We’re delighted to announce the esteemed panel of programmers selecting films for the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival. The ttff/23 programming team is composed of film curators, producers, historians, writers and directors from Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and Cuba. They will select all the films for the 2023 film programme, as well as choose the films shortlisted for competition.
Ivonne Cotorruelo is a Cuban film curator and former producer based in New York, who has been empowering storytellers for over a decade. She is a features programmer at Cleveland International Film Festival CIFF, Miami International Film Festival MIFF, Outfest LA, trinidad+tobago film festival. She has served as juror for film festivals around the globe, and as reviewer for The Chicken and Egg fund, Warner Media New Voices Initiatives, Black and Latino Inclusion Fellowship in LA, and Disney. A Berlinale Talent Campus alumnus, she is always seeking out stories for underrepresented voices. and working on a plan of strategic diversity, equity and inclusion.
Danielle Dieffenthaller has over 20 years of experience in the television and film industry. She is the owner/producer/director of Dieffenthaller Style Films Ltd, which produced the popular programmes “Iere Vibe” and “The Reef”. She was the main force behind the television production company Earth TV Ltd, and producer/director and co-writer of the acclaimed “Ecowatch” series and the long-running “Westwood Park” (100 episodes). Dieffenthaller’s resumé includes work with TTT, UK-production company Bandung Productions and the groundbreaking production house Banyan Productions, where she and one other crew member were the only local crew to capture the events of the 1990 attempted coup. She is a co-founder of FILMCO and the 2019 Arts and Letters Laureate of the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence.
Jim Kolmar is an independent programmer who curated films for South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) from 2009-2020, where he continues to consult on international and feature films. He is also currently programming for trinidad+tobago film festival, and was a founding committee member at Festival Internacional de Cine Tulum (FICTU). Jim was also a guest curator for Portland International Film Festival 2021. Jim is a contributing writer for Ambulante Film Festival in Mexico, and has served on juries, panels and committees for organisations including Austin Film Society, BAFICI, Berlinale, Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), CONNeXT, CPH:DOX, IDFA, IFFPanama, IN-EDIT Barcelona, San Sebastián, and Ventana Sur.
Dr Bruce Paddington Bruce Paddington (PhD) is a filmmaker, academic and film festival curator. He was a senior lecturer in film at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and the co-founder of the Bachelor of Arts Film Programme. He is the founder of Banyan Productions, the New World Film Centre and the trinidad+tobago film festival and was the festival director from 2006–19. He is a programmer for trinidad+tobago film festival.
BC Pires was called to the bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 1984 and enrolled as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1989 but, since January 1988, has done nothing but write for a living. His satirical column, “Thank God It’s Friday”, published more or less every Friday of the last 32 years, has been published in the Express, the Guardian and Newsday. He has tried to write sensibly about film from an informed lay perspective since 1988. He sat on the first jury of the trinidad+tobago film festival and wrote the Judges’ Report. He has also written about West Indies cricket for publications all over the world, notably, the UK Guardian and Observer newspapers. He has lived in Port of Spain, London, Georgetown and, since 2008, Barbados.
Patrice Robinson is a film programmer and writer based in London. She has volunteered at Leeds International Film Festival, Leytonstone Loves Film, Norwich International Film Festival and our very own trinidad+tobago film festival. She is currently a member of the cinema team at the Barbican Centre in London. Entering the film industry as a graduate of the Independent Cinema Office’s FEDs Scheme, Patrice is committed to programming films that speak to under served communities. Most recently, Patrice curated the season – Snapshots: Caribbean Cinema Up Close which explores Caribbean self-representation in film.
and the ttff/22 winners are…!
The trinidad+tobago film festival is delighted to announce the ttff/22 award-winning films! Don’t forget, you can watch the many of these films tonight at MovieTowne (POS) at 8.00pm in screens nine and ten!
Best Student Film: Take Care, directed by Shun Tachizono
Honorable Mentions: Hide!, directed by Shaochen Wang AND Cracked, directed by Lin Que Ayoung.
Best Film as Decided by a Youth Jury: Lo que se hereda (It runs in the family), directed by Victoria Linares Villegas.
Honorable Mention: Talia’s Journey, directed by Christophe Rolin
Winner of ‘Love in the 21st Century’ smartphone competition, Love natural, directed by Kristof West
Best Documentary Short Film: Strictly 2 Wheel, directed by Ania Freer
Best Narrative Short Film: Twa Fèy (Three leaves), directed by “Eleonore Coyette + Sephora Monteau
Best Documentary Feature Film: Paroles de Nègres (The words of negroes), directed by Sylvaine Dampierre
Honorable Mention: Mafifa, directed by Daniela Muñoz Barroso
Best Narrative Feature Film: Cette Maison (This House), directed by Miryam Charles
Honorable Mention: Una Pelicula Sobre Parejas (A Film About Couples), directed by Natalia Cabral + Oriol Estrada
Best Trinidad + Tobago Film: King David, directed by Walt Lovelace
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. They are then watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. We extend heartfelt thanks to all our esteemed jury members!
#seeyuhself #ttfilmfestival #ttff22
Chee$e to show at NALIS Amphitheatre!
Thanks to the folks at MOVA Productions, we’re delighted to be able to put on another screening of Damian Marcano’s award-winning film, ‘Chee$e’. Here are the deets:
where: NALIS Amphitheatre
when: 23 September, 7.00pm
tickets: free of charge (but we need you to sign up here!)
#seeyuhself #ttff22 #seeitlive
Damian Marcano helmed ‘Chee$e’ to open ttff/22
Keenly anticipated by filmmakers and film enthusiasts, this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival is set to captivate audiences with its powerful stories, and striking visuals. Film programmers have already hinted that the diverse slate of talent from the Caribbean and beyond is sure to resonate with local audiences and it is therefore fitting that the opening night film, ‘Chee$e’ [16+] is directed by Trinidadian filmmaker, Damian Marcano.
Marcano is excited to have the Caribbean premier of his film at ttff/22 and shares, “I couldn’t have predicted that ‘Chee$e’ would have had the type of reception that it has had thus far – and now I can’t wait to take it in at home. I hope people can take away that they should just be themselves because that is what we did when we made the film… we stayed true to who we are. ‘Chee$e’ is a vibe; let’s keep the vibes going.”
Seven years in the making, ‘Chee$e’ [16+] tells the story of Skimma (Akil Williams), a young man who has to come up with a plan when he gets a girl pregnant. Set in a town referred to as “Behind God’s Back” presumably in Trinidad and Tobago, Skimma is desperate to escape his situation. With dreams that are larger than island life, he takes the lessons learned from working with the local cheesemaker to his new enterprise – baking weed into blocks of cheese and selling it. ‘Chee$e’ takes us on a ride with Skimma as he schemes to achieve wealth, becoming the island’s most prolific supplier as demand for his product grows. We experience all the highs, lows and increasing risk of danger right along with him.
A twisted rags-to-riches tale, the authentic portrayal of island life and one man’s struggle to create his own niche, ‘Chee$e’ is the first instalment of a planned trilogy and its remarkable performances, score and visuals do not disappoint.
Described as “a model of what independent filmmaking should be” by Richard Brody, The New Yorker, the film has been praised for its “exuberance and scrutiny, craft and sincerity, hands-on artistry and incisive observation.”
Interestingly, Marcano also served as the film’s cinematographer, screenwriter, and composer – his unique way of seeing is apparent throughout. No doubt enriched by his background, Marcano’s career began shooting shorts in the region: ‘The little boy and the ball’, ‘Giants’, and ‘Heart of a monster’. His feature, award-winning film, ‘God loves the fighter’ racked up numerous prizes worldwide, setting him on a path to direct Hollywood titles, including HBO’s ‘Winning Time: The Rise of The Lakers Dynasty’, and FX’s ‘Snowfall’.
The Opening Night screening takes place at IMAX on 21 September with a pre-screening cocktail reception at IMAX. The afterparty will be held at the Dalai Llama (Lower Commons, One Woodbrook Place). Tickets cost $200 and there are discounts for FILMCO members. Tickets will be available online at https://ttfilmfestival.com/product/opening-night-gala-ticket-cheee and from the festival office from 23 August.
ttff/22 films: “Heartfelt and restlessly inventive”
Premiere regional film festival returns for its 17th edition
Port of Spain, Tuesday 16 August 2022 – The region’s premier film festival, trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is back with a full calendar of events. This year’s festival will see a return to in-person screenings and events after two years online due to pandemic restrictions.
With an impressive panel of film programmers comprising three Caribbean and two international industry specialists, more than 250 films were considered for the festival programme. This year’s film programmers are Bruce Paddington (ttff founder), Danielle Dieffenthaller, BC Pires, Ivonne Cotorruelo and Jim Kolmar. Together, they have shortlisted just over 25 films to compete for prizes and awards recognition.
Kolmar, also a writer who has been curating features for the renowned South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), shares, “It’s been a real thrill to work with the programming team on this year’s lineup. It represents the diversity, creativity and the sheer breadth of talent emerging from the Caribbean and beyond. Heartfelt and restlessly inventive, these films exemplify the bold visions and unique voices long celebrated by the festival.”
He continues, “The most exciting part of all this is the opportunity to watch these films with enthusiastic audiences. It’s the kind of community experience that we need more than ever, and it’s a great pleasure to play a part in that. I can’t wait for people to watch these remarkable films.”
Apart from the opening night (which will be at IMAX), screenings will be held at MovieTowne, Port of Spain and NALIS (AV Room and Amphitheatre). Screenings at NALIS are free to the public and tickets for MovieTowne will be available at their box office from 15 September.
The trinidad+tobago film festival wishes to acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors – our signature sponsor:The National Gas Company (NGC); our leading sponsors: Shell Trinidad and Tobago and Republic Bank; our contributing sponsor: the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts; our supporting sponsors: the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited (FilmTT).
We also acknowledge the contributions of our programming partners: the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), the Embassy of the United States, Port of Spain, the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, Festival International du Film Documentaire Amazonie-Caraibes (FIFAC) and FILMCO; our event partners: the Dalai Llama, Calabash Garden, the Naughty Grape, MovieTowne and C15 Studios Limited; our media and promotion partners: TTT Limited and Scrip-J.
Creating a sustainable film industry requires years of work, training and support. This is why the trinidad+tobago film festival has remained committed to providing our community with access to industry leaders and professionals. Now in its seventeenth year, ttff/22 is excited to once again host a variety of workshops and capacity-building programmes – and (can we get an amen!) they will all be held in person!
Our line up includes presentations, panels and talks which will all be offered free of charge. Our masterclasses and workshops, intended for emerging and established filmmakers, will take place at NALIS and registration and payment are required in advance. While all the workshops will be ticketed, one of our masterclasses will be offered free of charge, thanks to the support of the US Embassy, Port of Spain.
This year, with the support of Shell, we are also offering a series of introductory workshops intended for young and/or beginner filmmakers called movie-making 101.
Advance tickets are available at ttfilmfestival.com and can also be purchased via bank transfer or in person (cash, credit card or linx) at our FILMCO office, located at 22 Jerningham Ave. *FILMCO members, filmmakers with a film in the Festival and students with a valid photo ID, can receive a 50% discount on workshops and masterclasses! Please email Nyola at festival@filmco.org for information on payment options and to receive your discount code.
ASK THE VETERAN
We’re mixing it up this year, with a new format for our popular ‘Ask the veterans’ offering – we’ll be combining access to a variety of veteran film professionals with a speed-dating format, so attendees can learn directly from folks who work in different areas of the film industry pipeline! This is an open, all-access pass to drill experienced film industry professionals on all aspects of their work.
ask the veteran, speed dating edition! Fri 23 Sept, 3.00–5.00pm location: NALIS (Old Fire Station) tickets: free of charge; pre-registration required click here for more information
industry veterans SXSW programmer Jim Kolmar; TTT programme manager Diane Robertson; FilmTT general manager Leslie-Ann Caton; Firelight Media CEO Marcia Smith; film industry publicist Marcin J. Sobczak and others.
MASTERCLASSES
telling our stories: directing the caribbean narrative feature Thurs 22 + Fri 23 Sept, 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2) tickets: TT$300 facilitator: José María Cabral Presented with the support of FilmTT click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
film producing 101 Fri 23 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm + 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 1) tickets: free facilitator: Stanley Nelson Jr Presented in partnership with the US Embassy, Port of Spain click here for more information *Pre-registration is required.
the role of the sales agent Sun 25 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: TT$150 facilitator: Michaelangelo Masangkay click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
bringing historical figures of colour to life through documentary Tues 27 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm + 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2) tickets: TT$300 facilitator: Shola Lynch Presented with the support of FilmTT click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
WORKSHOPS
strategies for succeeding on the festival circuit Fri 23 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2) tickets: $150 facilitators: Themba Bhebhe, Jim Kolmar, Michaelangelo Masangkay + Marcin J. Sobczak click here for more information *Pre-payment for selected participants is required.
movie-making 101: introduction to cinematography Sat 24 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm, 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 1) tickets: TT$300 facilitator: Oliver Milne Presented with the support of Shell click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
working with a composer Sat 24 Sept, 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2) tickets: TT$150 facilitator: Navíd Lancaster click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
movie-making 101: drone videography Sun 25 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: TBC tickets: $150 facilitator: Michaelangelo Masangkay Presented with the support of Shell click here for more information *Pre-registration and payment in advance are required.
PRESENTATIONS
planning an impact campaign for your film Thurs 22 Sept, 12.30pm–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 1) tickets: free facilitator: Marcia Smith Presented with the support of the US Embassy, Port of Spain click here for more information
tt production rebate Fri 23 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free facilitator: Leslie Ann Wills-Caton Presented with the support of FilmTT click here for more information
crowdfunding and direct-to-audience strategies Fri 23 Sept, 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 1) tickets: free facilitator: Marcin J. Sobczak click here for more information
contracts, copyright and clearances Sat 24 Sept, 10.30am–12.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free facilitator: Justin Koo click here for more information
movie-making 101: building your first filmmaking kit Sat 24 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 1) tickets: free facilitator: Robert Macfarlane Presented with the support of Shell click here for more information
researching historical stories at the heritage library Sat 24 Sept, 1.00–2.30pm location: NALIS (Heritage Library) tickets: free facilitator: Jasmin P. Simmons Presented in collaboration with NALIS click here for more information
ABCs of why and how: having a career as a filmmaker Sat 24 Sept, 2.30pm–4.00pm location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2) tickets: free facilitators: Mariel Brown + Marcin J. Sobczak click here for more information
PANELS
route to audience Thurs 22 Sept, 2.30–4.00 pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Mariel Brown click here for more information
spotlight on the Dominican Republic film industry Thurs 22 Sept, 4.30–5.45pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Mariel Brown Presented with the support of the Embassy of the Dominican Republic click here for more information
lgbtqia+ storytelling in the caribbean space Fri 23 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Franka Philip click here for more information
the tricky question of ‘truth’ in documentary Sat 24 Sept, 12.30–2.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Stanley Nelson Jr click here for more information
what are film festivals looking for? Sat 24 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Asha Lovelace click here for more information
film archives as repositories of history Sun 25 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Mariel Brown click here for more information
see yuhself: our stories as a conduit to change Sun 25 Sept, 4.30–5.45pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Franka Philip click here for more information
making the indie film Mon 26 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Marcin J. Sobczak click here for more information
the brave new world of NFTs Tues 27 Sept, 2.30–4.00pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Anya Ayoung-Chee Presented with the support of IDB click here for more information
ttff talks
ttff talks are in depth and insightful conversations with creative masters on their creative journeys, inspiration, challenges and personal philosophies. ttff talks are presented with the support of The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago. ttff talk with Christopher Laird + Dr Bruce Paddington Fri 23 Sept, 4.30–5.45pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Maria Nunes click here for more information
ttff talk with Stanley Nelson Jr and Marcia Smith Sat 24 Sept, 4.30–5.45pm location: NALIS (AV Room) tickets: free moderator: Mariel Brown click here for more information
ttff/22 in competition: documentary features and shorts
We are pleased to announce the short and feature length documentary films in competition at ttff/22. Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. They are then watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. All the winners will be announced at the ttff/22 awards, 27 September, with cash prizes and trophies furnished by our sponsors.
For film synopses, screening details and director bios, please click the links (indicated as blue underlines) below.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
Lo que se hereda (It runs in the family), directed by Victoria Linares Villegas
We are honoured to introduce the jury members who will be judging the documentary films in competition at ttff/22: filmmaker and film curator, Shola Lynch; filmmaker, artist and author, Michèle Stephenson; journalist and filmmaker, Annick Laurent.
Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. The shortlisted films then move to the juries which are given a list of criteria on which they must score each film. Films are watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. All the winners will be announced at the ttff/22 awards, 27 September.
Annick Laurent Annick Laurent is a documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist from New York, USA. Her interests include race and gender relations, culture, and the environment. Laurent is drawn to stories concerning identity, equity and access. Her first film, To the Plate, is about the way xenophobia affected Asian American elders and business owners during the pandemic. Before graduating from Columbia Journalism School, Laurent earned a BS in Biology from Spelman College. Laurent was also featured in Sisters Song: Awaken/Chroma: Red for Elevate, an exhibit hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs; her photography explored gentrification in Atlanta from a feminist perspective.
Shola Lynch Shola Lynch is an award-winning American filmmaker best known for the feature documentary ‘Free Angela and all political prisoners’ and the Peabody Award winning documentary, ‘Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed’. Her independent film body of work and her other collaborative projects feed her passion to bring history alive with captivating stories of people, places, and events. Since 2013 she has also served as the curator of the Moving Image & Recorded Sound division of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In 2016, Shola became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Shola is currently finishing a documentary about the American sprinter, cultural icon and still World Record holder, Flo Jo. She will also helm the Apple Original film, ‘Number One on the Call Sheet’, which will celebrate Black achievement in the film industry, and explore what it takes for Black actresses to find success in Hollywood. Shola believes deeply in the value of preserving history and its power in storytelling.
Michèle Stephenson Filmmaker, artist and author, Michèle Stephenson, pulls from her Haitian and Panamanian roots to think radically about storytelling and disrupt the imaginary in non-fiction spaces. She tells emotionally driven personal stories of resistance and identity that are created by, for and about communities of colour and the Black diaspora. Her stories intentionally reimagine and provoke thought about how we engage with and dismantle the internalized impact of systems of oppression. Her feature documentary, ‘American Promise’, was nominated for three Emmys and won the Jury Prize at Sundance. Her documentary, ‘Stateless’, was nominated for a Canadian Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. Most recently, Stephenson collaborated as co-director on the magical realist virtual reality trilogy series on racial terror, ‘The Changing Same’, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Narrative at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, a Guggenheim Artist Fellow and a Creative Capital Artist.
ttff/22 in competition: narrative features and shorts
We are pleased to announce the short and feature length narrative films in competition at ttff/22. Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. They are then watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. All the winners will be announced at the ttff/22 awards, 27 September.
For film synopses, screening details and director bios, please click the links (indicated as blue underlines) below.
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
Cette Maison (This house), directed by Miryam Charles
Hugh Robertson came to Trinidad to film an adaptation of Derek Walcott’s play Dream on Monkey Mountain for NBC and embarked on an engagement with his wife’s homeland which saw the birth of what is arguably the most important film to be produced in Trinidad: Bim (1974).
American of Jamaican heritage, Robertson, together with his wife, Suzanne Robertson and a group of local directors and investors set up Sharc Productions. Sharc was an acronym for the names of his family: Suzanne, Hugh, Antonio (their son) Robertson Company.
Robertson was editor for the Hollywood films Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Shaft (1971). He also directed Melinda (1972). Robertson was nominated for an Academy Award for his editing work on Midnight Cowboy. Melinda, starring the Bahamian actor Calvin Lockhart, was extremely successful at the local box office.
Sharc brought in professional film equipment and a custom-built production vehicle for location filming. It created a sound stage at Tucker Valley in Chaguaramas and produced commercials and documentaries, but its real mission was to establish a local film industry.
Bim was set in Trinidad in the period before independence, and the politically charged film reflected the passion and conflicts of the 1940s and 50s. Written by Raoul Pantin, the film starred Ralph Maraj as Bim, in what is widely considered to be his finest performance on film.
The film’s musical score was by Andre Tanker, who worked with a group of East Indian musicians. It was later released as an LP record.
Bim won a gold medal at the United States Virgin Islands Film Festival in St. Thomas in 1975, was shown at the Carifesta Film Festival in Jamaica (1976) and the Los Angeles Film festival (1976).
The producers were encouraged to make another film, Avril, based upon an original story by Hans Boos with a script by Raoul Pantin, about a spell inflicted on a young couple and the complications that ensued. While the filming was completed, the producers suffered major financial problems in having the film processed and edited. In 1987, almost ten years later, the film was finally completed and shown in San Francisco under the new title Obeah, a year before the director’s death. This film has never been seen in the Caribbean.
Horace Ové
Born in Trinidad, Horace Ové is internationally known as one of the leading black independent filmmakers to emerge in Britain since the post-war period. His feature film Pressure is cited in the Guinness Book of Records as the first black feature film to be made in the UK. The screenplay was written by Ové and novelist Samuel Selvon. It was funded by the British Film Institute Production Board but banned for three years because of its politically charged subject.
Ové’s other early films include Baldwin’s Nigger (1969) and Reggae, the first in-depth film on reggae music, narrated by the Jamaican writer and journalist, Andrew Salkey. He also made King Carnival (1973), Skateboard Kings (1978), A Hole In Babylon (1979), Who Shall We Tell? (1985), Dabbawallahs (1985) and Playing Away (1986).
He directed various episodes of the groundbreaking television series Empire Road (1978-79). Ové made his mark on the series by taking it out of the studio and onto real street locations. For the ITV network, he directed The Latchkey Children (1978-79), the first multiracial children’s drama and an episode of The Professionals titled A Man Called Quinn.
In 1991 he directed The Orchid House for Britian’s Channel 4. A four-part period drama set in Dominica, it tells the story of the decline of an old colonial family from the point of view of their black nanny. The cast included his daughter Indra Ové.
In 1995, he directed Native Son, shot in America and Paris, for PBS and BBC2 on the life and works of Richard Wright. Also in 1995 he directed The Equaliser for the BBC series Hidden Empire, which went on to win several Asian Academy Awards.
In 2005 he completed a documentary entitled Dream to Change the World, about the life of the late John La Rose, a Trinidad-born, black activist, publisher, writer and the founder of New Beacon Books.
Ové has won several awards over the years. He was named Best Birector for Independent Film and Television by the British Film Institute in 1986. He is the only non-Jamaican to be given a Doctor Bird award, for his contribution to Caribbean filmmaking. He was awarded the Humming Bird Medal by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in recognition of his international achievements in television and film. He has also received awards for his work as a photographer.
Ové’s most recent feature film, The Ghost of Hing King Estate, written and produced by Francis Escayg, was shot on location in Trinidad and starred Errol Sitahal, Terry-Leigh Bovell, Wendell Manwarren, Susan Hannay-Abrahams and Michael Cherrie.
In June 2007 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to the film and television industry in the UK. He was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to media.
Horace James
Horace Eastlyn Emmanuel James was born on October 24th 1927 in San Fernando. He started acting when he was just seven years old and was associated with the Carnegie Players, San Fernando’s oldest theatre group.
In 1952 he gathered a group together to initiate formation of what would become the San Fernando Drama Guild. Following his debut on Radio Trinidad’s soap opera The Edwards Family, he accepted a scholarship to study theatre production at the Oxford Playhouse in England. A government scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts followed in 1961 and he stayed in England for almost thirteen years. He won small parts in several British television series, and wrote, directed and produced for others.
In 1968, an adaptation of Samuel Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners was broadcast as a series of plays called Eldorado West One, on BBC Radio 4, with Rudolph Walker and James as key actors.
His television work included a stint on Z Cars and the TV soap opera Compact, the first soap to include a regular role for a black actor (James played magazine photographer Jeff Armandez). He also starred in the films Guns at Batasi (1964) and Love Thy Neighbour (1973)
He returned to Trinidad in 1973 and spearheaded the first drama department at Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), beginning a television drama career that would last nineteen years. He established the popular Play of the Month serial, selecting the plays, recruiting actors and co-opting people from other departments of the station to produce one play a month. He adapted plays from Derek Walcott, Errol Hill, Freddie Kissoon and Lennox Brown. He undertook the bulk of the work, directing, sometimes acting, lighting, producing and getting funding. He produced and directed the dramatic series No Boundaries and inspired other series like Sugar Cane Arrows.
Harbance Kumar
Harbance holds the distinction of directing the first feature-length film in the English-speaking Caribbean: The Right and the Wrong and Caribbean Fox (both 1970).
Born in India in 1937, he came to the Caribbean to distribute the film Bijli Chamke Jamna Paar (1962). He eventually married a Trinidadian and began organising the subtitling of Indian films locally.
He cast two Guyanese actors, Gloria David and Marc Mathews, in leading roles in The Right and the Wrong, while the assistant director was the Guyanese filmmaker Brian Stewart-Young. Robert Hawkins, who was in charge of the Trinidad operations of Pearl and Dean from 1964-1969, was the director of photography on The Right and the Wrong and Caribbean Fox. They were produced by De Luxe Films, a distribution company that marketed Indian films in Trinidad and Guyana.
The Right and the Wrong was filmed on an agricultural estate at Five Rivers, Arouca. It was advertised as “a story of lust, passion and violence set in Trinidad at the time of slavery”. The film was scripted by Freddie Kissoon and also featured local actors, such as Holly Betaudier.
This low-budget film was made for approximately US$50,000 and Carl Jacobs, writing for the local Guardian newspaper, reported that the film had “done splendidly at the Caribbean box office, actually breaking records in some places such as Grenada and Surinam”. It was also very popular in Guyana. It won a gold medal for photography at the Atlanta Film Festival, but the film’s major achievement was that it inspired Caribbean persons to make their own films.
Kumar wrote the script for Caribbean Fox himself. The assistant director was Anthony Maharaj. The film received a similar reception to The Right and the Wrong. It was popular commercially but criticised by local and international critics. The film was shown internationally as a double feature with the The Right and the Wrong
Kumar was not to make another film in Trinidad for a decade. In 1982 he made Man from Africa (also called Girl from India, a version for the Indian market using a different soundtrack) and Jealous, starring Michael Walker. He is also known for films Messing Around (1989), Heaven Becomes Hell (1989).
Kumar has since changed his name to Mickey Kumar, so that people in the USA could pronounce it. After meeting Mrs. Nivelli, an old Jewish lady who wanted to adopt Harbance and make him her son, he took on her last name out of respect and love, thereby becoming Mickey Nivelli. He lives in New York, working as a writer and film distributor.
Errol John
Errol John was an artist and a talented track and field athlete who ran for the club Malvern. For a short time he worked as a lawyer’s clerk; however, he soon followed his dream to act, joining the Whitehall Players theatre group.
After World War II, he travelled to England and found work in the theatre. He made numerous small appearances in television and film. In 1955, he landed the star role in the BBC’s A Man from the Sun (1956), which was followed by larger roles in No Hiding Place (1961) and Rainbow City (1967), a five-part series written for him by John Elliot.
Today, John is equally known for his success as a writer. His seminal play, Moon on A Rainbow Shawl, won the Observer Play of the Year award in 1957. John developed a full-length screenplay of Moon, but it was never produced. Over the half-century since then the play has achieved iconic status as a classic of Caribbean theatre, regularly staged internationally, in countries as diverse as Iceland, Hungary and Argentina, most recently at the Cottesloe Theatre in the UK (2012).
The BBC produced and broadcast two of his plays: The Dawn (1963) and The Exiles (1968), while the ATV London Network aired his play The Insider (1969).
Despite featuring in films with Audrey Hepburn (The Nun’s Story, 1959), Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte (Assault on a Queen, 1966) and Sidney Poitier’s Buck and the Preacher (1971), he was confined to small parts in Hollywood and didn’t stay on.
He died on 10 July, 1988 in Camden, North London and was posthumously awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) for drama that year.
Edric Connor & Pearl Connor
Edric Connor started singing professionally in 1936, and the following year took part in one of the first films made in Trinidad, Callaloo (1937).
Connor left Trinidad in 1944 to study engineering in England, but within weeks he appeared on the BBC radio programme Calling the West Indies. This was the first of over 2,500 sound broadcasts he made during his life. He also appeared in numerous television productions, making his first appearance for BBC television in Music Makers (1946). His first dramatic appearance on television was in All God’s Chillun Got Wings.
Edric Connor made over 300 appearances on BBC TV and ITV and assisted other Caribbean artists newly arrived in England with television appearances. In the 1960s he appeared in the popular television series The Avengers and two episodes of Danger Man. His final television performance was in the drama Espionage (1994).
Connor studied film at the Heatherley School of Art and undertook professional training at the BBC. He then formed Edric Connor Films and with some assistance from the British Film Institute completed two shorts: Caribbean Honeymoon (1960) and Carnival Fantastique (1960).
Caribbean Honeymoon showcased the beauty of the Caribbean and generated pride in the immigrant West Indian community in Britain. Carnival Fantastique was filmed during the 1959 Carnival in Trinidad. The film played a significant role in introducing the carnival arts to Britain at the time when there was major racial prejudice and discontent in Britain.
He was Britain’s first black film director and made short films and documentaries in England and Africa, including one for the independence of Nigeria.
Connor acted in many well-known Hollywood and British productions. His debut was in Cry, the Beloved Country (1952), directed by Zoltan Korda and featuring the young Sidney Poitier as a priest. The experience of filming in apartheid South Africa made a great impression on him and he returned to Africa several times afterward to work on features filmed on location there. He next appeared in Moby-Dick (1956), and Fire Down Below (1957), filmed on location in Trinidad and Tobago. Pearl Connor recalled that her husband “was greatly honoured… he was recognized as a real celebrity, our man come home, which was wonderful.” Other films Connor starred in were Seven Thunders (1957), The Vikings (1958), Virgin Island (1960), King of Kings (1961) and Four for Texas (1963). His final two film performances were in 1968: Only When I Larf and Nobody Runs Forever.
Pearl Connor trained under Beryl McBurnie at the Little Carib Theatre in Port of Spain, then attended the Rose Bruford School of Speech and Drama in Kent.
In 1948 she met, and later married, Edric Connor. They moved to London where she enrolled at King’s College to study law. She too worked in the Caribbean Service of the BBC as an actress, last appearing in Lindsay Anderson’s Oh Lucky Man (1973), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Pearl and Edric opened the Edric Connor Agency (1956), which Pearl later ran as the Afro-Asian-Caribbean Agency. One of their lasting achievements is their advocacy for the employment of a larger percentage of black performers in the British entertainment industry.
The agency was involved in co-producing or distributing some of the groundbreaking films in black British and Caribbean film history, especially Carnival Fantastique (1959), The Harder They Come (1972), Horace Ové’s films King Carnival (1972) and Pressure (1975), and Smile Orange (1976).
Edric also attempted to establish an art-film cinema in Trinidad. He invested his own money, bought a cinema in Curepe and hired a local manager, but it really never took off.
He died in 1968, and in 1971 Pearl married Joe Mogotsi, leader of South Africa’s famous vocal group, the Manhattan Brothers. She continued her work until her death in South Africa in 2005. Her honours include the Humming Bird Medal (silver) for outstanding services to the immigrant community in the United Kingdom, and the National Black Women’s Achievement Award for Entertainment and Arts in Britain.
Anthony Maharaj
The prolific career of Anthony Maharaj includes international and local productions.
His parents were film distributors responsible for the distribution of Indian films throughout the Caribbean. At age fourteen he started working with them, and later worked with Paramount and MGM distribution, in Guyana and Trinidad, until he formed his own distribution company, AMA Films. AMA has distributed in the Caribbean for Samuel Goldwyn, Lorimar, Morgan Creek and Miramax films.
At age nineteen he worked with Harbance Kumar on the first full-colour feature film to be made in the English-speaking Caribbean, The Right and the Wrong (1970), and The Caribbean Fox (1970). He was also assistant producer and assistant director on Operation Makonaima (1972), directed by Ramdjan Abdoel Rahaman and filmed in Guyana, Suriname, Holland and Trinidad and Tobago.
His international career included working on feature films in Thailand, the Philippines and the USA. He established, owned and managed Cariphil Pictures, a production and distribution company based in Los Angeles and Manila.
He was executive producer, second unit director and co-writer on Final Mission (1984), directed by Cirio Santiago. Maharaj and Santiago collaborated on two more films. Maharaj was executive producer and co-producer with Santiago on Naked Vengeance (1985), directed by Santiago and based on an original story by Maharaj. He was also producer and second unit director on Future Hunters, also known as Deadly Quest and Spear of Destiny, directed by Santiago and based on Maharaj’s original story.
His first film as a director was The Fighter (1987), also known as The Kick Fighter, based on his original story. Maharaj also directed Return of the Kickfighter (1987), also known as Mission Terminate. In 1988 he directed Crossfire, also known as Not Another Mistake, and Rage, also known as Deathfight, which starred Karen Moncrieff and Chuck Jeffreys.
Maharaj returned to work in Trinidad and introduced Moncrieff and Jeffreys to Trinidad, directing them in Innocent Adultery (1994) and Secrets of the Shell (2000), which he also produced.
Maharaj also played an important role in arranging the investment of the Trinidad and Tobago finance company, CL Financial Ltd, in the Merchant Ivory production Mystic Masseur (2002), filmed on location in Trinidad. Maharaj is listed as the associate producer and Lawrence Duprey, the then Chairman of CL Financial Ltd., as the executive producer on the film. Maharaj was also the executive producer of the Bollywood feature film Dulha Mil Gaya (2009), which starred Shah Rukh Khan and was partly filmed in Tobago.
Alex de Verteuil
In 1964 the English conglomerate Pearl and Dean opened its Caribbean operations and established locally registered companies in Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas.
Pearl and Dean’s focus was the production of 35mm colour advertisements for local cinemas. In 1974 Pearl and Dean divested its Caribbean operations and David Martin—who was born in England and married to a Trinidadian—took over, making Trinidad the headquarters of operations. He died in 1974 and Alex de Verteuil took over running the company along with his sister, Elizabeth Jean Martin, David Martin’s widow.
By the 1980s the cinema industry was in crisis throughout the Caribbean with the closure of cinemas caused by declining audiences. All of Pearl and Dean’s Caribbean companies closed except for the Trinidad office. But the challenges they faced did not break the spirits of the company’s new owners.
De Verteuil, who has always had a passion for the natural environment, history and culture, diversified operations and started to produce documentaries and commercials, although the company’s main revenue earner was and still is outdoor advertising.
He produced and directed documentary videos for television broadcast on a range of local topics, largely cultural and environmental. They include several award-winning programmes that have had international distribution in the UK, South Africa, Israel and the USA.
Among the works produced by De Verteuil are:
Iere, Land of the Hummingbird (BWIA Media Award for Best Documentary)
Cry for Buccoo (Images Caraibe Award for best environmental documentary, BWIA Media Awards for Best Investigative report and best-edited documentary)
Nariva Must Not Die (Green Screen and Missoula awards)
Honorable Mentions: 
