In Photo ttff/15 Youth Jury

By Shiv Shaw, ttff/16 Top Future Critic.

The trinidad and tobago film festival (ttff) announces the selection of the BPTT Youth Jury for ttff//18. The ttff is once again teaming up with leading sponsor BP Trinidad and Tobago(BPTT)  to give five young people the opportunity to develop a critical appreciation of independent film. Jurors are also encouraged to lend their voices and opinions to the festival, to work together, network and be part of the growing local film industry.

Applications were received during May to July from young people between the ages 16 to 21, who were requested to submit a 250 word essay about their favourite film and why they chose it. Of the many applications received the most endearing and expressive essays were narrowed down and these five youths were successfully chosen as the jurors:

Kirstin De Lorme, 19, student of the University of the West Indies.

Kela Sunshine Roberts, 19, student of St. Joseph Convent (San Fernando)

Deja Sandy, 19, student of Naparima Girls High School.

Sudai Tafari, 18, student of Mount Hope Secondary.

Kioni Wallace, 16, student of Bishops High School (Tobago).

The young jurors will have the enlightening opportunity to work directly with renowned journalist and film critic BC Pires, who has diligently mentored the Youth Jury panels since the programme began in 2014. Under the experience and guidance of Pires, the Youth Jury will decide a winning film and its director will be presented with a trophy at the ttff/18 awards ceremony on Tuesday 25 September.

The jurors will view and critically analyse six (6) feature-length fiction films dealing with themes and issues affecting young people. This year’s films up for competition are:

Brown Girl Begins: directed by Sharon Lewis /2018/Canada

El Chata: directed by Gustavo Ramon Perales/2017/Puerto Rico

Las Hijas de Abril: directed by Michel Franco/2017/Mexico

Le Rêve Francaise: directed by Christian Faure Copie/2017/France

Looking for Zorro: directed by Wigner Duarte/2017/USA

Sprinter: directed by Storm Saulter/2018/Jamaica

The experience of being part of the Youth Jury has proven to be a life changing opportunity for past jurors, for some it has even progressed from just a love of cinema, to actively working on their own film projects or within the ttff as volunteers and/or interns.

In Photo: ttff/16 Youth Jury

Christopher Lou-Hing (pictured 2nd from left) who was on the ttff/16 Youth Jury and is now a film student at University of the West Indies (UWI) expresses how working with BC Pires and the ttff helped him to advance not only his studies but also a blossoming career in the film industry. Lou-Hing says “Being on the youth jury was my first taste of film criticism. The guidance from BC (Pires) would later prove to be really helpful in my studies by sharpening my critical eye. After participating in the youth jury I felt surer of my abilities as a critic and it helped me to appreciate film as an art form. Sitting on the jury helped me realise that I wanted to pursue a career in the film industry and opened the door for my internship with ttff”.

Nick Rampersad who served on the ttff/17 Youth Jury formed such deep friendships with some of his fellow jurors that they are now working on their own film project. Rampersad says “My experience serving on the trinidad + tobago film festival Youth Jury 2017 was a life defining experience and one that further cemented my love for filmmaking. The friendships forged on the youth jury and by extension the ttff are lasting. It’s through this special bond, two of my fellow youth jurors and I are now in the pre-production stage of our own film”. Nick is also working as an intern at this year’s festival and plans to pursue a degree in filmmaking.

In Photo: ttff/17 Youth Jury in session

It is maybe the words of mentor BC Pires, whose dedication over the last four years, best sums up how the experience of being part of the Youth Jury has guided the jurors to build friendships, strengthen cooperation and create better futures. Speaking on last year’s Youth Jury, Pires says “There are not enough superlatives to describe what a pleasure it is to be working with these young people…they rose to their task amazingly well. If our Parliament could see how they spoke to one another. They were passionate and went to their task of listening to one another with, I think, a real honesty, humility and respect for the other person’s point of view. I think they might all consider a career in dispute resolution.”

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and year-round screenings. In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities. The ttff is given leading sponsorship by BP Trinidad and Tobago, the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts; supporting sponsorship by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Republic Bank Limited; and contributing sponsorship by FilmTT and The National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

In photo: Green Days By The River’s Producer Christian James and Director Michael Mooleedhar get some advice from ttff Festival Director and Founder, Bruce Paddington at CFM 2015

The 12 successful applicants for the third Caribbean Film Mart, sponsored by BP Trinidad and Tobago have been announced.The Caribbean Film Mart, which will be held from 22 – 23 September, during the trinidad+tobago film festival, seeks to foster relationships between T+T filmmakers and the international film industry, by stimulating and facilitating dialogue and sharing of expertise.

In Photo: Director Maya Cozier at One on One Session at CFM 2016

The selected  filmmakers will meet one-on-one with international film professionals specialising in production and distribution.  The Mart will include presentations on international appeal and viability of local films and funding including co-productions. Robert Maylor, producer of Sprinter,  together with director Storm Saulter who workshopped his project at CFM 2015 and which  has recently been released to wide acclaim, will present a case study.

In Photo: ACP presentation at CFM 2015

At the end of the second day, the filmmakers will ‘pitch’ their project to an international panel of judges.  The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $TT 75,000 sponsored by BP Trinidad and Tobago. A second prize of a year’s mentorship by international industry expert Joanne Butcher will also be awarded.  These winners will be announced at the ttff’s awards ceremony on September 25.

The successful participants and their projects are:

Dance the Cocoa – Juliette McCawley

 Mas Slaughter – Christopher Din Chong

The Jaguar – Ryan Khan

Virus – Michael Rochford

Steel – Glenford Adams

Igual Paradise – Shea Best

Wishing for Wings – Kim Johnson

Silk Road – Janine – Mendes-Franco

Trinidad’s Missing – Reynald Seydass

Hey Handsome – Roderick de Weever

Fairway – Kafi Kareem Farrell

Right and Left – Sonja Dumas

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and year-round screenings. In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities. The ttff is given leading sponsorship by BP Trinidad and Tobago, the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts; supporting sponsorship by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Republic Bank Limited; and contributing sponsorship by FilmTT and The National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

Once again, BP Trinidad and Tobago (bpTT)  is teaming up with the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) to give five (5) young people an opportunity of a lifetime, through the bpTT Youth Jury at ttff/18.

Application is open to young people between the ages of 16 to 21 years (inclusive) who are interested in, and wish to develop, a critical appreciation of independent film. Applicants must be  TT citizens, residents, or based in Trinidad and Tobago for at least one year prior to application.

Prospective jury members must  apply by writing an essay of no more than 250 words, saying what their favourite movie is and why. Applicants must  also provide their name, date of birth, gender, citizenship, residence and school or occupation.

Applications should be sent to: submit@ttfilmfestival.com (subject line: Youth Jury Application)   Successful applicants under the age of 18 years will be required to have written consent from a parent or guardian in order to participate in this programme.

The deadline for submission is 12pm on Friday 13 July.  Successful jury members will be notified by Friday 24 August.

The five selected jury members will meet during the ttff/18, under the guidance of experienced film critic B.C. Pires, to view a selection of feature-length fiction films  dealing with themes and issues affecting young people.

After viewing all the films in competition, the bpTT Youth Jury will choose the winning film. The director of this film will receive a trophy to be presented at the ttff/18 awards ceremony on Tuesday 25 September.

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) celebrates films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema, through an annual festival and year-round screenings. In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities. The ttff is given leading sponsorship by BP Trinidad and Tobago, the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts; supporting sponsorship by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Republic Bank Limited; and contributing sponsorship by FilmTT and The National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).

 

The winners of the award for Best T&T Film in Development at the 2017 T&T Film Festival (ttff), writers Karen Martinez and Georgia Popplewell and producer Lesley-Ann Macfarlane, say the prize is a sign of progress. It showed that bpTT and ttff are acknowledging that the process of making a film can be a long and arduous one.

The project, a feature-length narrative script called Scattered, has already won several prizes, including the Best Caribbean Film Mart Project award at ttff 2016, and has been shortlisted for the Sundance International Screenwriters’ Lab and CineMart Rotterdam.

NOW nearing the end of its annual two-week run, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2017 has once again brought to light more than 100 fabulous works of the creativity and the artistry of Caribbean peoples on screen, demonstrating the great capacity for story-telling across this region.Trinidad Express Newspapers_ Editorial _ Film festival treasury

Among this year’s offerings were three features on the importance, the relevance and the meaning of this country’s national instrument, the steelpan, to communities where they exist.

To Be A Renegade, a documentary directed by film-maker James O’Connor and produced with significant sponsorship and involvement of bpTT, is a story about the birth, the beginnings and the endurance of the band, known for decades now as BP Renegades.

From its birth in the heartland of the depressed East Port of Spain district, the band grew into a compelling force for positivity, headquartered on upper Charlotte Street.

Great focus was placed in this story, on the work of the band in nurturing young talent, with the existence of a junior band, which has captured the Junior Panorama title on four successive occasions.

It is the band management’s philosophy in action, of playing its part in coming between the energy of the area’s youth, and the possibility of falling into the society’s social cracks.

The members and the leadership of this “young Renegades” outfit tell their own tales, in their own words, about acknowledging the challenges, and equally about helping to provide alternatives for their peers. They learn the elements of leadership, of organisation, of social structure and of focus and discipline.

At one point, Norman Christie, bpTT’s Regional President, couldn’t get more than a sentence out about “our band” before the audience exploded into lusty applause and catcalls of appreciation.

He was at the podium offering welcoming remarks at the first official screening of To be a Renegade, a documentary his company funded to record the successes of the steelband Renegades, which it began sponsoring in 1970.

This was not just the showing of a documentary it was advertised to be; it was a celebration of champions in front of a home crowd. The band turns 70 in 2018 and was last documented comprehensively in Kim Johnson’s 2002 historical book about the band.

Many of the elements needed for an effective and compelling documentary record of Renegades as a band in 2017 are present in the film.

As part of its support for the film, BP Trinidad and Tobago is sponsoring a free screening of To Be A Renegade by James O’Connor, on Friday, September at 8:30pm, at MovieTowne Port of Spain, during the trinidad+tobago film festival (tt/ff).

Tickets will be available from the box office on a first-come-first-served basis, at the start of the Festival, which runs from September 19 – 26.

O’Connor’s film captures the story of the BP Renegades from the violent beginnings of pan, later eras of social and economic change, to the present where pan is considered to have a positive influence on communities, and steelbands now travel abroad, representing Trinidad and Tobago as international ambassadors.

Featuring players, founding members and supporters, To Be A Renegade, funded by BPTT, seeks to show what it really means to be a Renegade.

UWI medical student Nadia Kandhai never set out to be a movie star. However, a random meeting on a flight to Tobago set her on the path to play Rosalie, the female lead in Green Days by the River movie, that will be screened at the gala opening of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) next weekend.
“I’m a third-year medical school student,” said Khandhai as she reflects on how she ended up playing the lead female character.

“I met Christian (James) on a flight to Tobago. He told me I looked like what he imagined Rosalie would look like, I auditioned and here I am,” said Khadhai in a media release.

She is one of just under 100 local actors that bring Michael Anthony’s beloved novel Green Days by the River to the big screen nationwide on September 27.

With the countdown on to the 2017 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF), the Festival team has issued an open invitation to film lovers to join them at their two pre-festival limes.

The first, this Friday, is at Drink! Lounge and Bistro, in Woodbrook. The following Friday— September 15—the lime moves to San Fernando at 519 Trinidad in the C3 Centre in San Fernando, a release said.

The limes provide an opportunity to meet filmmakers and others involved in the industry, find out about film screenings, to generally be part of the buzz and excitement that surrounds the Festival—and, according to the Festival, “get high on film.”

According to Azreena Khan, events and marketing coordinator at the TTFF, “this year we are particularly pleased to be heading to San Fernando for our first ever pre-festival lime in the South and we hope some of our regular party crew from the West will join us there.

With the countdown on to the 2017 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), the Festival team has issued an open invitation to film lovers to join them at their two pre-festival limes. The first, this Friday (08 September), is at Drink! Lounge and Bistro, in Woodbrook. The following Friday (15 September), the lime moves to south at at 519 Trinidad in the C3 Centre in San Fernando.

The limes provide an opportunity to meet filmmakers and others involved in the industry, find out about film screenings, to generally be part of the buzz and excitement that surrounds the Festival – and, according to the Festival, “get high on film.”