Tobago’s senior school teachers have been lauded for allowing their students to experience the recent 12th annual trinidad + tobago film festival in person.

Bishop’s High School, always a major supporter of the festival, along with Roxborough, Speyside and Pentecostal Light and Life High Schools packed out the theatre at MovieTowne, Lowlands, to see The Tempest.

Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive also filled the theatre as Garnet Lawrence took 156 students with teachers to see Centerstitch, directed by Celoi Carr, a student. Filmed at the school, it told of a young boy obsessed with his shoes. The film explored the link between fashion, media and school behaviour and looked at some of the issues plaguing the local school system—bullying, unprotected sex, drug use and gambling.

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) held its formal opening night gala at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) on September 19.

After the cocktail reception, guests were ushered into the Aldwyn Roberts, Lord Kitchener Auditorium, for the world premier of the film, Green Days by the River, based on the book written by Michael Anthony in 1952. Anthony who made a cameo appearance in the film interacted with guests at the event.

The entire cast along with director Michael Mooleedhar and producer Christian James also strutted on the red carpet.

Green Days won the best TT feature and people’s choice for best feature film narrative at the ttff awards on Tuesday. The film opened to the public on Tuesday.

Cast members, production staff and well wishers gathered at the Central Bank Auditorium to celebrate the very best of the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival 2017, at its awards ceremony on Tuesday evening. After a hectic week of film screenings, talks and panel discussions, folks involved in the film industry got a chance to talk about, cheer on and congratulate the winner and runners-up.

Columbus Communications (Flow) was the festival’s presenting sponsor and its director of marketing Cindy Ann Gatt, said in her short address that the company being proud to see that cinemas were fully booked during the various screenings in Trinidad and in Tobago for the first time.

Filmmaker Michael Mooleedhar proudly walked away with two awards for his Green Days by the River, winning in the Best T&T Feature Film and People’s Choice Best Narrative Feature Film categories.

T&T films dominated the People’s Choice Awards at the T&T Film Festival Awards ceremony on Tuesday —with the film-viewing audience giving a resounding nod to Oliver Milne’s Salty Dog as the People’s Choice Best Short Film; Shari Petti’s Sorf Hair as People’s Choice Best Documentary and Michael Mooleedhar’s Green Days by the River as People’s Choice Best Narrative Feature. Each received a $5,000 cash prize sponsored by Flow.

It was a great night for Green Days by the River as it also picked up the Jury Award for Best TT Feature Film, with a cash prize of $10,000 sponsored by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, a release said.

Another local film getting the Jury’s nod was Maya Cozier’s Short Drop—for Best T&T Short, with a cash prize of $5,000 sponsored by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts. Scattered by Georgia Popplewell and Karen Martinez won Best T&T Film in Development with a cash prize of $10,000. This BPTT-sponsored Award seeks to support the completion of a local feature film currently in pre-production, which is to be made in this country by a T&T resident or national.

Trinidad and Tobago films dominated the People’s Choice Awards at the trinidad+tobago film festival Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, September 26  with the film-viewing audience giving a resounding nod to Oliver Milne’s Salty Dog as the People’s Choice Best Short Film; Shari Petti’s Sorf Hair as People’s Choice Best Documentary and Michael Mooleedhar’s Green Days by the River as People’s Choice Best Narrative Feature.

Each received a TT$5,000 cash prize sponsored by Flow.

It was a great night for Green Days by the River as it also picked up the Jury Award for Best TT Feature Film, with a cash prize of TT$10,000 sponsored by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture, and the Arts.

The drama Green Days by the River was the big winner on Tuesday night at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) bringing home both best TT feature and people’s choice for best feature film narrative.

The wins were announced at the ttff awards ceremony held at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain. The film, based on the novel by local writer and historian Michael Anthony, was directed by Michael Mooledhar and produced by Christian James. The coming of age story is set in Mayaro 1952 and is about a teenager named Shellie (Sudai Tafari) who is befriended by a plantation owner named Mr Gidharee (Anand Lawkaran) and falls for his beautiful daughter Rosalie (Nadia Nisha Kandhai).

Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival Highlights.

A week before the national budget, and on Republic Day, on Sunday at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain, two persons with experience working in, and with profitable creative industries internationally, clamoured for Trinidad and Tobago to tap its creative industries, as a low-hanging fruit, for economic diversification.

Costa Rican Ambassador to T&T Lilly Edgerton Picado said she finds T&T’s creative industries so enormous it is “mind-blowing”. She was sharing tips at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) event at the 2017 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, on what T&T could do to make money from its creative industries, based on her experience in her own country.

Costa Rica was one of the countries featured in the August-released IDB paper “The Orange Economy”. The “orange economy” covers the creative industries, including the arts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 12th T&T Film Festival closes with a spectacular bang today, with a terrific and groundbreaking film selection that was not picked before only because of the limitations of programming schedules. For many people, this will be the film of the festival.