T&T will present four feature-length films and over 34 short and experimental films during the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) from September 19-26.

One of those films, a movie adaptation of Michael Anthony’s Green Days by the River directed by Michael Mooleedhar and Christian James, will be the opening night film.

In a release last week, the festival announced most of its Caribbean line-up, which includes several award-winning and critically acclaimed films.

The festival will be held at MovieTowne Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Tobago, as well as at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

The films from some of the Caribbean’s finest film makers include, from the Dominican Republic, Jose Maria Cabral’s Carpinteros (Woodpeckers), a high-octane, no-holds barred movie about a forbidden relationship conducted through prison bars and across the 200 yards of empty space dividing the male and female prisons in Santo Domingo. Carpinteros, which played at the Sundance Film Festival, has been described by critics as a “raw, intriguing and energetic blend of the tough and the tender.”

A strong lineup of critically acclaimed, award-winning Caribbean films will screen at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival (tt/ff), to be held from September 19 – 26, at MovieTowne Port of Spain, San Fernando and Tobago, as well as at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

The films from some of the Caribbean’s finest filmmakers, include, from the Dominican Republic, Jose Maria Cabral’s Carpinteros (Woodpeckers), a high-octane,  no-holds barred movie about a forbidden relationship conducted through prison bars and across the 200 yards of empty space dividing the male and female prisons in Santo Domingo.  Described by critics as a raw, intriguing and energetic blend of the tough and the tender, Carpinteros played at the Sundance Film Festival, to great acclaim.

Bahamian filmmaker, Kareem Mortimer’s moving and topical film, Cargo, tells the tragic story of human trafficking from the point of view of reluctant trafficker, Kevin. An American exile with a gambling addiction, living in the Bahamas, he begins smuggling Haitians to Florida in an act of desperation, to keep his secrets buried and get out of a financial bind.

Cannes, France – It is safe to say that Trinidad and Tobago is leading the charge for the development of a lucrative film industry in the Caribbean Region. Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island Republic, lead for mainly two reasons: One? The best and most imaginative films have come from under T&T over the last five years. Two? As a nation, they have done more to unite the Region under one Caribbean Film banner. We have talked about this idea of a “Cariwood” on our television show The Cinemas.

#Cariwood then became a bit catchphrase that Tempo Networks (a regional television network televising our show) also adopted. Cariwood is this idea of a Caribbean Film Industry. And though it mostly exists it in theory at this point (as the Region still has a ways to go), if the race to Cariwood is on, it is looking like Trinidad and Tobago will cross the finish line to her first.

As for my first point on T&T films, there are presently two of them here at the Marche Du Cinema (the non competition marketing arm of Cannes). The first I had the pleasure of screening was a film called “The Cutlass,” directed by Trinidadian filmmaker Darisha Beresford (in an impressive feature film debut) and written by Teneille Newallo, also from Trinidad. The Cutlass is a beautiful yet harrowing tale of paradise lost (as ‘paradise lost’ is an all connecting theme and aesthetic uniting Caribbean Cinema I am finding more and more). Inspired by true events, the story centers a young woman named Joanna (played by German born and Tobago raised Lisa-bel Hirschman) who is kidnapped and whisked off into the tropical rain forest of Trinidad by a sociopath named Al (played hauntingly good by Arnold Goindhan). Al charts the rain forest leading Joanna, his prey, with a gun in one hand and a “cutlass” (or machete) in the next. His initial intentions are clear; he’s holding Joanna for ransom. He’s poor and just wants the money her family can afford cough up.

The Trinidad and Tobago film festival (TTFF) has extended an invitation to experimental filmmakers, visual/video artists and creative producers from the Caribbean and its diaspora to submit works to be featured in the 2017 edition of the festival.

Avant Garde and experimental film and video works have formed an integral part of the TTFF. This year, the festival welcomes interdisciplinary collaborations and intersections of painting, dance, literature, photography, animation, moving images, projections, installations and emerging technologies on the theme ‘Bearings’. These include but are not limited to explorations and presentations of identity, globalisation, placement/displacement, migration, contemporary politics and belonging.

The Trinidad+Tobago film festival (TTFF/17)  is inviting  experimental filmmakers, visual/video artists and creative producers from the Caribbean and its diaspora to submit works to be featured in the 2017 edition of the Festival, in September. This year’s New Media programme will showcase works that speak to the theme “Bearings” and will award a prize of $5,000TT to the presentation that best captures this notion. The winner will be selected by a three member jury of an internationally acclaimed artist, curator and  art critic.

FILMMAKERS ARE invited to submit material for screening at the 12th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) by the 15 May. A rough cut will be considered.

The 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. This year it will be held from 19 – 26 September 2017.

In addition, the ttff seeks to facilitate the growth of Caribbean cinema by offering a wide-ranging industry programme and networking opportunities.

Annabelle Alcazar, programme director of the ttff says:

“The importance of screening films from the Caribbean diaspora, during the tt film festival, cannot be over stated. They contribute to the multi-layered notions of what it means to be Caribbean, as well as provide a focal point for Caribbean connectivity between those of us ‘at home’ and ‘abroad’.