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.

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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We’re delighted to announce a new ttff initiative, Limin’ Live – an informal, 20-minute, one-on-one chat, with creative and film industry folks, about the art, business, joys and challenges of working in film and television. Limin’ Live will take place every Monday at 5pm AST on Instagram live @ttfilmfestival, and subsequently made available on igtv. We hope the chats will be inspiring, entertaining, and interesting to a varied audience of creative practitioners in the Caribbean. 

We’ll be limin’ live with filmmaker, Ian Harnarine on Monday 01 March at 5pm AST.

Ian Harnarine’s films include work for TED and Sesame Street, one of which earned an Emmy nomination. Harnarine’s film Doubles With Slight Pepper, executive produced by Spike Lee, won the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Academy Award. Caroni, the story of a West-Indian domestic worker in New York premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and continues to be screened at festivals around the world. Harnarine is currently adapting David Chariandy’s landmark novel, Soucouyant and a feature adaptation of Doubles With Slight Pepper.

Ian 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. Ian has a MFA from New York University’s Graduate Film School, and is a member of the National Board of Review, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and the Television Academy.

Tune in to IG Live at 5pm AST on Monday 01 March for limin’ live with Ian Harnarine!

limin’ live is brought to you with the support of Republic Bank Limited.

There’s nothing quite like watching a wonderful movie under the stars, and that’s just what the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is bringing to audiences across the country in its third annual Community Cinergy series, starting Friday 21 March.

Sponsored by bpTT, Community Cinergy consists of four free open-air screenings of great movies, all past ttff selections, from T&T and around the world, plus one special screening for the lads of the Youth Training Centre.

Refreshments and crafts will be on sale. There will be full seating at the Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association. You may wish to bring cushions to the St James Amphitheatre. There will be limited seating at San Fernando Hill, so you may wish to bring your own chairs or blankets. Please bring chairs or blankets to the UWI screening.

The full Community Cinergy lineup is as follows. Doors open at 6pm for screenings starting at 7pm.

Friday 21 March, 7pm
Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association, Chaguaramas

The Wind That Blows
Director: Tom Weston
2013/St Vincent and the Grenadines, USA/Documentary/60mins/All ages
This is a revealing portrait of a group of men from the island of Bequia, who engage in a dangerous and controversial activity: the hunting of humpback whales.

Alamar (To the Sea)
Director: Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio
2009/Mexico/Drama/73mins/All ages
Poetically told and breathtakingly shot, this film tenderly observes the relationship between an Amerindian fisherman and his young son.

Saturday 22 March, 7pm
UWI, St Augustine (opposite the Learning Resource Centre)

Doubles with Slight Pepper
Director: Ian Harnarine
2011/T&T, Canada/Drama/16mins/PG
A young doubles vendor faces a difficult decision when his estranged father returns home after years abroad.

Papilio Buddha
Director: Jayan Cherian
2013/India/Drama/108mins/16+
Set against the lush backdrop of Kerala in south India, this is a provocative film about the Dalits, a group of landless, indigenous people fighting against caste oppression.

Friday 28 March, 7pm
San Fernando Hill

The Suspect
Director: Leroy Smart
2010/TT/Drama/7mins/All ages
A bus passenger suspects that a crime is about to happen.

Lucky
Director: Avie Luthra
2010/South Africa/Drama/100mins/PG
After his mother dies, young Lucky, who is black, travels from the countryside to the city, where he forms an unlikely relationship with an elderly Indian widow.

Saturday 29 March, 6:30pm (closed screening)
The Youth Training Centre, Golden Grove

Maxi-Taxi Madness
Director: Dane John
2011/TT/Drama/12mins/All ages
A hilarious film about a rag-tag group of maxi-taxi passengers stuck in traffic.

Chance
Director: Evan Kaufman
2012/USA, US Virgin Islands
Drama/86mins/16+
A powerful story about the lengths a young man would go for his loved ones.

Sunday 30 March, 7pm
St. James Amphitheatre

Drink
Director: Juliette McCawley
2013/TT, UK/Drama/9mins/PG
An illegal immigrant in London is forced into an act of quiet desperation.

Twa timoun (Three Kids)
Director: Jonas D’Adesky
2012/Haiti, Belgium/Drama/81mins/PG
Inspired by true events, this is a moving portrait of three orphaned boys’ attempts at survival in the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Image: A shot from Alamar