Guess who’s coming to TTFF09, pt 1

Carlos Reygadas of Mexico, the writer and director of Silent Light

Filmmaking is a painstaking process. It takes many dozens, even hundreds of people working for months, sometimes years to bring a film to the big screen. Which is why we at the trinidad+tobago film festival think it’s important not just to show good films, but to acknowledge the people who make these films, and give you a chance to interact with them. To that end, we’ve asked a number of directors, producers, actors/film subjects, and others to be a part of the Festival, and we’re delighted that many of them have accepted our invitation.

One of a the directors who will be in attendance is Maria Govan of the Bahamas. Her film, Rain, will open the Festival on September 15. Rain, the affecting story of a girl who battles tough odds in her quest to be a world-class sprinter, is Govan’s first feature-length film. It’s also the best Caribbean film I’ve seen in a long time, and I’m really glad Govan will be here to talk about it.

In contrast to Maria Govan, India’s Adoor Gopalakrishnan is a filmmaking veteran, a legend even. He has a dozen feature films to his credit, his latest being his Festival selection, the portmanteau film Four Women. In a career that has spanned four decades, Gopalakrishnan has gained the reputation as India’s leading art house filmmaker, and it will be quite an honour to have him here.

It will also be an honour to have Carlos Reygadas at the Festival. Reygadas, I think, is one of the best young art house filmmakers at work today: an auteur in the truest sense of the word. His films reflect an uncompromising, sometimes controversial, personal vision of what filmmaking should be–a vision quite at odds with much of contemporary cinema. And while Reygadas’ Festival selection, Silent Light, is more conventional when compared with his previous work, it nevertheless remains firmly a Reygadas film, a challenging, sometimes mystifying cinematic experience, yet ultimately a sublime and exhilarating one.

Making a second appearance at the Festival is Adam Low, the British documentarian, who was here last year for the screening of his film about VS Naipaul. This time Low’s Festival film is The Cinema of Satyajit Ray, a portrait of the late, peerless Indian filmmaker. Low will also take part in a workshop about documentary filmmaking, and lead another workshop about the use of archive material in making documentaries.

Many more guests are expected to attend TTFF09. Look out for further posts on invitees.