The Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latino Americano—or, as it’s better known, the Havana Film Festival (HFF)—took place earlier this month, from the 4th to the 14th of December. The festival, which celebrated its 34th anniversary this year, is the largest and longest-running film festival in the region. The ttff had the privilege of being invited to present a programme of films at this year’s HFF, entitled Caribbean Calling. Creative Director of the ttff, Emilie Upczak, attended the HFF along with Bruce Paddngton, the Founder and Festival Director of the ttff. Here Emilie briefly answers some questions about Caribbean Calling, the ttff’s relationship with Havana, and having the official ttff/12 poster selected to compete for a film poster design competition at the HFF.

Say a little bit about the Havana Film Festival (HFF). How did the ttff come to present a showcase of films there?

The HFF, which is in its 35th year, is the largest festival in the Caribbean. Originally, it showcased films from Latin America and the Caribbean, but has of late highlighted films from predominantly the Hispanophone Caribbean. Myself and [ttff Art Director] Melanie Archer attended the festival last year and in early 2012 [ttff Founder and Festival Director] Bruce Paddington, during the launch of his new book on Caribbean cinema at the Havana Book Fair, met with the festival’s organisers. Out of these visits and meetings an invitation was extended to the ttff to programme five feature films and five shorts from the French-, Dutch- and English-speaking Caribbean at this year’s festival.

We were excited about this opportunity, as the HFF is a very dynamic environment that could become a more significant space of interchange for Caribbean filmmakers. The HFF and the Cuban film industry are interested in exploring their Caribbeanness, as well as leveraging their Latin American and international contacts to assist in developing Caribbean film.

What films were in the showcase? How were they selected?

The features chosen were: Better Mus’ Come (Jamaica), Hit Me with Music (Jamaica), Inward Hunger (T&T), Moloch Tropical (Haiti) and SistaGod (T&T). The shorts were 10 Ave Maria (Curaçao), Doubles with Slight Pepper (T&T), Fish (T&T), Gravedigger (Jamaica) and The Legend of Buchi Fil (Aruba).

The programming committee of the ttff selected the films based on their having been in competition at the ttff over the past two years. As well, two older films were chosen [SistaGod and Moloch Tropical] because we felt they were important works to show in Cuba.

How were the films received?

Audiences really liked the selections and numbers grew at the screenings as the days went on. There was a buzz about the visiting filmmakers and the discussion around Caribbean filmmakers outside of Latin America was an exciting one. I surmise the attendance figures for the showcase will grow in future years, as the showcase will continue.

Apart from the screenings, what other activities were there in the ttff showcase?

There was another launch of Bruce Paddington’s book on Caribbean cinema. There was a panel discussion on Caribbean cinema, and we also had a press conference. Independently, the ttff met with UNESCO about a project that we’re developing for Caribbean cinema. We also met with a Cuban documentary filmmaker about a project concerning Caribbean women filmmakers.

The official ttff/12 poster was selected to compete in Havana’s poster competition. Could you say a little bit about that?

Every year the HFF programming committee selects the best posters from the region from films and film festivals and ours was selected to participate in this competition. It was a great honour to be selected, as the calibre of entries was high.

What does the future hold for the relationship between the ttff and Havana?

The ttff intends to present a number of selections from this year’s HFF at ttff/13. Additionally, we intend to continue our collaboration of information sharing and working together to develop a stronger Caribbean film industry. And, of course, the ttff hopes to again programme a showcase in 2013 at the HFF.

The 34th annual Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latino Americano—or the Havana Film Festival (HFF), as it’s popularly known—gets underway today in the Cuban capital. The largest and longest-running film festival in the region, the Havana Film Festival is one of the most important showcases for cinema coming out of Latin America.

Caribbean cinema has never featured prominently at the Havana Film Festival. That is set to change, however, as the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) presents Caribbean Calling: A Programme of New and Recent Cinema from the Caribbean at this year’s HFF.

Running from December 9-13, Caribbean Calling features feature-length and short films, both dramatic and documentary, from the English-, French- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, all of which have previously screened at the ttff. The line-up is as follows:

Features
Better Mus’ Come (Storm Saulter, Jamaica, 2010)
Hit Me with Music (Miquel Galofré, Jamaica, 2011)
Inward Hunger (Mariel Brown, T&T, 2011)
Moloch Tropical (Raoul Peck, Haiti, 2011)
SistaGod (Yao Ramesar, T&T, 2006)

Shorts
10 Ave Maria (Ryan Oduber/Francisco Pardo, Curaçao, 2011)
Doubles with Slight Pepper (Ian Harnarine, T&T, 2011)
Fish (Shaun Escayg, T&T, 2012)
Gravedigger (Gabrielle Blackwood, Jamaica, 2012)
The Legend of Buchi Fil (German Gruber, Aruba, 2010)

A number of the directors whose films are screening in the programme will be on hand to introduce their work and engage in Q&A sessions with audiences.

In addition to the film screenings, Caribbean Calling will also comprise a press conference, and a panel discussion on Caribbean film. Also, the book Exploring Caribbean Cinema, co-edited by Dr Bruce Paddington, Founder and Festival Director of the ttff, will have its Cuban launch during the festival.

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) will end its activities for the year on a high note with a screening of the award-winning parang documentary La Gaita, followed by a live performance by the celebrated Lara Brothers parang group, on Saturday 8th December in Santa Cruz.

This free screening and performance will bring to an end the bpTT Community Cinergy series of film events held across the country in 2012.

Winner of the ttff/12 People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary, La Gaita profiles the Lara Brothers, the oldest existing parang group in T&T. The film, directed by Janine Fung, pays loving tribute to the band, telling their story in their own words and music. In particular, the film follows the gregarious, extroverted Willy Lara and his more reserved elder brother, the late Tito, whose moving funeral forms part of the film.

Speaking about her experience making the film, Fung noted that “The Lara Brothers have a responsibility—one they have taken on for the last 70 years—to serve their music, their faith and their country.”

She continued: “They are messengers, travelling from rumshop to rumshop throughout Trinidad performing, because they simply love parang, as a way to express themselves and for the people to relate to that expression.”

The film screening and live performance will be held at Baya’s Place, Chiquitto Drive, Sam Boucaud, Santa Cruz (next to the Brian Lara Grounds) from 7pm. Refreshments will be on sale.

The Green Screen Environmental Film Series, of which the trinidad+tobago film festival is a partner, continues this evening with a screening at the ttff offices, 199 Belmont Circular Road,from 6 pm. The films being screened are the documentaries The Fourth Revolution: Energy and If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.

The first film, If a Tree Falls, is 85 minutes long and uses striking archival footage and intimate interviews with ELA members—and with the prosecutor and detective who were chasing them—to dramatically explore the tumultuous period from 1995 until early 2001 when environmentalists were clashing with timber companies and law enforcement in the US. It asks hard questions about environmentalism, activism, and the way we define terrorism.

Winner of the award for documentary editing at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, If a Tree Falls tells the remarkable story of the rise and fall of the Epanastatikos Laikos Agonas—Revolutionary Popular Struggle (ELA), the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s “number one domestic terrorist threat.”

The Fourth Revolution: Energy, is an 83-minute German documentary which shows a vision of a world where the energy is 100 per cent renewable. The 2010 movie calls for a revolution from capitalist ownership of energy to the democratisation of energy resources—instead of a few owners of energy, hundreds of thousands.

This screening is free and open to the public. For more information on Green Screen, find their page on Facebook.

Image: A still from If a Tree Falls

DOC T and T is pleased to invite you to a programme of short and feature-length documentary and fiction films by the renowned Cuban filmmaker Enrique Colina, this Saturday, 03 November, at the offices of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), 199 Belmont Circular Road, at 5.00pm and 8.00pm. Mr Colina will be in attendance to introduce his films and engage in Q&A sessions with audiences.

Both screenings are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.

5.00pm

Sloppyworks, 10 mins
Each of us has a sloppy Mr Hyde in our personality. This film explores the social and economic disease that is sloppy work.

Jau, 12 mins
This is the story of a rebel dog that prefers a life of hunger in the streets rather than a life of domesticity.

The King of the Jungle, 15 mins
For 60 years the sculpture of a lion has been observing life on the streets of the jungle that is Havana. In this film he decides to speak to his aspirations of becoming a real lion.

The Russians in Cuba, 62mins
This documentary delves into the relations between Cubans and Russians after more than 30 years of Soviet presence on the island, through the testimony and memories of various individuals.

8.00pm

Neighbours, 12 mins
A humorous look at relationships among neighbours in daily Havana life.

It’s Better Late than Never, 10 mins
Puncutality is not a popular Cuban trait. This film explores the consequences of being late for work.

Between Hurricanes, 120 mins
After a hurricane, hunky Tomas becomes a telephone technician to a disgruntled count while juggling the attentions of several women, including a possessive hairdresser, a wealthy photographer and the count’s goth-rock daughter. Further complicating things is Tomas’s criminal brother, whose attempts to involve him in his schemes force Tomas to weigh the merits of straight or underworld careers.

Mr Colina’s visit has been made possible by the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company. The screenings are being facilitated by the ttff.

Image: Enrique Colina

In an effort to help local and regional filmmakers navigate the ins and outs of the global film industry, the ttff has launched a filmmakers’ resources page on its website. This page will act as a database, and will contain presentations made by film industry experts at the ttff, as well as any other resources—articles, interviews, opportunities—that might be of use.

Go to the filmmakers’ resources page here; the first two presentations—by the Tribeca Film Institute/World View and Indiewire’s Sydney Levine—are already up.

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During the recently concluded ttff/12, a workshop was held on the art of film criticism. The workshop, which took place at the University of the West Indies, was facilitated by noted Indian film critic Manoj Barpujari.

At the end of the workshop, participants were invited to write a review of a film playing in the Festival, for a chance to win a $5,000 cash prize courtesy the Caribbean Communications Network (CCN), and the right to have their review published in the Express newspaper. The winner of the competition, as adjudged by Mr Barpujari, is Barbara Jenkins, for “Three’s a crowd”, her review of the film Una Noche, written and directed by Lucy Mulloy.

About Barbara Jenkins
Barbara Jenkins has spent a lifetime teaching, raising children and reading voraciously. Having just completed the MFA programme at UWI, St Augustine, she is now an ardent convert to fiction writing. Some of her stories have been successful in international writing competitions.

As a child her love of stories was not confined to reading. “I was weaned at Olympic Cinema, Belmont. I can still close my eyes and be back there in that hot, airless box, lost in the wonderful transformation of my world that 12.30 pm on Saturday afforded.” She does not watch films except at the cinema. “I need to be in a place where it’s just me and the film. Nothing else to distract from the magic. When the film is over, I need to go away and think about it. I can’t immerse in another film right way. I am quickly saturated.

“The trinidad+tobago film festival is the next best thing to J’Ouvert for me. I love it.”

Three’s a crowd
by Barbara Jenkins

In Una Noche, Lucy Mulloy’s award-winning coming-of-age film, teenage twins, Elio and Lila and Elio’s friend, Raul, set out one fateful moonlit night from Havana on a makeshift raft to reach Miami. One perishes at sea; two survive, rescued off Cuba’s coast.

What has propelled the trio to hastily construct a flotation device from the frame of a packing case, truck tyre inner tubes, styrofoam and rope and aim to cross the “90-mile-wide-river” is narrated in engaging voice-over by Lila (Analin de la Torres). This technique gives the film a documentary feel, as does the setting, filmed on location in Cuba – its streets, buildings, sea and underwater. No big name stars are vehicles for this film; the actors were selected in street casting on location.

Dressed in Cuba’s regulation high school uniform of white blouse and mustard-yellow skirt, Lila is the camera – cycling side-saddle with Elio (Javier Florian), peering through jalousie slats, spying on Raul (Dariel Arrechaga ) and his raft building. That the adults are grappling with the daily deprivations and stresses of living under both an embargo and government control, scarcely impinges on the inseparable twins’ enjoyment of each other and of their youth.

When Raul and Elio become best friends, the bond of that powerful geminal attachment begins to dissolve. Raul’s mother is very ill with AIDS; his nebulous father is in Miami. He drinks heavily, is angry, sexually confused, and relies on Elio’s friendship. After he assaults a tourist and is hunted by police, Raul decides to escape to Miami. Elio, caught stealing from the hotel kitchen, is also on the run. Lila insists on joining them.

“Were you guys trying to get to Miami?” the speedboat-driving, English-speaking tourist asks Lila and Raul after he has towed them and their chunk of styrofoam to land. Uncomprehending, they stumble along the palm-fringed beach after one night at sea as the credits roll.

It would be easy to locate the motivation for their rash adventure in the material deprivations in Castro’s Cuba and the lure of the cornucopia that awaits in America, since this constitutes a familiar real-life trope in the anti-Castro narrative in Cuba and Florida alike. But Mulloy, named by film critic Oliver Lyttleton as one of the “ten bright sparks for the future”, does not move in that groove. “You can get anything you want in Cuba,” says one of the characters. Echoing the cliché man-in-a-raincoat unbuttoning to reveal a stiched-in rack of counterfeit Bulovas, a bed is opened, like a cupboard lying on its back, to display a pharmacy’s worth of drugs from aspirin to anti-retrovirals.

While the tensions among the threesome surface earlier, it is in the confining space of the raft at sea that the real drama of the film is played out. Lila’s antagonism towards Raul as the unwelcome third in her relationship with her brother blows up when she mocks Raul’s fantasy of meeting his father and enjoying the easy life in Miami. But the director invites the audience to view this as an overt expression of the real sexual tension in the love triangle that has them trapped in that space and that enterprise. Lila loves Elio loves Raul loves Lila loves Raul loves Elio loves Lila, too much for that cramped space and, as they’re too inexperienced to have figured it out, the trio express that love with ambivalence.

As well as the yin-yang of sexual love and platonic friendship, the film subtly explores further dualities. The harmonious landscape of sea and sky contrasts with the tension on the raft and when harmony embraces the raft occupants, the sea brings menace. The luxury and privilege enjoyed by tourists is set alongside the deprivations and repression of the locals. Everyone is a police spy yet everyone is engaged in some clandestine illicit activity. Rendered in tones of dun and beige, ochre and pastels, the rundown district of Havana where the protagonists live contrasts with the energy of the people playing in the street, cycling, walking, soliciting for customers, playing music, dancing.

Mulloy collaborated with professional musicians to create from her lyrics and tune snatches a background score, hip-hop street music and a jazzy cabaret ballad. The astute combination of landscape, dialogue, music and acting give this film a joyous energy, a celebration of youthful impetuous passions, whatever the sobering consequences.

In a bizarre twist of life imitating art imitating life, actors Javier Florian and Analin de la Torres, the movie siblings, disappeared after deplaning in Miami en route to the Tribeca Film Festival in April, leaving Dariel Arrechaga to share the limelight with Lucy Mulloy when Una Noche scooped the Best New Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography awards.

Excellence in local and Caribbean filmmaking was recognised on Sunday, September 30, as the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) held its annual gala awards ceremony at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain.

Over TT$170,000 in cash and other prizes were up for grabs as various awards were handed out in jury and people’s choice categories.

Winning big on the night was Toussaint L’Ouverture, a sweeping two-part historical epic about the Haitian Revolution, directed by Philippe Niang.

The film scooped the People’s Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature, as well as the jury prize for Best Actor in a Caribbean Film. That award went to the Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis, who played Toussaint in the film and who was on hand to collect his prize.

Best Narrative Feature as decided by the jury was Distance, a touching, understated drama about an elderly farmer searching for his kidnapped daughter in the aftermath of the Guatemalan civil war, written and directed by Sergio Ramírez. The film’s producer, Joaquín Ruano, accepted the award on the director’s behalf.

The prize for Best Documentary Feature went to the The Story of Lover’s Rock, Menelik Shabazz’s, feelgood music film, while Ida Does captured the prize for Best Short for Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, a moving portrait of the Surinamese writer and anti-colonial activist.

In the T&T films category, Mariel Brown won Best Local Film for her authoritative documentary about Eric Williams, Inward Hunger, while Ryan Latchmansingh’s gritty drama Where the Sun Sets, the story of a fisherman caught up in a life of crime, won Best Local Short.

Janine Fung’s joyful documentary about the Lara Brothers parang group, La Gaita, took away the People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary. Buck: The Man Spirit, an entertaining thriller-horror written and directed by Steven Taylor, nabbed the People’s Choice Award for Best Short.

The ttff/12, which ended on October 2, was the largest edition of the Festival to date, with over 120 films being screened. More than half of those films were T&T productions.

Fo a complete list of the awards, go here.

Image: A shot from Toussaint L’Ouverture

The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place earlier this evening at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners.

Jury Awards: Best Films

Best Narrative Feature sponsored by NGC
Distance, directed by Sergio Ramirez

Best Documentary Feature sponsored by NGC
The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz

Best Short sponsored by NGC
Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does

Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker sponsored by NLCB
The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland

Special mentions in the best film category:

Best Narrative Feature
Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza

Best Documentary Feature
Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin

Best Short
Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo

Jury Awards: Best Local Films

Best Local Feature sponsored by TTFC
Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown

Best Local Short sponsored by TTFC
Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh

Special mentions in the best local short film category:

Tickle Me Rich, directed by Sonja Dumas

Jury Awards: Acting

Best Actor in a Caribbean Film
Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang

Best Actor in a Local Film
Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh

Best Actress in a Local Film
Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams

People’s Choice Awards

People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature sponsored by Flow
Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang

People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature sponsored by NH International
La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung

People’s Choice Award: Best Short sponsored by Agostini Brokers
Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor

Other Awards

bpTT Film in Development Award
Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo

WorldView/Tribeca Film Institute Pitch Awards
Ryan Khan
Joaquin Ruano
Natalie Wei

RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award
Michelle Serieux

ACP Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity
Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd

CCN Film Criticism Award
Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy

Film Criticism Special Mentions
Dainia Wright, Renelle White

bpTT Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme
Dinesh Maharaj

AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Mandisa Pantin

Flow 50-Second Film Competition
M Jay Gonzalez

Image: A shot from Distance

Tomorrow and Saturday the ttff/12 kicks into high gear with two full days of industry events. See the full lineup of events below. All events are free and open to the public (with the exception of the pitch sessions, which are by invitation only).

Friday 28 September
Jetsam Room, The Carlton Savannah, Cascade, free of charge and open to the public.

9.30am FILMMAKERS’ PANEL + PRESS CONFERENCE The filmmakers’ panel 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, distributing their films. The filmmakers’ panel provides an opportunity for local, regional and international filmmakers to come together to discuss the shared experience of making films within an independent industry context.

11.15am WORLDVIEW/TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE PRESENTATION The Tribeca Film Institute, founded by Robert de Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of September 11, 2001, empowers filmmakers through grants and professional development. WorldView is a Commonwealth Broadcasting Association project aimed at supporting filmmakers who seek to bring the richness and diversity of the wider world to UK and international audiences. This session, for both emerging fiction and documentary filmmakers, gives an overview of a new Tribeca Film Institute/  WorldView partnership, which aims to support Caribbean filmmakers in the development of their projects. Filmmakers will be taken through the grant application process, and shown examples of successful, previously funded projects. Other international sources where filmmakers can seek funding will also be highlighted.

12.45pm BREAK  /  LUNCH

1.30pm GUERRILLA FILMMAKING WITH NEW CARIBBEAN CINEMA PANEL Based in Jamaica, New Caribbean Cinema is a collective of young filmmakers dedicated to making great movies by any means necessary. In this presentation, Storm Saulter and other members of the group will discuss their new feature, Ring di Alarm!, and the tactics they used to make the film.

3.15pm THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA IN GUADELOUPE (APCAG) + THE REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GUADELOUPE PRESENTATION APCAG and the Regional Council of Guadeloupe will make a presentation on a Guadeloupe cinema fund and discuss the possibilities of partnerships between Caribbean islands, including in the area of film subtitling.

SATURDAY 29 September

Jetsam Room, The Carlton Savannah, Cascade, free of charge and open to the public.

9.30am WORLDVIEW/TRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE PITCH SESSION Nine pre-selected filmmakers will each have five minutes to pitch a feature-length dramatic film project. Two filmmakers will each win TT$5,000.

11.15am AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN AND PACIFIC GROUP OF STATES This presentation will give filmmakers an in-depth understanding of the process of accessing and applying for funding from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). ACP support is designed to help the production and distribution of creative products from the developing world that reflect the cultural uniqueness of the countries in question and then make these products available to international audiences on a sustainable basis.acpculturesplus.eu and acp.int

12.45pm BREAK  /  LUNCH

1.30pm RBC FOCUS: FILMMAKERS’ IMMERSION PITCH SESSION At the end of Focus, a intensive four-day development programme, which gives 10 selected emerging Caribbean documentary filmmakers the opportunity to learn from professional film artists their is a pitch competition, from which the focus facilitators will choose the top five participants. These five participants will then pitch their project to a jury at a public event on 29 September. The participant with the best project and pitch, as determined by the jury, will win a cash prize of TT$20,000.

2.45pm MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE PANEL with:
Sydney Levine from INDIEWIRE, the leading news, information, and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike. indiewire.com

Leslie Fields-Cruz from the NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM, an organisation dedicated to developing and distributing stories of the Black global experience in the new media age. Content distribution takes place online and via broadcast through the AfroPoP: The Utimate Cultural Exchange documentary series. blackpublicmedia.org

Christian Sida-Valenzuela from the VANCOUVER LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL provides a forum for the promotion of Latin American cinema. This annual festival promotes dialogue between cultures and explores historical and social issues through the eyes of filmmakers. vlaff.org