This is your chance to Mix and Mingle with international and local film directors, actors and actresses at the Opening Night Gala of ttff/23. Enjoy our premiere feature film ‘Doubles’ by award-winning director and screenwriter, Ian Harnarine, a gourmet movie menu with a welcome drink and a live performance from none other than Soca superstar, Olatunji Yearwood.

Venue: Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain
Date: September 20, 2023
Time: 6.00 pm–11.00 pm

Book your tickets early to save 14%.

Get Your Tickets Here

You can also see ‘Doubles’ at this year’s Cinema Under the Stars at Naparima Bowl on September 25.

See you there!

Canada-born filmmaker Ian Harnarine returns to the land of his parents with a story to tell.

Bare naked in front of his people.

That’s how filmmaker Ian Harnarine will stand on September 20, when his feature film Doubles premiers at the opening of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff).

The 18th edition of the festival, staged by the Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO), opens on September 20 at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s and runs until September 27.

The story of a Trinidadian street vendor, who must travel to Toronto, Canada and decide if he will help save his estranged father from dying, Doubles, draws intimate parallels to Harnarine’s own life.

Trinidadian-Canadian director Ian Harnarine says he is looking forward to screening his film “Doubles” at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) in September.

The feature film is based on Harnarine’s short film “Double with Slight Pepper” which won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama.

The original short film, “Doubles with Slight Pepper,” was executive produced by famed US director and producer Spike Lee.

The feature film, which explores the changing relationship between a father and a son, is set to open at the 18th TTFF at Queen’s Hall on 20 September at 6:30 pm.

“It has been my dream to screen this film for a Trinidadian audience where we filmed, but also where the heart of this project lies. I hope that this will spotlight the talent of everyone involved in this production, especially the actors,” Harnarine stated in a media release.

THE 18th edition of the TT Film Festival (TTFF) will be launched with the premiere of the film Doubles, and includes several local short films.

Festival organisers the Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO) announced this on September 4 at the festival launch press conference at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.

The festival will have its opening night on September 20 at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, with Doubles by writer/director Ian Harnarine, who was born in Canada to parents from TT. It is a feature-length sequel to his award-winning 2011 short film Doubles with Slight Pepper, which told the story of a young doubles vendor dealing with the return of his estranged father from Canada.

The festival will screen over 100 films from the Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora and about the Caribbean. FILMCO director Danielle Dieffenthaller said there are only 17 local films in the festival, and explained this was due to a lack of investment in films.

“We’ve seen how lack of investment hurts the festival. And also too, the submissions that we did get, it was basically blood, sweat and tears and nothing else. That’s all they had.”

She said some of the local films were a minute to five minutes in length because that was all the filmmakers could afford.

Two new additions to the festival are the award category for best film by a woman and a film block titled I Advocate, of films on issues related to domestic violence and women’s rights, the latter curated in conjunction with the European Film Festival.

On the new award, Dieffenthaller said there are a lot of women involved in film who are not recognised. She added the block of women’s films will highlight issues normally swept under the carpet, including one called Our Menopause.

The Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO) has launched the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which the organisation has managed since 2019.

The ttff showcases films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Under the theme #lookwe, films on the roster this year will include World and Caribbean premiers. The countries represented in this year’s Festival include Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, St. Vincent, Haiti, Brazil, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, France, Spain, Germany, USA, Netherlands, and Nepal.

This year’s Festival premieres on September 20, with the Opening Night, being hosted at Queen’s Hall from 6pm-11pm.

Audiences will be able to mix and mingle with local and international filmmakers and actors, while getting the chance to see the premier film, “Doubles” which was written and directed by Ian Harnarine, a Canadian born to Trinidadian parents.

Plus, get ready for live entertainment by Olatunji Yearwood.

Written and directed by Ian Harnarine, Doubles tells the story of a Trinidadian street vendor who must travel to Toronto and decide if he will help save his estranged father from dying. Produced this year, and filmed in both Trinidad and Canada, Doubles will have its Caribbean premier at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival at the Opening Night on September 20, 2023 at Queen’s Hall.

Ian Harnarine was born in Toronto, Canada and is the son of immigrants from Trinidad & Tobago. He attended York University earning a Bachelor’s degree in Physics & Astronomy and a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from the University of Illinois and an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Film School. Harnarine is a member of the National Board of Review, The Television Academy and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Harnarine’s film ‘Doubles With Slight Pepper’ (Executive Produced by Spike Lee), won the Best Short Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Academy Award.

Doubles with Slight Pepper tells the story of Dhani, a young doubles vendor who lives with his mother, Sumintra, in rural Trinidad. When Dhani’s father, Ragbir, who had migrated to Canada years before and eventually abandoned his family, returns, Dhani is resentful and wants nothing to do with him. But when Ragbir reveals he is suffering from a potentially fatal illness and needs Dhani to be a donor for a blood transfusion, both father and son are forced to confront their broken past.

When it was screened at ttff/12, Doubles with Slight Pepper, was a 16-minute feature. Just before its arrival in T&T, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the world’s largest public film festival where it won the prize for Best Short Film, in 2011.

The short feature also won the prize for Best Live Action Short Film at the Genie Awards, Canada’s version of the Oscars.

‘Caroni’, another film by Harnarine, about a West Indian domestic worker in New York, premiered at TIFF and continues to screen at festivals worldwide.

Harnarine has made dozens of films for Sesame Street, one of which garnered an Emmy nomination. ‘Party Done’, Harnarine’s feature documentary about controversial crime reporter Ian Alleyne, played theatrically in the Caribbean.

Fast forward to ttff/23, the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival, Harnarine presents Doubles as a feature film, which will be screened on Opening Night of the TTFF, at Queen’s Hall on September 20, 2023 from 6pm-11pm. Patrons will also be treated to live entertainment by Olatunji Yearwood. Tickets can be purchased in advance on Island e-Tickets.

This was the result of Harnarine’s success at Pitch This! competition at TIFF in 2012 for his pitch for the feature-length version of ‘Doubles’. That year he was also named one of Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film.

‘Doubles’, a feature film, is currently in post-production while Harnarine writes an adaptation of David Chariandy’s novel ‘Soucouyant’. Harnarine was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, profiled in the New York Times and named one of Playback Magazine’s Ten to Watch.

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Visit us at ttfilmfestival.com for more information, and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

We’re pleased to launch the eighteenth edition of the renowned trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which has been managed for the past four years by the Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO). FILMCO is a registered not for profit membership based organization dedicated to promoting and supporting Caribbean affiliated films, including distribution of these films on television and online streaming platforms. The Company has worked on successfully executing the ttff since 2019 and growing the brand further.

The trinidad+tobago film festival showcases films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora. The excitement surrounding the Festival this year is indescribable, as many films shown during the festival include World and Caribbean premiers. Audiences will have the opportunity to see new work from their favorite filmmaker. The countries represented in the Festival include Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, St. Vincent, Haiti, Brazil, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, France, Spain, Germany, USA, Netherlands, and Nepal.

This year’s Festival premieres on September 20, with the Opening Night, being hosted at Queen’s Hall from 6pm-11pm. Audiences will be able to mix and mingle with local and international filmmakers and actors, while getting the chance to see the premier film, ‘Doubles’ which was written and directed by Ian Harnarine, a Canadian born to Trinidadian parents. They’ll also be treated to live entertainment by Olatunji Yearwood. Tickets can be purchased in advance on Island e-Tickets.

The Festival will continue on September 21, to end on September 27, presenting just over 100 films from a variety of genres. These films were the final selections from over 200 entries received, showcasing the caliber of films that can be produced in the Caribbean, by Caribbean roots, or for the Caribbean. Movie lovers can attend screenings at MovieTowne (Port of Spain), the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS – PoS), and The UWI Film Programme (St Augustine Campus).

Two special open air night cinema activations will be held at Fatima College and Naparima Bowl.

The trinidad+tobago film festival continues to be a mainstay of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural calendar, and is well-established as the premiere film festival of the English-speaking Caribbean. It is a key incentive for creative innovation in the Caribbean film industry. The Festival continues to carve a needed space that does not readily exist for independent films to be reviewed by local audiences and international sales agents or distributors. It also brings together the business community, by creating a tangible product that they can invest in because it delivers value. The Festival also generates employment opportunities.

This year, ttff introduces two new additions: an award category for the best film by a woman, as well as a film block titled i-Advocate, that deals with issues relating to domestic violence and women’s rights. i-Advocate has been curated in conjunction with the European Film Festival and entries for the 2023 ttff.

The Festival will also include master classes and panels. There is special emphasis on professional development workshops which will be hosted at NALIS.

We are pleased to have the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago as the Signature Sponsor of the Festival. We’re happy, also, to have Republic Bank Limited, Shell, and The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited (FilmTT), as lead sponsors.

Stay In the Know – Follow Us

Visit us at ttfilmfestival.com for more information, and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.