Join Us for Our ‘Documenting Carnival’ Panel

Carnival is both a time for revelry and a time for work. Photographers, videographers and filmmakers can often be found behind a camera trying to capture the best images, while revellers enjoy themselves. It can be very hard work! But why do they feel the need to document the Carnival? 

As part of trinidad+tobago film festival’s #WatchAMovieOnUs carnival edition, we invite you to join us on Facebook Live for a panel discussion with moderator Ray Funk and panelists Kevin Adams, Maria Govan, Christopher Laird, Mark Lyndersay, Maria Nunes and Camille Parsons, as they discuss the importance, joys and challenges of documenting Carnival, through different lenses (narrative and non-fiction, moving image and still).

where: @ttfilmfestival Facebook page
when: Wednesday 10 February at 7pm AST

#WatchAMovieOnUs Carnival Edition

#WatchAMovieOnUs goes global! ttff is delighted to present the carnival edition of our popular online streaming series! From 07 feb – 14 feb 2021, ttff will stream ten trinidad+tobago film festival favourites for FREE, via https://ttfilmfestival.com. Films will be available to viewers around the world for 24 hours each (midnight to midnight). #WatchAMovieOnUs carnival edition is brought to you with the support of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC).

Full Schedule

  • 07.02.2021, No Bois Man No Fraid, directed by Christopher Laird
  • 08.02.2021, Mystic Fighters, directed by Sophie Meyer
  • 09.02.2021, Jab! The Blue Devils of Paramin, directed by Alex DeVerteuil
  • 10.02.2021, Play the Devil, directed by Maria Govan + panel discussion, “Documenting Carnival”, moderated by Ray Funk
  • 11.02.2021, Bazodee, directed by Todd Kessler
  • 12.02.2021, After Mas, directed by Karen Martinez, Dying Swan and Paradise Lost, directed by Christopher Laird
  • 13.02.2021, Soca Power, directed by Claude Santiago
  • 14.02.21, Pan! Our Music Odyssey, directed by Jérôme Guiot

#WatchAMovieOnUs
#ttff21#wamoucarnivaledition
#WazDeSceneShowUsYourScreen
#ngc#attheforefrontofenergy#nationalgascompany

Featured image © Maria Nunes

#WatchAMovieOnUs carnival edition is brought to you with the support of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC)

Enriching Carnival with Fete Alternatives

American enthusiast and documentarian of T&T culture Ray Funk will this year participate in the T&T’s Film Festival’s Carnival Film Series  for the fifth out of six iterations of the event since it started in 2011. (The series, which showcases films about the personalities and art forms that contribute to Carnival, didn’t happen last year because of financial constraints caused by the recession.)

TT Guardian: Classic Carnival Films

As it gears up for a year of outdoor cinema, training for filmmakers and of course the big Festival in September, the trinidad+tobago film festival’s first offering for 2017 is its Carnival Film Series—a showcase of Carnival-themed movies and other film-related events, from 05-11 February, sponsored by bpTT.

This year the focus is on classic films, with three evenings of free, outdoor film screenings beginning with Bacchanal Time at Constantine Park, Macoya, followed by Black Orpheus at Big Black Box, Woodbrook, and Horace Ove’s King Carnival at the NALIS Amphitheatre, Port of Spain. King Carnival will be followed by a panel discussion.

All screenings start at 7pm.

Trinidad Express: Classic Carnival Films a Trip Down Memory Lane

As it gears up for a year of outdoor cinema, training for filmmakers and of course the major festival in September, the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival’s first offering for 2017 is its Carnival Film Series — a showcase of Carnival-themed movies and other film related events, from February 5 to 11, sponsored by bpTT.

This year the focus is on classic films, with three evenings of free, outdoor film screenings beginning with Bacchanal Time at Constantine Park, Macoya, followed by Black Orpheus at Big Black Box, Woodbrook, and Horace Ové’s King Carnival at the Nalis.

Carnival Film Series takes a trip down memory lane

We start off our year of outdoor cinema with the Carnival Film Series – a showcase of Carnival-themed films and special presentations.
The series runs from 05 – 11 February and is sponsored by bpTT.

This year we focus on classic Carnival related films, with three evenings of free, outdoor film screenings.

The Carnival Film Series- Classic Edition programme:

Saturday 04 February, 7pm
Constantine Park, Macoya
Bacchanal Time/Comedy/ 1978/ Director Kamalo Deen

Bacchanal Time, is a hilarious comedy about an islandwide stick-fighting competition on Carnival Sunday, and two fighters who have to travel great distances through treacherous, often ridiculous circumstances to compete. Bubbling with the music of the season and Carnival weekend excitement, it stars Gregory Ballantyne (Calypsonian GB) as a stick fighter, and also features Calypso Rose, Shadow, Crazy, Trinidad Rio and Stork St. Hill among others. Written and directed by Kamalo Deen, the film treats the audience to a cinematic trip down memory lane and the joy of seeing the beauty of T&Ts 1970’s landscape on the big screen.

Seating will be provided. Feel free to bring your own refreshments.

Sunday 05 February, 7pm
Big Black Box, Woodbrook
Black Orpheus/Drama/ 1959/ Director Marcel Camus

The winner of both the 1959 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, and the 1960 Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Black Orpheus brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the twentieth-century madness of Carnival in a Rio de Janeiro favela. An epic tale of love, vengeance and passion accompanied by breathtaking cinematography; it was an international sensation that helped kick-off the bossa nova craze in 1960s America.

Refreshments will be on sale.

Saturday 11 February, 7pm
NALIS Amphitheatre, Port of Spain.
King Carnival/Documentary/ 1973/ Director Horace Ové
+Panel Discussion: Dr. Hollis Liverpool, Ray Funk, Tony Hall

Made for the BBC in 1973 by legendary Trinidadian-British director, Horace Ové, King Carnival is acclaimed as one of the best documentaries ever made about the history of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival – with its in-depth look at the pre-Lenten festival, from the cultural cornucopia which provided a platform for civil unrest and protest, to the twentieth century celebration of all things Caribbean, which has spawned over 170 T&T-styled carnivals throughout the year and across the world.

Refreshments will be on sale.

Ray Funk brings Calypso Craze to Carnival Film Series

For the third year in a row, the trinidad and tobago film festival (ttff) will feature a presentation of never-before-seen footage of vintage calypso, pan and mas, by Alaska-based retired judge and Carnival researcher, Ray Funk. This event—the final installment in the ttff’s Carnival Film Series (CFS)—will will take place on Sunday 25 January at the NALIS amphitheatre in Port of Spain from 6:30pm. Admission is free.

The presentation, entitled Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze, will also see the T&T launch of Calypso Craze: 1956-57 and Beyond. A project ten years in the making, Calypso Craze is a box set containing a 176-page hardcover book, a DVD and six CDs, compiled by Ray Funk and Michael Eldridge for Bear Family Records in Germany.

The set provides a comprehensive survey of the “calypso craze” that swept America in 1957, in part fuelled by the the million-selling album Calypso by Harry Belafonte. The intensity of the craze caused the American entertainment industry to forecast that calypso would kill rock and roll.

“This project grew out of a travelling and online exhibition that I co-curated over a decade ago on the globalisation of calypso music with Steve Stuempfle, then curator of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, and now executive director of the Society for Ethnomusicology,“ Funk recalls.

“I worked on this for several years and more recently brought in Michael Eldridge, who teaches at Humboldt State University in California and who has done extensive work on this period of calypso history.”

Since being released internationally, Calypso Craze has drawn glowing reviews. Black Grooves, the journal of the African-American music archives at Indiana University, called it “a true labour of love”, while Record Collector magazine deemed it “definitive” and “absorbing”. Uncut magazine declared it “an absolute delight”.

For the presentation at NALIS, Funk will be playing clips from the box-set’s DVD, as well as from two of the three calypso-themed films released in 1957, Bop Girl Goes Calypso and Calypso Heat Wave, the latter starring Maya Angelou. There will also be television footage from 1957, including Boris Karloff (of Frankenstein fame) singing “Mama Look a Booboo”, and an extempo calypso scene from a 1952 film, involving James Mason.

Last October, Funk launched a book of George Tang’s photographs on the Carnival bands of the late Stephen Lee Heung, We Kind ah People. At NALIS, Funk will show some previously unseen film footage that Tang shot of those bands. Additional footage will include home movies of Carnival from the 1960s, as well as the Mighty Sparrow’s first film appearance, from a 1956 Caribbean travelogue commissioned by KLM airlines.

“My goal each year is to offer an enjoyable look into the film history of Carnival,” said Funk. “This year I will be focused primarily but not exclusively on the calypso craze and I guarantee you will see footage that you have never seen before.”

Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze will be preceded by two short films, Living Legacies: Trains in Trinidad and Living Legacies: Clay and Dirt Ovens in Trinidad and Tobago, produced with the support of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration, a sponsor of the 2015 edition of the CFS.

The public is advised that no refreshments will be on sale, so please feel free to bring your own.

Image: Maya Angelou in Calypso Heat Wave

Carnival Film Series back with a Bang

Carnival Film Series to honour The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Superior, Pan! and the Calypso Craze
The trinidad+tobago film festival is starting off its 10th anniversary celebrations on a high note with its 5th annual Carnival Film Series (CFS). Over the past four years, the CFS has presented diverse and unusual representations of Carnival on film and screen. Films have included tributes to pioneers such as Lord Superior, Calypso Rose and Shadow, Peter Minshall and other Carnival practitioners in narrative and documentary forms. In addition, the highly entertaining, anecdotal presentations on vintage Carnival by historian Ray Funk has continued to delight and surprise audiences. For this year’s Carnival Film Series, the ttff promises even more diversity and entertainment. Admission is FREE to all screenings and presentations for the Carnival Film Series.

Calypso Dreams and Tribute to Midnight Robber, Brian Honoré at UWI
The first of the four-part 2015 Carnival Film Series will be shown on Saturday January 17 from 6:30pm at the UWI Film Department’s Studio at 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine. The programme will feature Calypso Dreams – directors Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne’s chronicle of the rich and complex cultural roots of calypso music in Trinidad and Tobago. Also on the programme is Robbertalka special film and Midnight Robber performance tribute to Brian Honoré, one of this country’s most popular Midnight Robbers, on the 10th anniversary of his passing. This will be preceded by Living Legacies: Trains in Trinidad; and Clay and Dirt Ovens in T&T – two short documentaries produced with the support of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration.

The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior at the Globe Cinema:
Next, the CFS moves on to the highly-anticipated Caribbean premiere of The Glamour Boyz Again: Sparrow and Lord Superior on The Hilton Rooftop, at the Globe Cinema, on Sunday January 18. At this screening, both Sparrow and Lord Superior will be present to receive honorary awards by the Embassy of The United States of America, Port of Spain. The audience in the 1,200 seat Globe Cinema will also be treated to an exclusive live performance by both honourees. This special event is sponsored by RBC Royal Bank in association with the Embassy of the United States of America. The International Art Alliance (IAA) is also working closely with the Embassy to facilitate the awards and the participation of The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior. This event starts at 6pm and doors open at 5pm. THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT

Pan! Our Musical Odyssey at San Fernando Hill
On Friday January 23 from 6.30pm, San Fernando Hill will become an outdoor cinema for the special showing of Pan! Our Musical Odyssey, which recently had its theatrical release at local cinemas. Limited DVDs and CDs of the film will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be on sale and limited seating will be provided. Audiences are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments.

Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze at NALIS, Port of Spain
The CFS will conclude at NALIS Amphitheatre on Sunday January 25 from 6.30pm, with Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze. Once again, Alaskan-based Carnival historian Ray Funk will thrill audiences with rare vintage Carnival film clips—this time focusing on the Calypso Craze—a comprehensive survey of the excitement for calypso that swept America in 1957 when the whole American entertainment industry thought calypso would kill rock and roll. This presentation at the NALIS Amphitheatre will also coincide with the official launch of the book, CD and DVD set of the same name. Both events on this weekend will be preceded by Living Legacies: Trains in Trinidad; and Clay and Dirt Ovens in T&T, produced with the support of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration.

The trinidad+tobago film festival is presented by Flow, and given supporting sponsorship by the Embassy of the United States of America.

Ray Funk to present vintage calypso, pan film clips at Carnival Film Series

For the second year in a row the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is pleased to feature Carnival historian and researcher Ray Funk presenting rare historic film clips on calypso, pan and Carnival, at two events.

These free presentations, part of the film festival’s annual Carnival Film Series (CFS), take place at San Fernando Hill and the NALIS Amphitheatre at the National Library in Port of Spain, on Friday 21 and Sunday 23 February, respectively. Both events begin at 7pm.

Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan judge and has been coming to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival for almost 20 years. He writes regularly for the local newspapers, and is passionate in researching a range of traditional Carnival arts. His collection of early film clips is an important part of that research, and he has been doing free educational events showcasing these clips for years, as a way of giving back this heritage.

Over two hundred people came to Funk’s presentation at the NALIS Amphitheatre during last year’s Carnival Film Series.

“I had a great time last year and was thrilled to be able to show cuts that it took me years to find,” he said. “But the highlight of the evening was to have Bill Trotman show up—on his birthday, no less—and see an Italian film clip of a comedy limbo dance that he had performed back in 1961.

“He had told me about it a decade ago and I have been searching ever since to find it. It was special to present it on the big screen with Bill present and give him a copy of the footage.”

Another clip was of the Mighty Sparrow’s first feature-film performance from the same Italian film.

“He couldn’t be there the night of the screening but I was able on Carnival Sunday to see him and show him and his wife Margaret and give them a copy.”

With the success of last year’s presentation, the film festival is pleased this year to have presentations from Funk both in Port of Spain and San Fernando.

When asked about what he is bringing this year to show, Ray is hesitant to reveal too much. “I am still determining which pieces to present, but I guarantee there will be many things that almost no one has seen before,” he said.

“Here are a couple things. Steve and Amanda Zeitlin—the parents of filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, who attended the film festival last year and presented his film Beasts of the Southern Wild—came to Trinidad and shot a short film on extempo several years ago. That will get its T&T premiere.

“For an Association of British Calypsonians tribute to Lord Kitchener, I commissioned a music video on one of his first recordings, on a boxing match. That will also get its local premiere.”

Funk has been working for several years on a project on Harry Belafonte and the American “calypso craze” of the 1950s, which will result in a major coffee table book with a set of six CDs and a DVD. It will be out hopefully towards the end of 2014.

“I have a couple of calypso craze film and TV performances that I want to show in my presentations, including popular American performers doing material by Roaring Lion.”

For Funk, bringing these performances to a local audience is all about returning T&T’s culture to its home.

“My ongoing search to find these clips, present them in Trinidad and Tobago and give them back to the performers has been very rewarding. At all times I am in search of more missing bits of the country’s rich cultural heritage.”

Image: Ray Funk (in orange T-shirt at left) speaks at his presentation at last year’s Carnival Film Series. (Photograph by Marlon James for the trinidad+tobago film festival.)

ttff kicks off 2014 with fourth annual Carnival Film Series

Coming off an extremely successful 2013, the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) kicks off its programme of events for the new year with its Carnival Film Series (CFS).

Now a firm fixture on the annual Carnival calendar of events, the CFS, in its fourth year, is a showcase of films about Carnival and its related artforms.

The series is sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) and the National Carnival Commission (NCC). Technical support is provided by North Eleven, the ttff’s media and projection partner.

This year the CFS takes place over six nights in February. Two of these nights will be given over to presentations by renowned calypso, pan and mas researcher and historian Ray Funk.

These presentations follow on from Funk’s extremely popular presentation at last year’s CFS at NALIS in Port of Spain, and will again feature vintage Carnival footage, much of it never before seen in T&T.

As ever admission to all screenings is free of charge. There will be refreshments on sale, and giveaways. All events begin at 7pm.

Saturday 08 February
Paramin Recreational Grounds and Cool Breeze Bar, Paramin

Shorts film package comprising the following:

Between the Lines
Director: Abigail Hadeed
2012/T+T/Experimental/3mins
An exploration of the frenzied, chaotic, moving shadows cast on the roads by moko jumbie Carnival characters.

And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison
Director: Natalie Wei
2006/T+T, Canada/Experimental/3mins
An examination of notions of gender, identity and belonging in the contemporary Carnival.

Beneath the Mas
Director: Dinesh Maharaj
2014/T+T/Documentary/10mins
A look at some traditional mas-making techniques and Carnival characters, particularly the art of wire-bending, the fancy Indian, the jab jab, the midnight robber and the bull mas. (Production sponsored by NCC.)

Kings of the Gayelle
Director: Christopher Laird
2014/T+T/Documentary/11mins
A portrait of two stickfighters, King Kali and King Tony, who have distinguished themselves in the discipline of Kalinda. (Production sponsored by NCC.)

Dance de Calypso
Director: John Barry
1996/T+T/Documentary/46mins
An exploration of the history and evolution of the different ways people dance to calypso music.

y-ning?
Director: Emilie Upczak
2010/T+T, USA/Documentary/13mins
An “academic music video” that explores wining as a dance language with a history and identity born out of the Caribbean experience.

After Mas
Director: Karen Martinez
2013/T+T, UK/Narrative/20mins
A story of love that flourishes under the cover of darkness during J’Ouvert on the streets of Port of Spain. In the cold light of day, will these young lovers from very different backgrounds stay true to their desires?

Sunday 9 February
Trevor’s Edge, St Augustine

Shorts package
Between the Lines/And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison/Beneath the Mas/Kings of the Gayelle/Dance de Calypso/y-ning?/After Mas

Thursday 13 February
MovieTowne, Tobago

Beneath the Mas

No Bois Man No Fraid
Director: Christopher Laird
2013/T+T/Documentary/72mins
Keegan Taylor and Rondel Benjamin are young martial arts experts from Trinidad and Tobago. In this uplifting and eye-opening documentary, they embark on a discovery of their roots by setting out to learn the local martial art of stickfighting. In the process, they receive guidance from living legends such as Congo Bara, King Stokely and King Kali, and set out to compete in the annual national stickfighting championships.

Friday 21 February
San Fernando Hill Recreational Grounds

Kings of the Gayelle

Beneath the Mas

A presentation by Ray Funk

Saturday 22 February
Saith Park, Chaguanas

Shorts package
Between the Lines/And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison/Beneath the Mas/Kings of the Gayelle/Dance de Calypso/y-ning?/After Mas

Sunday 23 February
NALIS Amphitheatre, National Library, Port of Spain

Kings of the Gayelle

Beneath the Mas

A presentation by Ray Funk

Image: a still from Between the Lines