POS
The Dream of Lu 106’ (PG)
Gloria 110’ (16+)
Thavenot Street 5’ (PG13) + God Loves the Fighter 104’ (18+) Q&A
Born to Hate... Destined to Love 120’ (16+)
Violeta Went to Heaven 110’ (16+)
NO 118’ (PG13)
Holy Saturday 10’ (PG13) + The Last Summer of La Boyita 93’ (PG13) Q&A
11.00pm
MovieTowne POS
Candid 92’ (18+)
12.30pm
The Little Carib Theatre
Filmmakers’ Panel
Earth, Water Woman 22’ (GA) + The Blue and the Gold 47’ (GA) Q&A
3.00pm
The Little Carib Theatre
5.30pm
The Little Carib Theatre
8.00pm
The Little Carib Theatre
7.15pm
STUDIOFILMCLUB
10.00am
UWI
11.45am
UWI
Fatal Assistance 99’ (PG)
12.00pm I Am a Director 87’ (PG13)
1.30pm
UWI
Songs of Redemption 78’ (PG) Q&A
1.45pm The Kid Who Lies 100’ (PG)
3.15pm
UWI
Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution 150’ (PG) Q&A
3.45pm Melaza 80’ (16+)
5.30pm
UWI
The Gang that Walks 18’ (GA) + The Dream of Lu 106’ (PG)
Auntie 15’ (GA) + She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone 83’ (16+)
The Stuart Hall Project 100’ (GA)
SSSFF Selection 5’ (GA) + After Mas 20’ (GA) + Abo So 72’ (GA) Q&A
Barbado’ed 49’ (GA) + The Wind that Blows 60’ (GA) Q&A
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + After Mas 20’ (GA) + Abo So 72’ (GA) Q&A
Music Videos 25’ (PG) + Songs of Redemption 78’ (PG) Q&A
Papilio Buddha 108’ (16+)
Dance 10’ (GA) + Smallman: The World My Father Made 10’ (GA) + Dirty Real Havana 42’ (16+)
NightDriver 20’ (PG13) + Welcome to Pine Hill 87’ (PG)
Sweet, Sweet Country 19’ (GA) + Three Kids 81’ (PG)
Señoritas 87’ (18+)
Music Videos 25’ (PG) + Songs of Redemption 78’ (PG) Q&A
Neighbouring Sounds 131’ (16+)
Rock, Paper, Scissors 111’ (16+)
NO 118’ (PG13)
Passage 15’ (16+) + Melaza 80’ (16+)
Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution 150’ (PG) Q&A
Neighbouring Sounds 131’ (16+)
Ship of Theseus 140’ (PG13)
Portrait of Jason 105’ (PG)
PRESENTATION ON PRODUCING WITH ANDREA CALDERWOOD
No Bois Man No Fraid 72’ (GA) Q&A
God Loves the Fighter 104’ (18+) Q&A UWI Student Showcase: If I Could Fly 7’ (GA) + The Right Thing 7’ (GA) + Lime of the Dead 10’ (PG) + Contract (PG13) 11’ + Mystic Blue 12’ (PG) + The Gang that Walks 18’ (GA)
7.00pm
UWI
9.00am
HYATT REGENCY TRINIDAD
9.00am–12.00pm DIRECTORS’ BOOT CAMP
9.00am–12.00pm DIRECTORS’ BOOT CAMP
1.00pm
HYATT REGENCY TRINIDAD
1.00pm–3.00pm MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION: HOW TO SELL AND DISTRIBUTE YOUR FILM
1.00–3.00pm BEHIND THE CAMERA: THE KEYS TO PRODUCTION
11.00am– 4.00pm
MEDULLA ART Gallery
6.00pm
MEDULLA ART Gallery
17 september – 01 october
To Be Announced
New Media exhibition
Opening night New Media, performance with Olivia McGilchrist
PUMA films4peace + New Media Artists’ Talk
New Media exhibition
New Media exhibition
New Media exhibition
Walking Drawings Across the Estuaries 42’ (GA)
ttfilmfestival.com
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Screenings are subject to change, so please check the website before attending a screening.
FESTIVAL GUIDE
time
venue
wednesday 25 sept
thursday 26 sept
friday 27 sept
saturday 28 sept
sunday 29 sept
monday 30 sept
tuesday 01 oct
11.00am
MovieTowne POS
Chrissy! 90’ (GA) Q&A
Secondary Schools’ Short Films Festival Selections 90’ (GA)
The Kid Who Lies 100’ (PG)
Anina 80’ (GA)
Children’s Shorts Package: The Fallen People of the Black Land 4’ (GA) + If I could Fly 7’ (GA) + Daddy’s Garden 11’ (GA) + Vivre 13’ (GA) + Bounty 23’ (GA) Q&A
Chrissy! (GA) 90’
Zarafa 78’ (GA)
MovieTowne POS
1.30pm Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + This Is Me 12’ (GA) + Answering the Call: A Tribute to Clive Pantin 58’ (GA) Q&A
Dance 10’ (GA) + Smallman: The World My Father Made 10’ (GA) + Dirty Real Havana 42’ (16+) Q&A
1.15pm Earth, Water, Woman 22’ (GA) + The Blue and the Gold 47’ (GA) Q&A
Spring in a Small Town 93’ (GA)
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + Half 26’ (GA) + A Child of Two Worlds 49’ (GA) Q&A
Short Films Package: Bel Amz 8’ (PG) + The Mystery of the Soucouyant 12’ (GA) + Mystic Blue 12’ (PG) + Glorious Childhood Games: Back in d’ Day 15’ (GA) + Hope 15’ (GA) + Fraction 19’ (GA) Q&A
Red, White and Black: A Sports Odyssey 87’ (GA)
MovieTowne POS
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + Half 26’ (GA) + A Child of Two Worlds 49’ (GA) Q&A
10 Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay 106’ (GA) Q&A
Barbado’ed 49’ (GA) + The Wind That Blows 58’ (GA) Q&A
Auntie 15’ (GA) + She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone 83’ (16+) Q&A
Middle of Nowhere 97’ (PG13)
6.00pm
MovieTowne POS
Short Films Package: The Gardener 8’ (PG) + Dust 9’ (PG) + Knockabout 16’ (PG) + Alex and Fabio Are No Longer Here 18’ (14+) + A Home for These Old Bones 22’ (PG) Q&A
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + Payday 97’ (PG13) Q&A
Violeta Went to Heaven 110’ (16+) Q&A
The Stuart Hall Project 100’ (GA) Q&A
Drink 8’ (PG) + Yema 90’ (PG) Q+A
Holy Saturday 10’ (PG13) + The Last Summer of la Boyita 93’ (PG13)
Thavenot Street 5’ (PG13) + God Loves the Fighter 104’ (18+)
8.30pm
MovieTowne POS
PRIVATE SCREENING
Passage 15’ (16+) + Melaza 80’ (16+) Q&A
8.45pm Free Angela and All Political Prisoners 102’ (PG) Q&A
Gloria 110’ (16+)
Tanta Agua 102’ (PG)
Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution 150’ (PG) Q&A
Born to Hate... Destined to Love 120’ (16+)
11.00pm
MovieTowne POS
Rock Paper Scissors 111’ (16+)
12.30pm
The Little Carib Theatre
Filmmakers’ PanelS/Focus: Filmmakers Immersion Pitch Session
Sweet Sweet Country 19’ (GA) + Three Kids 81’ (PG)
1.00pm
3.30pm
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you’re in focus
Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird 16’ (GA) + No Bois Man No Fraid 72’ (GA) Q&A
Shorts Film Package: The Gardener 8’ (PG) + Dust 9’ (PG) + Knockabout 16’ (PG) + Alex and Fabio Are No Longer Here 18’ (14+) + A Home for These Old Bones 22’ (PG) Q&A
Short Films Package: Meh Brotha 8’ (GA) + The Right Thing 7’ (PG) + To the Night 22’ (PG13) + The Silver Dollar 20’ (GA) + The Tombs 29’ (PG) Q&A
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) +The Moon in the Garden 19’ (GA) + Silent Music 70’ (GA) Q&A
3.30pm Night Driver 20’ (PG13) + Welcome to Pine Hill 87’ (PG) Q&A
Peripeteia 18’ (GA) + Who Needs a Heart 78’ (GA) Q&A
Short Films Package: Lime of the Dead 10’ (PG13) + Contract 11’ (PG13) + Outdated 15’ (PG) + Siblings 16’ (PG13) + Jab in the Dark 36’ (PG13) Q&A
The Gang that Walks 18’ (GA) + To Be Announced
3.00pm
The Little Carib Theatre
On My Shoulders 6’ (GA) + Carmita 80’ (GA) Q&A
5.30pm
The Little Carib Theatre
LeRoy Clarke: A Chief Among Men? 55’ (GA) + The Radical Innocence of Jackie Hinkson 58’ (GA) Q&A
Señoritas 87’ (18+) Q&A
Beasts of the Southern Wild 93’ (PG13) Q&A
The Dream of Lu 106’ (GA) Q&A
Earthquake 10’ (GA) + Fatal Assistance 99’ (PG)
Poetry Is an Island: Derek Walcott 70’ (GA)
Previous Scenes 26’ (GA) + The Swimming Pool 66’ (PG)
8.00pm
The Little Carib Theatre
Papilio Buddha 108’ (16+)
Candid 92’ (18+) Q&A
I Am a Director 87’ (PG13) Q&A
Three Cards 17’ (PG) + Kingston Paradise 82’ (16+) Q&A
Yolanda 14’ (PG) + The Pirogue 87’ (PG13)
Ship of Theseus 140’ (PG13)
Tula: The Revolt 102’ (16+) Q&A
3.00pm
MovieTowne TOBAGO
Children’s Shorts Package: The Fallen People of The Black Land 4’ (GA) + If I Could Fly 7’ (GA) + Daddy’s Garden 11’ (GA) + Vivre 13’ (GA) + Bounty 23’ (GA)
Secondary Schools Short Films Festival Selections 90’ (GA)
Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird 16’ (GA) + No Bois Man No Fraid 72’ (GA)
Earth, Water Woman 22’ (GA) + The Blue and the Gold 47’ (GA) Q&A
Secondary Schools Short Films Festival Selections 90’ (GA)
Short Films Package: Meh Brotha 8’ (GA) + The Right Thing 7’ (PG) + To the Night 22’ (PG13) + The Silver Dollar 20’ (GA) + The Tombs 29’ (PG)
Chrissy! 90’ (GA)
5.30pm
MovieTowne TOBAGO
Earth, Water Woman 22’ (GA) + The Blue and the Gold 47’ (GA) Q&A
Chrissy! 80’ (GA)
Three Cards 17’ (PG) + Kingston Paradise 82’ (16+)
Short Films Package: Meh Brotha 8’ (GA) + The Right Thing 7’ (PG) + To the Night 22’ (PG13) + The Silver Dollar 20’ (GA) + The Tombs 29’ (PG)
Children’s Shorts Package: The Fallen People of The Black Land 4’ (GA) + If I Could Fly 7’ (GA) + Daddy’s Garden 11’ (GA) + Vivre 13’ (GA) + Bounty 23’ (GA)
Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird 16’ (GA) + No Bois Man No Fraid 72’ (GA)
The Dream of Lu 106’ (PG)
8.00pm
MovieTowne TOBAGO
Secondary Schools’ Short Film Festival Selection 5’ (GA) + Payday 97’ (PG13)
Thavenot Street 5’ (PG13) + God Loves the Fighter (18+) 104’
The Dream of Lu 106’ (PG)
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners 102’ (PG) Q&A
Thavenot Street 5’ (PG 13) + God Loves the Fighter 104’ (18+)
Three Cards 17’ (PG) + Kingston Paradise 82’ (16+)
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners 102’ (PG)
2.00pm
UWI
Handsworth Songs 60’ (PG)
3.00pm
UWI
Who Needs a Heart 78’ (GA)
4.30pm
UWI
Peripeteia 18’ (GA) + The Last Angel of History 45’ (PG)
6.00pm
UWI
9.00am– 4.30pm
HYATT REGENCY TRINIDAD Unesco conference
Unesco conference
Unesco conference
11.00am– 4.00pm
MEDULLA ART Gallery
New Media exhibition
New Media exhibition
New Media exhibition
6.00pm
MEDULLA ART Gallery
You Look Like a Carriage That Not Even the Oxen Can Stop 84’
17 september – 01 october
Presentation by Dr. Malini Guha on Black British Cinema
7pm New Media UWI Programme
The Stuart Hall Project 100’ (GA) Q&A
Closing New Media performance with Rodell Warner
ttfilmfestival.com
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FESTIVAL GUIDE
index of films 18 30 30 23 30 30 30 23 30 30 24 30 24 18 31 18 31 31 31 31 24 31 31 31 32 32 19
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Abo So After Mas Alex and Fabio Are No Longer Here Anina Answering the Call: A Tribute to Clive Pantin Auntie Barbado’ed: Scotland’s Sugar Slaves Beasts of the Southern Wild Bel Amz The Blue and the Gold Born to Hate... Destined to Love Bounty Candid Carmita A Child of Two Worlds Chrissy! Contract Daddy’s Garden Dance Dirty Real Havana The Dream of Lu Drink Dust Earth, Water, Woman The Earthquake The Fallen People of the Black Land Fatal Assistance
17 september – 01 october
19 Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution 32 Fraction 24 Free Angela and All Political Prisoners 32 The Gang That Walks 32 The Gardener 25 Gloria 32 Glorious Childhood Games: Back in d’ Day 19 God Loves the Fighter 15 Half of a Yellow Sun 32 Half: The Story of a ChineseJamaican Son 25 Handsworth Songs 32 Holy Saturday 33 A Home for These Old Bones 33 Hope 19 I Am a Director 33 If I Could Fly 33 Jab in the Dark 25 The Kid Who Lies 20 Kingston Paradise 33 Knockabout 33 The Last Angel of History 25 The Last Summer of La Boyita 33 Leroy Clarke: A Chief Among Men? 33 Lime of the Dead 34 Meh Brotha 20 Melaza
26 34 34 34 26 34 26 20 34 34 26 34 20 35 27 21 7 35 35 35 21 35 27 27 27 28 35 21
Middle of Nowhere The Moon in the Garden The Mystery of the Soucouyant Mystic Blue Neighbouring Sounds Nightdriver No No Bois Man No Fraid On My Shoulders Outdated Papilio Buddha Passage Payday Peripeteia The Pirogue Poetry is an Island: Derek Walcott Portrait of Jason Previous Scenes Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird The Radical Innocence of Jackie Hinkson Red, White and Black The Right Thing Rock, Paper, Sissors Señoritas She Doesn’t Want to Sleep Alone Ship of Theseus Siblings Silent Music
35 The Silver Dollar 35 Smallman: The World My Father Made 21 Songs of Redemption 28 Spring in a Small Town 22 The Stuart Hall Project 36 Sweet, Sweet Country 22 The Swimming Pool 28 Tanta Agua 22 Ten Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay 36 Thavenot Street 36 This is Me 36 Three Cards 22 Three Kids 36 To the Night 36 The Tombs 15 Tula. The Revolt. 28 Violeta Went to Heaven 36 Vivre 29 Welcome to Pine Hill 29 Who Needs a Heart 23 The Wind that Blows 29 Yema 36 Yolanda 39 You Look Like a Carriage That Not Even the Oxen Can Stop 29 Zarafa