Director: Lynessa Parks
2011, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Documentary short / 23 minutes

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This is an irreverent and revealing look at one young woman’s search for God. Of no religion herself, Lynessa Parks investigates the major faiths practised in Trinidad and Tobago, with a view to joining one. Will she find a faith that fits, or will they fail to meet her exacting (and humorous) criteria?

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Lynnessa Parks is a final-year student of the Film Programme at UWI, St Augustine. Losing My Religion is her first documentary.

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Sat 24 Sept 7.00pm, 12 Carmody Street, UWI, St Augustine

Tue 27 Sept 2.00pm + Mon 03 Oct 12.00pm, MovieTowne

Director: Errol Sitahal
2005, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Dramatic short / 45 minutes

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Sat, an ageing ex-schoolteacher, returns home from Canada after 20 years. Most of his family are dead, including his young sister, a suicide. Blaming himself for her death, Sat expiates his guilt by fantasising her appearance as a series of different characters. Based on a story by the Trinidadian-Canadian writer Rabindranath Maharaj.

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Errol Sitahal is a well-known Trinidadian stage, television and film actor. His film credits include A Little Princess and the Harold and Kumar movies. He has also written and directed documentaries and written for TV, and was one of the original hosts of the groundbreaking show, Gayelle. He is currently working a feature film with novelist Rabindranath Maharaj.

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Thur 22 Sept 2.00pm + Tue 27 Sept 12.00pm,* MovieTowne, Port of Spain

Director: Dane John
2011, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Narrative short / 12 minutes

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A maxi-taxi heading into Port of Spain, filled with a ragtag assortment of passengers, finds itself snarled up in traffic. A hilarious slice-of-Trini-life film.

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Dane John was born in Trinidad in 1987. At the age of 17 he became a videographer and editor for his local church, and has worked on a number of religious and social-issue programmes that have aired on local TV. He is a student of the School of Business and Computer Science and the Caribbean Travelling Film School.

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Fri 23 Sept 7.15pm + Tue 27 Sept 4.30pm*, MovieTowne, Port of Spain

Director: Oliver Valente
2011, Tanzania
English
Narrative short / 20′ / PG 13

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Cassius is a wanted man. When his pursuers—led a mysterious figure in white leather shoes—catch up with him, he is forced to talk. Cassius then goes into hiding, but for how long can he prolong his fate? This is a stylish mash-up of film noir and blaxploitation, shot through with heaps of African cool.

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Born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania, Oliver Valente studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh and pursued postgraduate studies in Film Production in London. He is based in Berlin.

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This film is presented in association with the Zanzibar International Film Festival and supported by the Commonwealth Foundation.

Thur 29 Sept 4.30pm, The Little Carib Theatre

Directors: Greta Mendez, Mat de Koning
2010, Trinidad+Tobago / Australia
English
Experimental short / 5 minutes

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The universally known image of Shakespeare’s Ophelia by John Millais is used as a metaphor for Kashmir, a country once called “Paradise on Earth”, and its people caught between two countries.

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Trinidadian artist Greta Mendez is an award-winning choreographer, theatre director, producer, performance art artist who has worked in the UK, Greece, Italy, China and India. Mendez is currently working on an intergenerational work entitled AH! Hard Rain.

For 10 years, Mat de Koning has been creating DIY no-budget films that reflect upon his surrounding environments. His work has been screened at over 50 festivals, and he was awarded the 2011 West Australian Young Filmmaker of the Year Award.

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Wed 21 Sept 3.00pm + Fri 30 Sept 7.00pm, MovieTowne, Port of Spain

Director: Nadissa Haynes
2011, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Narrative short / 21 minutes

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This is the hilariously true/made-up story of the mysterious dancehall singer Pashan Froot. We follow this misunderstood genius as he gets ready to launch his new single, “Nibble on Meh Naggle”, and hear from the people closest to him, including his producer, his slippery manager, and Pashan’s number one (and only) fan.

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Nadissa Haynes is a filmmaker from Trinidad and Tobago. She worked for almost a decade in the corporate world before deciding to pursue filmmaking in 2009. She is currently working on a short dramatic film, Guppies.

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Sat 24 Sept 6.00pm, 12 Carmody Street, St Augustine (UWI)
Sun 25 Sept 5.30pm, The Little Carib Theatre
Sat 01 Oct 7.00pm*, MovieTowne
Tue 4 Oct 7.00pm, San Fernando Hill

Director: Stacy Lela
2010, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Narrative short / 24 minutes / PG 13

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A young woman is pregnant and in love but when she finds out she is also HIV-positive, her world comes crashing down. She is stricken with fear about the fate of her unborn child and confused about her choices. This movie is a project of the Walker Lela Foundation for Women’s Empowerment education effort.

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Trinidadian director, Stacy Lela, holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of the West Indies, and teaches drama at a girls’ high school. Her first film was a documentary on Rapso music. Stacy Lela is the co-founder of the Walker Lela Foundation.

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Sat 25 Sept 7.00pm, T&TEC Panyard, Belle Garden, Tobago

Directors: Renée Bergan, Mark Schuller
2009, Haiti / USA
English and Haitian Creole, with English subtitles
Documentary short / 50 minutes

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Told through the compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women, Poto Mitan gives the global economy a human face. Each woman’s personal story not only illustrates the effects of globalisation, but also how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti as a whole. Initiated by the subjects themselves, the film aims to inspire solidarity activism to help end economic injustice.

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Renée Bergan became interested in documentary filmmaking as a vehicle for her political and social justice expression. She received her degree in film from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1993, and in 2003 founded her own production company, Renegade Pictures. She is a cinematographer and editor as well as a director and producer.

Mark Schuller is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology at York College, the City University of New York. He has published articles and book chapters about Haiti. Following the earthquake, Schuller was part of one of the first teams to respond, a grassroots medical mission. He blogs at Huffington Post.

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Fri 23 Sept 2.30pm, Institute of Critical Learning, UWI
Wed 28 Sept 2.00pm, The Little Carib Theatre

Director: Maria Nunes
2011, Trinidad+Tobago
English
Narrative short / 8 minutes

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As part of an international initiative of New York-based composer, Jon Deak, five 11-year-old schoolboys set out to make and send a musical postcard called Rainforest. The film documents the process of composing the piece to its culmination with a public performance at Port of Spain’s Academy for the Performing Arts.

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Maria Nunes is a Trinidadian photographer whose special interest is in capturing imagery related to music, traditional Carnival portrayals and specific aspects of Carnival culture such as moko jumbies, stickfighting and blue devil mas. She has become increasingly interested in documenting ongoing projects on video, and Rainforest: A Musical Postcard from Trinidad is an example of such a project.

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Sat 24 Sept 3.00pm, APA/UTT, Queen’s Park Savannah South

Director: Angela Gibbs
2010, Trinidad+Tobago / USA
English
Narrative short / 35 minutes / 16+

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John Tesoro is a government minister on the Caribbean island of Castara. With an election coming up, he takes to TV for a live interview with journalist Emmanuel Brown, who confronts him on his corrupt track record and dodgy personal life. A political satire with Trinidadian Gerry Bednob (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Zack and Miri Make a Porno) in the title role.

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Angela Gibbs is an award-winning American actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. Her first film as a director was The Ties That Bind (2006), which was followed by another short, The What Goes Around Short Film 2009.

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Tue 27 Sept 7.00pm, The Little Carib Theatre
Mon 03 Oct 4.30pm*, MovieTowne