masterclass

Wed 22, Thurs 23, Fri 24 Sept, 1.00pm-2.30pm (est)
location: online via Zoom
tickets: TT$900/ US$133, click here to register; early registration required
brought to you with the support of FilmTT

Directing is an art, one that requires many skills. How does one direct and craft an enduring narrative, as a Caribbean filmmaker? An authentic Caribbean story that explores universal themes can be impactful to a global audience, but what is the most efficient way to tell it? Having a clear vision of the film you want to make, confidence in your voice as a storyteller and a thorough understanding of universal themes that will resonate with global audiences are all vital to telling a memorable story. 

In this three-part masterclass, Dominican José María Cabral, director of “Jaque Mate” (“Checkmate”) and “Carpinteros” (“Woodpeckers”), will take participants through the art and process of directing, from the perspective of a Caribbean storyteller working in the Caribbean space. He will delve into topics such as knowing your voice and how to develop your style as a director; understanding the stories you want to tell; evaluating a script; production design; cinematography; using the resources you have; collaborating with your team; and working with actors.

*Eligibility: participants must be practising filmmakers of narrative films (note: this is not an introductory course).
**Payment plans are available for this masterclass.

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José María Cabral

José María Cabral is a Dominican film director, screenwriter, and producer. Cabral started making films when he was 16 years old, hosting private screenings of short films to family and friends in local movie theatres, with one of them, “Excexos”, securing national distribution in 2008. His first feature film, “Jaque Mate” (2011), was screened at several film festivals and selected as the Dominican entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 85th Academy Awards but did not make the shortlist. “Arrobá” and “Despertar” followed in 2013 and 2014, also making it onto the festival circuit. In 2015, he released “Detective Willy”, a comedy/adventure film, and in 2017 premiered his film, “Carpinteros” – about the realities and relationships of prisoners in Dominican jails – at the Sundance Film Festival. His following film, “The Projectionist”, was his country’s Oscar submission in 2019. “Isla de Plástico”, his first documentary, also premiered in 2019. Cabral is currently in post-production on his latest film, “Parsley”.

Film buffs in south Trinidad will be pleased to know that there will be a full week of films shown in San Fernando at this Year’s T&T Film Festival (TTFF). TTFF programme director Annabelle Alcazar said this is the first year there will be a full week of programming in the southern city.

Over 120 films will be screened during this year’s festival, including short and feature-length films from T&T and the Caribbean.

Festival highlights will include Feature T&T (a full day of screenings in support of National Patriotism Month); panels and films on gender and social justice; a strong industry programme with a focus on screenwriting and script development; Code Orange (regional incentives and co-productions with our Latin American neighbours); panels and films examining the representation of women and girls in film; and the youth initiatives the RBC Future Critics Program and the RBC Youth Jury, both mentored by former Sunday Arts Section film critic BC Pires.

As part of the country’s celebration of Patriotism Month, the trinidad+tobago film festival will host Feature T+T—a day-long celebration of T&T through the screening of local short and feature films, followed by Q&A sessions with some of the filmmakers. The screenings—which will be held on Republic Day, Sunday 24 September, at MovieTowne Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Tobago—are sponsored by the Ministry of Community Development Culture and the Arts.

Among the feature films to be screened is Moko Jumbie by Trinidadian-American director, Vashti Anderson. It tells the story of Asha who, on vacation from England to visit family in rural Trinidad, soon discovers there’s trouble in paradise. Drawn to her neighbour, a young fisherman, the strain between the two families, one Indian and one African, is palpable and as Asha’s attraction deepens, she must navigate racial taboos, family disapproval, political turmoil, and mysterious hauntings by ancestral spirits. Moko Jumbie—Anderson’s feature film debut—was a selection at the 2017 LA Film Festival.

In Quick Pick, by Tobagonian filmmaker Miguel K Lashley, young construction worker Travis Duke is out of luck with love, work and money, until a winning lotto ticket changes his fortunes. With no cash in hand yet, he borrows money from a drug lord to kickstart the celebrations and buy a car and a condo. But has Travis put the cart before the donkey?

The third feature film in the T+T line up is Clifford Seedansingh’s The Lies We Tell, a comedy about a serial adulterer and what happens when the tables are turned.

T&T will present four feature-length films and over 34 short and experimental films during the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) from September 19-26.

One of those films, a movie adaptation of Michael Anthony’s Green Days by the River directed by Michael Mooleedhar and Christian James, will be the opening night film.

In a release last week, the festival announced most of its Caribbean line-up, which includes several award-winning and critically acclaimed films.

The festival will be held at MovieTowne Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Tobago, as well as at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.

The films from some of the Caribbean’s finest film makers include, from the Dominican Republic, Jose Maria Cabral’s Carpinteros (Woodpeckers), a high-octane, no-holds barred movie about a forbidden relationship conducted through prison bars and across the 200 yards of empty space dividing the male and female prisons in Santo Domingo. Carpinteros, which played at the Sundance Film Festival, has been described by critics as a “raw, intriguing and energetic blend of the tough and the tender.”