Caribbean Film Mart 2018 Successful Candidates Announced

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).

ttff/18 Caribbean Film Mart

The primary goal of  tttf/18 Caribbean Film Mart (CFM) is to provide local filmmakers with professional levels of  exposure and interactions between the T+T and the international film industry. This will be achieved by setting the scene for  stimulating and creating viable cinematic co-productions; exploring new platforms and markets of distribution; and reviewing international best practices among other areas.gives twelve (12)narrative feature film and creative documentaries  in development or pre-production.T

Twelve selected filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with, and pitch their projects to, international film producers, sales and acquisitions agents and film funds, forging partnerships that can lead to the production and distribution of their films.

The successful candidates 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 Weever

Fairway – Kafi Kareem Farrell

Right and Left – Sonja Dumas

A cash prize sponsored by BP Trinidad and Tobago for the Best Pitch will be awarded at the end of the ttff/18 CFM.

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 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)

Caribbean Film Mart

Saturday 24 September and Sunday 25 September 9.00am – 4.00pm

 

Caribbean Film Mart

Following on from the successful Caribbean Film Mart launched at ttff/15, ttff will host a second Caribbean Film Mart during this year’s festival. Ten feature film projects will be selected and successful participants will have the opportunity to attend presentations by industry professionals on:

 

  • International Appeal and Viability of Local Films

    Presenter: Sydney Levine of INDIEWIRE
    Presentation on the current state of affairs for Caribbean films and how to get them into the festival/ market circuit.

  • Producing a Film from Concept to Pre-production

    Presenters: Ari Maniel Cruz director of Ante que Cante el Callo/Before the Rooster Crows – nominated for Best Film ttff/16 and Kisha Tikina Burgos, writer and producer of the same film.

  • Panel: Co-Productions/Marketing/Distribution with Africa and Europe

    Steven Markovitz,Yared Zeleké, Catherine Buresi
    Moderator: Perrine Ledan, Audiovisual and cinema expert, ACPCultures+ Programme.

This panel is presented in cooperation with the ACPCultures+ Programme, implemented by the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States and financed by the European Union.


  • One on One Sessions

    Each participant will get the opportunity to spend time with the professionals individually.

  • CFM Pitch Panel

    All ten participants will pitch their project to a judging panel: Steven Markowitz, Sydney Levine and Rodrigo Pla.


Producer’s Lab

An open forum for young filmmakers to hear from the experts on a wide range of topics:

 

  • Raising Finance/Crowdfunding/Creating Visibility and Financial Success for your next film

    Joanne Butcher

  • Breakdown of the Production Process

    Lorraine O ’Connor: (BAZODEE)
    – Casting
    – Location scouting
    – Breaking down a script
    – Scheduling

As there are limited places this workshop requires registration in advance. Please call 621.0709.


 

Sunday 25 September 1.00pm – 1.30pm

Presentation on VOD by FLOW

As Flow’s territories have increased there is a greater opportunity for filmmakers to have their films seen around the region. FLOW will explain how Video On Demand- VOD can work to the filmmakers’ benefit.

Participating Projects Announced for 2016 Caribbean Film Mart

The candidates for the second annual Caribbean Film Mart have been selected, and eight out of the ten candidates are from Trinidad and Tobago.

The Caribbean Film Mart, which will be held from 24-25 September, during the trinidad+tobago film festival, seeks to foster relationships between Caribbean filmmakers and the international film industry, by stimulating and facilitating viable cinematic productions and co-productions.

The selected filmmakers will meet one-on-one with, and pitch their projects to, international film professionals specialising in production and distribution. The participating facilitators were recently announced. The Mart will include presentations on international appeal and viability of local films, co-productions, strategies for marketing films in different territories, distribution and the role of sales agents.

Applications were invited from the the English-speaking Caribbean, the Netherlands Antilles, and Haiti, and selected on the strength of their feature film projects in development or pre-production.

The 10 successful applicants and their projects are:

  • Nicholas Clarke, Trinidad and Tobago
    The Misadventures of Brian and Sachin Part II
  • Lynda d’Alexis, Guadeloupe
    Nanny
  • Christopher Din Chong, Trinidad and Tobago
    Lynch
  • Sonja Dumas, Trinidad and Tobago
    Angels Live in Tunapuna
  • Jean Michel Gibert, Trinidad and Tobago
    Jakatan the Earthman
  • Jian Hennings, Trinidad and Tobago
    Grace and Saleem
  • Omari Jackson, Trinidad and Tobago
    Identity
  • Karen Martinez, Trinidad and Tobago
    Scattered
  • Rahmat JN-Pierre, Barbados
    Island Dancers: The Broken Tridents
  • Jared Prima, Trinidad and Tobago
    Folk Lord

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 presented by Flow, given leading sponsorship by Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Ltd (FilmTT), and supporting sponsorship by RBC Royal Bank, The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, Embassy of the United States of America and the Tourism Development Company.

Sonja Dumas

Sonja Dumas

Christopher Ding Chong

Christopher Ding Chong

Caribbean Film Mart Draws Top Names to ttff/16

Some of the best talent in contemporary Caribbean filmmaking will meet top professionals in the global film industry, at the second annual Caribbean Film Mart (CFM), to be held from 24–25 September 2016, in Port of Spain, as part of the trinidad+tobago film festival.

Catherine Buresi

Catherine Buresi

Steven Markovitz

Steven Markovitz

Sydney Levine

Sydney Levine

The industry professionals include Catherine Buresi who has worked for more than 20 years in the European and international film industry with a focus on festivals, markets, European co-productions and financing of films from the South; and Steven Markovitz who has been producing fiction and documentaries for 20 years, with an extensive network in production and distribution across Africa. His fiction work has screened at Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto and Sundance, and received an Oscar nomination.

Also facilitating presentations will be Sydney Levine, who has over 35 years experience in the entertainment industry and is a writer at Indiewire, a leading news, information, and networking site about the international film business.  She also engages in professional education, strategic planning and consulting for individuals, companies and countries seeking to improve their position in the international film market.

Moderating the panel will be Perrine Ledan, Audiovisual and cinema expert, ACPCultures+ Programme, which is implemented by the Secretariat of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and financed by the European Union.

The Caribbean Film Mart seeks to foster direct relationships between the Caribbean and the international film industry, by stimulating and facilitating viable cinematic productions and co-productions.There will be presentations on international appeal and visibility of local films, co-productions, strategies for marketing films in different territories, distribution and the role of sales agents. The filmmakers will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with facilitators, and to pitch their projects to them.

The 10 participating filmmakers and their projects will be announced soon.

And the ttff/15 Winners are…

Sand Dollars, the tender story of an elderly French woman in a relationship with a much younger woman from the Dominican Republic, won the Best Fiction Feature prize last evening at the awards ceremony for the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff/15).

Directed by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, the film beat three other films in the official competition to nab the coveted prize.

The Best Documentary Feature went to Aleksandra Maciuszek’s Casa Blanca, the moving tale of an elderly woman and her middle-aged son who has Down syndrome, as they navigate daily life in Havana.

Casa Blanca also received a special mention for artistic merit by the Amnesty International Human Rights Prize jury.

In the Trinidad and Tobago film categories, Sean Hodgkinson’s Trafficked, about three friends on holiday who become drug mules, walked away with the Best Fiction Feature prize, while Kim Johnson’s Re-percussions: An African Odyssey, about attempts to propagate T&T’s national instrument in Nigeria, won Best Documentary Feature.

The prize for best project at the first ever Caribbean Film Mart went to Kidnapping Inc of Haiti, by Gaethan Chancy, Bruno Mourral and Gilbert Mirambeau, Jr.

Here is a full list of the awards:

Best Film Awards – sponsored by the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited
Best Fiction Feature: Sand Dollars, Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, Dominican Republic/Mexico/Argentina
Best Documentary Feature: Casa Blanca, Aleksandra Maciuszek, Cuba/Mexico/Poland
Best Short Film, Narrative: Mommy Water, Julien Silloray, Guadeloupe
Best Short Film, Documentary: Papa Machete, Jonathan David Kane, Haiti/USA/Barbados

Best Trinidad and Tobago Film Awards – sponsored by the Film Company of Trinidad and Tobago (FilmTT)
Best Trinidad and Tobago Fiction Feature: Trafficked, Sean Hodgkinson
Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature: Re-percussions: An African Odyssey, Kim Johnson
Best Trinidad and Tobago Short Film, Fiction: Fade to Black, Christopher Guinness
Best Trinidad and Tobago Short Film, Documentary: Riding Bull Cart, Rhonda Chan Soo

People’s Choice Awards – Sponsored by Flow
People’s Choice Award, Best Narrative Feature: Sally’s Way, Joanne Johnson, T&T
People’s Choice Award, Best Documentary Feature: Vanishing Sail, Alexis Andrews, Antigua
People’s Choice Award, Best Short Film: City on the Hill, Patricia Mohammed and Michael Mooleedhar, T&T

Amnesty International Human Rights Prize: My Father’s Land, Miquel Galofré and Tyler Johnston, Bahamas/Haiti/Trinidad and Tobago

Amnesty International Human Rights Prize, Special Mention for Artistic Merit: Casa Blanca, Aleksandra Maciuszek, Cuba/Mexico/Poland

RBC: Focus Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Prize: Kojo McPherson, Guyana

Caribbean Film Mart Best Project Award: Kidnapping Inc, Gaethan Chancy, Bruno Mourral, Gilbert Mirambeau, Jr

Best Emerging Trinidad and Tobago Filmmaker (prize sponsored by bpTT): Michael Rochford

BPTT Youth Jury Prize for Best Film: Girlhood, Céline Sciamma, France

BPTT Youth Jury Prize Honourable Mention: Güeros, Alonzo Ruizpalacios, Mexico

BPTT Youth Jury Prize, Special Mention for Cinematography: The Greatest House in the World, Ana V. Bojórquez and Lucía Carreras, Guatemala/Mexico

Image: A still from Sand Dollars

Launch of the Caribbean Film Mart, Database

The ttff launched the Caribbean Film Mart (CFM) and Caribbean Film Database last night (September 24), with a reception at HOME in Port of Spain.

Emilie Upczak, ttff’s Creative Director, shared her thoughts on the moment saying, “Today we are birthing the Caribbean Film Industry.”

She acknowledged the ACP Cultures+ Programme, which co-financed the project. The project is also
funded by the European Union (European Development Fund) and implemented by the ACP Group of States.

The Film Mart creates a space for international film industry professionals to meet one-on-one with representatives from fifteen Caribbean film projects in development, as well as to participate in a number of group events and activities, all with the aim of getting the films financed, made and distributed. The thirty industry professionals are drawn from across Europe, Latin America and the USA.

“We had over 100 [applications] and we were really surprised,” Upczak said. “We selected what we think [are] the best of Caribbean voices right now and I feel assured that in the next three to five years that every single project that is in this Film Mart will be made.”

“I would also like to acknowledge the 30 industry professionals who have had the courage and insight to get involved in a new movement,” she added. “We really appreciate you taking this risk and coming down here and we really hope that we are doing you proud.”

The ttff also unveiled the Caribbean Film Database, a website of feature-length independent Caribbean fiction, documentary and experimental feature films from 2000 to the present. The Database—which launched with 537 films—also includes a selected number of Caribbean classics, contain a bibliography of film resources, a Caribbean Women in Film page and links to other film festivals, film commissions and schools in the region. It is also in three languages: English, Spanish and French.

The Caribbean Film Mart and Caribbean Film Database are being implemented in association with the Fundación Global Democracia y Dessarollo from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice in Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema from Cuba, and the Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe.

Patricia Monpierre of the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice in Guadeloupe said that she was very happy to see the launch of the project.

“I am very happy tonight because all the team of the ttff are working on this with us. We want to continue to enrich the Database year after year. It’s our Database and we want to contribute to it.”

She also accentuated the unifying aspect of the database.

“We make this database online for sharing with everybody because we are one Caribbean—Caribbean English, Caribbean French, Caribbean Spanish, Caribbean Dutch and we have to show to the people of the world that we are one Caribbean.”

Luis Notario of ICAIC from Cuba echoed her sentiments.

“I feel in this moment like we are giving birth to something very important. I feel very strongly about the project, the fruit of much collaboration,” he said.

Notario also highlighted the importance of the CFM.

“These filmmakers get the support from the Film Mart and are also learning, getting insightful comments that will help them for future films,” he said. “I think that we have a challenge which is also an opportunity and it is also a commitment which is to continue this work, [to see] how we can make [the CFM] sustainable.”

Upczak also extended heartfelt thanks and acknowledgement to FLOW, the presenting sponsor of the ttff.

“They started with us when we were only two years old and they have really given us the space to grow and the money to do that and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

She ended by saying, “I would also like to acknowledge the ttff organising committee. We really are a collaborative team and it would be impossible to do what we do without each one of us.”

Caribbean Film Mart projects to undergo training initiative with Jan Miller

The feature-film projects participating in the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (CFM), taking place at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff/15), will engage in a training initiative facilitated by Jan Miller, an international consultant and trainer specialising in film and television co-production and co-venturing.

Fifteen projects from ten countries will participate in the CFM, which takes place from September 24–26. The training initiative takes place on the 22nd and 23rd.

For twenty years Jan Miller has delivered one of the top pitching and content development workshops in the world. Her awards include ITV’s Woman of Vision Award, WIFT-Toronto’s first Crystal Award for Excellence in Training/Professional Development, and the WIFT-AT Wave Award for her significant contribution and support of the Atlantic screen industry.

“We are pleased to be working with Jan Miller, to both train the participating filmmakers in their pitch and also in the fabrication of the Mart itself,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.

The training will include a half-day masterclass on pitching and a series of one-on-one meetings. The training will culminate on the morning of the 24th with the CFM Pitch, to be held at the Hyatt Trinidad. Eight selected filmmakers from the CFM will present five-minute pitches of their projects to a group of visiting industry professionals. These industry experts may ask questions and will provide feedback on the project to move each one forward.

The CFM projects are:

Beauty Kingdom, Dominican Republic, Fiction
Directors: Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas
Producers: Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas, Mónica De Moya
In a magical place in the Caribbean, the most expensive film of all time is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress, has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nonetheless, the film must go on.

Cargo, Bahamas, Fiction
Director: Kareem Mortimer
Producers: Trevite Willis, Alexander Younis
Kevin is a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house he is approached by a security guard, Mark, who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.

Conch, Curaçao, Fiction
Director: German Gruber
Producer: German Gruber
A young boy runs away from home after the loss of his mother, searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he goes around asking the characters he meets along his desolate journey about the message in the conch. To find out, he will have to confront his fear of the sea.

Doubles with Slight Pepper, Trinidad and Tobago/USA, Fiction
Director: Ian Harnarine
Producer: Ryan Silbert
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street-vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life. Based on the multi-award-winning short
 film by Ian Harnarine and executive-produced by Spike Lee.

The Dragon, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiction
Director: Asha Lovelace
Producer: Asha Lovelace
Aldrick’s sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.

The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia, Cuba, Fiction
Director: Arturo Infante
Producers: Claudia Calviño, Alejandro Tovar
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilisation. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown. What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.

The Fisherman’s Son, Puerto Rico, Fiction
Director: Edgar Deluque
Producer: Annabelle Mullen
A transsexual runs away to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father who he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.

Green Days by the River, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiction
Director: Michael Mooleedhar
Producer: Christian James
Set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952, this is the story of fifteen-year-old Shell, the new boy in the village. Shell naively navigates a love triangle between an attractive Indian girl, Rosalie, and the more personable Joan. Though flattered by the friendship of Rosalie’s father, he focuses on becoming a man in the wake of his father’s terminal illness and will discover the difficult choices ahead.

“Hello Nicki”, Trinidad and Tobago, Documentary
Director: Miquel Galofré
Producer: Jean-Michel Gibert
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualise her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.

Kidnapping Inc., Haiti, Fiction
Director: Bruno Mourral
Producers: Gaethan Chancy, Bruno Mourral, Raoul Peck
This is a twisted, dark comedy about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.

Papa Machete, Haiti/Barbados/USA, Documentary
Director: Jonathan David Kane
Producers: Jason Fitzroy Jeffers, Keisha Rae Witherspoon
Two hundred years ago, Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land: the machete. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.

Potomitans: Women Pillars in Revolt, Guadeloupe, Documentary
Director: Bouchera Azzouz
Producers: Nina Vilus, Laurence Lascary
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women. Liliane, Ginette, Vanessa, Corinne and Chantal are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.

The Seawall, Guyana/USA, Fiction
Director: Mason Richards
Producer: Sohini Sengupta
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.

Sprinter, Jamaica, Fiction
Director: Storm Saulter
Producer: Donald Ranvaud
Akeem, a young Rastafarian, surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team to compete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.

Wind Rush, Trinidad and Tobago/USA, Documentary
Director: Vashti Harrison
Producer: Vashti Harrison
Calypso music serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950’s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of Calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a roadmap to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.

The Caribbean Film Mart is being implemented in association with the Fundación Global Democracia y Dessarollo from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice in Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema from Cuba, and the Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe.

The project is supported by the ACP Cultures+ Programme, funded by the European Union (European Development Fund) and implemented by the ACP Group of States.

Inaugural Caribbean Film Mart draws big names to ttff/15

Some of the best talent in contemporary Caribbean filmmaking will meet top professionals in the global film industry, at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (CFM), to be held from 24–26 September 2015, in Port of Spain.

The CFM will take place during the tenth edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which runs from 15–27 September.

Each industry professional will meet one-on-one with representatives from fifteen Caribbean film projects in development, as well as participate in a number of public events and activities. The thirty industry professionals are drawn from across Europe, Latin America and the USA.

The CFM will also host daily round-table discussions with the participating industry guests. The guests include Moira Griffin, Head of Diversity at the Sundance Institute; Rob Maylor, International Sales Agent at Magnolia Films; Molly O’Keefe, Director of Scripted Programmes at Tribeca Film Institute; Thierry Lenouvel, founder of the Script Development Fund of the International Film Festival of Amiens; and Javier Fernandez Cuarto from the Argentinian film market Ventana Sur who, while in Trinidad, will confirm five Caribbean films in post-production to attend their market in December.

Producers Damon D’Oliveira of Conquering Lion Pictures (Canada) and Samuel Chauvin from Promenades Films (France) will use the dramatic serial Book of Negroes and the Cuban narrative feature film Melaza as case studies to address the development process, drawing on personal experiences, including how they found a co-producer, the benefits and challenges of co-producing with South Africa and Cuba respectively, and where they sourced financing.

Producers Rachel Watanabe-Batton of the Producers Guild of America, Shrihari Sathe of Infinitum Productions, and Aurélien Bodinaux of Neon Rouge Production will address how they got into producing, the choices they made along the way, training programmes they have gone through, and what membership of guilds and organisations does for a producer.

“We are particularly excited about the group of visiting industry professionals who will be in attendance at the Caribbean Film Mart. Each person has shown a keen interest to engage with the participating filmmakers and to be a part of the emergence of the Caribbean film industry,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director, who is spearheading the Caribbean Film Mart.

The CFM will also host a number of award-winning producers, including Donald Ranvaud (Farewell My Concubine, Central Station, City of God, The Constant Gardener); Ryan Silbert (The Girl is in Trouble); Yanick Létourneau (United States of Africa); Barthélémy Fougea (On the Way to School); Diana Elbaum (Xenia); and Ron Simons (Blue Caprice).

The rest of the line-up includes:
Nathalie Streiff, Institut Français
Naima Abed, Memento Films
Elizabeth Odal, Sorfund
Gizelle Lue,Cinemavault
Elsa Reyes, Zensky Cine
Katheryn Kennedy, Kennedy Films
Tania Serra, Carnaby International Sales
Jameson Oyer, Kino Lorber
Alfredo Calviño,Habanero Film Sales
Eric Schnedecker,Urban Distribution International
Sydney Levine, Syndey’s Buzz – Indiewire
Lucuis Barre, international publicist
Tilane Jones, African Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM)
Marjorie Bendeck Regalado, independent consultant for Ateliers du Cinema Européen – ACE Producers Network, Creative Europe – MEDIA film development fund, the Berlinale Talents and the World Cinema Fund

The project in development deemed to be the best of the fifteen selected for the CFM will receive a prize sponsored by bpTT: a place in the Rotterdam Producers Lab at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2016, inclusive of five nights accommodation, and an industry pass. The winner will be announced at the ttff/15 awards ceremony on Sunday 27th September.

The Caribbean Film Mart is being implemented in association with the Fundación Global Democracia y Dessarollo from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice in Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema from Cuba, and the Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe.

The project is supported by the ACP Cultures+ Programme, funded by the European Union (European Development Fund) and implemented by the ACP Group of States.