Continuing it series of Community Cinergy film screenings on issues of human rights, the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) will be focusing on domestic violence with a public screening of the film Private Violence, on Sunday 19 April, 4pm, at the Laventille Community Complex in Movant.

The series is sponsored by the US Embassy. The screening of Private Violence, which will be followed by a discussion, takes place in association with the organisations the Hearts and Minds of the Police Service and FireCircle.

The ttff will also be hosting a special, schools-only screening of the film Bully, followed by a workshop conducted by the Anti-Bullying Association of Trinidad and Tobago, at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, San Fernando, on 22 April.

According to the ttff’s founder and director, Bruce Paddington, “Film is a powerful medium for public education and advocacy. It has an ability to bear witness and tell stories that challenge individuals and encourage understanding, empathy and a demand for justice for all. We are thrilled to have the support of the US Embassy in this initiative.”

About Private Violence (Cynthia Hill/2014/USA/81′)

Developed as a public advocacy vehicle that engages audiences in debates, prevention and other public-action strategies, Private Violence raises a troubling fact: that sometimes the most dangerous place for a woman is in her home. This award-winning documentary takes us behind closed doors into the often invisible world of domestic violence. Through the eyes of two survivors and an advocate, we bear witness to the complicated and complex realities of intimate-partner violence. The film shatters general assumptions about why women stay in abusive relationships, and will form the basis of a public discussion to take place after the film.

The community discussion will be led by:

Officer Kevin Romany, Hearts and Minds, Inter-Agency Task Force, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Diana Mahabir-Wyatt, The Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Sherna Alexander, The Organisation for Abused and Battered Individuals
Nicole Hendrickson and Steve Cupid Theodore, FireCircle
Luke Sinnette, The Coalition Advocating for the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation
Cherylann Gajadhar, author of the book The Girl in The Cupboard and child abuse survivor
Working Women for Social Progress

Admission to the screening is free.

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) continues to use film as a vehicle for social discourse and transformation, through its annual community Cinergy film series. On April 12, 19 and 22, the ttff and the US Embassy—sponsors of the series—will present three free film screenings to promote human rights.

Working with community activists and the embassy, the ttff will promote public awareness for the protection of the rights of women, children and the LGBT community in Trinidad and Tobago. The screening of three US films with topical and local resonance, focusing on domestic violence, bullying and gay-rights issues will each be followed by a community discussion, workshop and panel discussion, respectively, in order to foster dialogue on the issues of personal freedom, security, community support, public policy and legislation.

“Advancing human rights is central to our foreign policy,” Stephen Weeks, Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy said, “and the fantastic programme put together by our friends at ttff demonstrates how film can start conversations that build stronger, more inclusive communities.”

The issues to be highlighted and films to be screened are:

LGBT rights: Pariah (Dee Rees/2011/86’/) on Sunday 12 April, 6:30pm, Woodbrook Youth Facility
In the coming-of-age film Pariah, Alike is a shy but talented Brooklyn teenager striving to survive adolescence with grace, humour and tenacity—sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. The film follows her as she struggles with her conflicting identities, risks friendship and family, and faces heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression. There will be panel discussions before and after the film. This screening is being held in association with the Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO).

This film is rated for viewers aged 16 years and over.

Domestic violence: Private Violence (Cynthia Hill/2014/81’/PG13) on Sunday 19 April, 4:00pm, Laventille Community Complex
Sometimes the most dangerous place for a woman is in her home. Private Violence, an award-winning documentary, takes us behind closed doors into the often invisible world of domestic violence. Through the eyes of two survivors and an advocate, we bear witness to the complicated and complex realities of intimate-partner violence. The film shatters general assumptions about why women stay in abusive relationships, and will form the basis of a public discussion led by community activists after the film.

This film is rated PG13.

Bullying: Bully (Lee Hirsch/2011/98’/PG13) on Wednesday April 22, 9:00am, Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA)
As the problem of bullying in schools becomes more critical, this presentation of the documentary Bully, to be followed by a workshop, seeks to engage students and educators in preventing the problem and finding solutions. The film offers an intimate, unflinching look at how bullying has touched five kids and their families. This will be a special screening for students; schools wishing to attend are invited to email ttff’s Director of Community Development, Melvina Hazard, for information and bookings at melvina@ttfilmfestival.com. There will be a workshop conducted by the Anti-Bullying Association of Trinidad and Tobago after the film.

This film is rated PG13.

Admission to all three screenings is free.

Image: A still from Pariah

Members of the ttff team will be heading out this month to visit two partner film festivals in the region.

First, we head North to Guadeloupe on 13 March for the 21st Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe (FEMI). This is one of the oldest film festivals in the Caribbean, and a longstanding ttff partner. The festival welcomes industry guests and filmmakers from all over the world to experience Caribbean film, promote the work of filmmakers from the Caribbean, screen art films, and provide a friendly meeting-place for the exchange of ideas about film.

During FEMI, there is also a film market—Marché International du Film et de la Télévision Caribéens—that provides a platform for building and strengthening linkages between cultural operators and all socio-economic actors working in cinema and from the English, French and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. The Marché exposes Caribbean film to the international (mainly French) market, through three days of meetings, workshops, presentations and special screenings.

The ttff 2014 selections playing are short film Dubois, and features Pan! Our Music Odyssey, and Art Connect, which are both in competition. (The director of Art Connect, Miquel Galofré, will also attend FEMI.)

The ttff has been a partner of the Curacao International Film Festival Rotterdam (CIFFR) since inception five years ago. Initially organised by the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam, CIFFR (which runs 25-29 March) screens international films while supporting the development of Caribbean and Latin American filmmakers, and engendering a culture of film appreciation on the island through programmes with primary and high schools. Through the Yellow Robin Award, CIFFR offers the region’s filmmakers the opportunity for exposure in Europe: the winner receives US$10,000 as well as priority access to developmental IFFR activities, such as CineMart or Rotterdam Lab, and screening of their film at IFFR. A ttff alumnus, Damian Marcano, had this incredible opportunity when he won the award last year, with his feature God Loves The Fighter playing to enthusiastic Rotterdam audiences in January.

Through these visits, the ttff continues to deepen relationships with the festivals in the region, expand our base of contacts, find opportunities for filmmakers, and broaden the audiences for the trinidad+tobago film festival.

Image: A still from Dubois

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

[fb-like]

Please note the following discrepancies in the ttff/14 printed guide.

1) The screening of Haiti Bride and Bullock listed as taking place on Thursday 18th September from 5.30pm at The Little Carib Theatre actually takes place on Saturday 20th September from 1.00pm at MovieTowne POS. Brooklyn and The Good, the Bad and the Apprentice, which are listed as taking place on Saturday 20th September from 1.00pm at MovieTowne POS actually takes place on Thursday 18th September from 5.30pm at The Little Carib Theatre.

2) The entry for A Writer in His Place on page 38 has the UWI screening of the film taking place at 1.15pm on Friday 19 September; that should be 5.15pm (on the same date).

3) Behaviour and May in the Summer screen at MovieTowne Tobago; however the entries for both films omit the screening information, which is as follows:

Behaviour: Friday 26th September, 5.30pm + Sunday 28th September, 8.00pm

May in the Summer: Thursday 25th September, 8.00pm + Sunday 28th September, 3.00pm

4) The entry for the short Cleaning House on page 32 lists one of its screenings as taking place on Saturday 27 September at 1.30pm at The Little Carib Theatre. This information is missing from the schedule (page 47). Please be advised that the screening is happening.

Image: A still from May in the Summer

[fb-like]

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) announced the first section of its programme of films for its 2014 edition, the Caribbean features section, today. Twenty feature-length films—ten fiction films and ten documentaries—will screen in this section at the ttff/14, which runs from 16–30 September.

The 20 films come from eight Caribbean countries: Barbados, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago. They reflect a range of genres and thematic concerns.

“Our Caribbean section this year seems stronger and more diverse in subject and style than ever,” said Annabelle Alcazar, ttff Programme Director. “We feel it represents a true reflection of our region.”

Eleven of the films will be in official competition, for one or more of three awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature and Best T&T Feature. Several will also compete for the inaugural Amnesty International Human Rights Prize.

Still to be announced are the closing night film, the section of Caribbean short and medium-length films, the panorama section of feature-length films (films from world cinema), and the experimental films playing in the New Media section. Already announced as the opening film is Pan! Our Music Odyssey, a T&T docudrama, which will have its world premiere.

The full lineup of Caribbean features follows. Films marked with an asterisk (*) are in competition.

Narrative selections
200 Cartas Bruno Irizarry, Puerto Rico, 2013, T&T premiere
Behaviour Ernesto Daranas Serrano, Cuba, 2014, T&T premiere*
Cows Wearing Glasses Alex Santiago Pérez, Puerto Rico, 2014, Caribbean premiere*
Giraffes Kiki Álvarez, Cuba, 2013, T&T premiere*
Haiti Bride Robert Yao Ramesar, T&T/Haiti, 2014, world premiere*
Keeping Up with the Joneses Rommel Hall, Barbados, 2014, T&T premiere
Sensei Redemption German Gruber, Curaçao, 2014, international premiere*
A Story About Wendy 2 Sean Hodgkinson, T&T, 2014, Caribbean premiere
Two Smart Shakirah Bourne and Ricky Redman, Barbados, 2014, international premiere
Wake José María Cabral, Dominican Republic, 2013, T&T premiere

Documentary selections
The Abominable Crime Micah Fink, 2013, Jamaica/USA*
Art Connect Miquel Galofré, 2014, T&T, world premiere*
Blanco Melvin Durán, Dominican Republic, 2014, T&T premiere*
Hotel Nueva Isla Irene Gutiérrez Torres and Javier Labrador Deulofeu, Cuba, 2014, Caribbean premiere*
Legends of Ska: Cool & Copasetic Brad Klein, Jamaica/USA, 2014, T&T premiere
Mala Mala Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, Puerto Rico, 2014, Caribbean premiere*
The Mountain Tabaré Blanchard and Iván Herrera, Dominican Republic, 2013, T&T premiere*
The Price of Memory Karen Marks Mafundikwa, Jamaica, 2014, T&T premiere*
They Are We Emma Christopher, Cuba/Sierra Leone/Australia, 2014, Caribbean premiere
You and Me, Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada Dominican Republic, 2013, Caribbean premiere*

Image: A still from Behaviour, Ernesto Daranas Serrano, Cuba, 2014

[fb-like]

Pan! Our Music Odyssey, an eagerly awaited docudrama about the steelpan, will have its world premiere when it opens the ninth edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) on Tuesday 16 September.

The film, several years in the making, was written by Kim Johnson, the foremost pan researcher in T&T. He is the author of such books as The Illustrated Story of Pan and If Yuh Iron Good You is King: The Pan Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago.

Belgium-born filmmaker Jérôme Guiot—who has been awarded in France for his music-video work with the pop artist Stromae—directed the film. Barthélémy Fougea (who received the César, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for best documentary in 2014 for the film On the Way to School) and Jean Michel Gibert (Maturity Productions/Caribbean Music Group) served as producers.

The writer, director and producers will be present to introduce the film.

The screening of Pan! will take place on the evening of Tuesday, September 16th at the historic Globe cinema in Port of Spain, from 6.30pm. After the screening, guests will head over to the Zen nightclub for a reception and cash-bar after-party.

“I always thought of T&T as the place to unveil Pan! to the public,” said Gibert. “I am happy we will be doing so at the ttff, before the film travels abroad to other film festivals, theatrical releases, and network television.”

Eighty minutes long, Pan! Our Music Odyssey tells the epic story of pan, the only new acoustic musical instrument invented in the twentieth century.

The film boldly dramatises the almost mythical invention of pan in the 1940s, and then surges forward to tell the stories of people from all over the world—T&T, France, Japan, the USA—who have staked everything on their love of the instrument, and whose passion and daring draw them each year to the “world championships” of steelpan, Panorama.

Pan! is interlaced with dramatic re-enactments of the rags-to-riches tale of the steelband movement, which was born into poverty and violence but climbed to the highest levels of social and artistic acceptance without losing its life-or-death urgency.

The result is an extraordinary global human adventure, as rousing and life-affirming as any great pan symphony.

“The ttff is honoured to be associated with Pan!, a film that celebrates the history of our magnificent steelpan,” said Bruce Paddington, Founder and Festival Director, ttff. “We are proud that it will be opening the Festival, on what we expect to be a triumphant note.”

Tickets for the opening night gala cost TT$150. Call 621.0709 to purchase.

The ttff/14 runs until September 30.

[youtube SpyzVT_Pkcc 620]

[fb-like]

Between 1993 and 2012, the number of countries worldwide that abolished the death penalty grew from 55 to 97. By the end of last year, 140 countries—more than 2/3 of the countries of the world—were abolitionist in law or in practice.

The European Union (EU) considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to provide a deterrent to criminal behaviour and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. Any miscarriage of justice—inevitable in any legal system—is irreversible.

In this context the EU works both on individual cases and towards moratoria of the application of the death penalty and, in due course, abolition. The EU is fully committed to continuing its efforts to promote the permanent abolition of capital punishment and funded more than €20 million worth of activities worldwide that supported capital punishment abolition.

In observance of International World Day against the Death Penalty on 10 October, the EU Member States and the Delegation of the European Union to Trinidad and Tobago, with support from the trinidad+tobago film festival and technical assistance from North 11, will host a free public screening of the documentary film Into the Abyss.

Subtitled A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life, the film was written and directed by the acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog, and tells the story of two young men convicted of a triple homicide which occurred in Texas in 2001. Michael Perry received a death sentence for the crime, and Jason Burkett received a life sentence. The film focuses on the two convicts and various people affected by the crime, including the families of the victims and a former death-row executioner. Perry’s final interviews for the film were recorded only eight days before his execution on July 1, 2010.

Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and praised Herzog’s even-handedness, saying, “In some of his films he freely shares his philosophy and insights. In this film, he simply looks. He always seems to know where to look.” Variety critic Peter Debruge, meanwhile, noted, “These days, true-crime docs are a dime a dozen, and yet, Into the Abyss dares to plumb the dark hole in America’s soul…. [I]ts findings are undeniably profound.”

The free-of-charge screening of Into the Abyss takes place in the UTT Theatre at NAPA, Port of Spain, on 10 October at 6.30pm. Tickets are available at the screening as of 5.30pm on a first-come, first-served basis.

[youtube 5uV1_Yc8OSw 620]

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to make the following changes to the ttff/13 schedule. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

September 18
The 3.00pm screening of Ana’s Film at Little Carib Theatre has been cancelled.

September 19
The 3.00pm screening of Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War! at Little Carib Theatre has been cancelled. In its place will be a screening of The Dream of Lu. The short film The Gang that Walks, which was to precede Viva Cuba Libre, will still be screened.

September 24
The 12.30pm screening of Ana’s Film at Little Carib Theatre has been cancelled. A replacement film will be announced soon.

September 30
The 8.00pm screening of Kingston Paradise at MovieTowne Tobago has been replaced by a screening of Payday.

The programme of films screening at the University of the West Indies on this day has been amended. The lineup is now as follows:

12noon: I Am a Director
1.45pm: The Kid Who Lies
3.45pm: Melaza
5.30pm: God Loves the Fighter (Q&A)

September 30
The programme of films screening at the University of the West Indies in the tribute to John Akomfrah has been amended. The lineup is now as follows:

2.00pm: Handsworth Songs
3.00pm: Who Needs a Heart
4:30pm: Peripeteia and The Last Angel of History
6:00pm: The Stuart Hall Project (Q&A)

October 01
The 3.00pm screening of Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War! at Little Carib Theatre has been cancelled. The film to be screened in its place is to be announced. The short film The Gang that Walks, which was to precede Viva Cuba Libre, will still be screened.

[fb-like]

A number of past trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) selections will screen at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF), which kicks off its 10th annual edition tomorrow.

According to VLAFF’s mission, the festival seeks to “provide Canadian audiences with an opportunity to observe a variety of films, which closely reflect the society and people of Latin American countries.”

This mission has now been extended to include films from the Caribbean with a Canadian connection, and vice versa. These films comprise the VLAFF 2013 Caribbean-Canadian showcase, programmed by VLAFF’s director, Christian Sida-Valenzuela (a ttff/12 juror), in association with the ttff.

The Caribbean-Canadian showcase comprises eight films (two features and six shorts). Five of the films were ttff/12 selections, while three screened at the ttff/11.

The two features are the documentary Dal Puri Diaspora, directed by Trinidadian-Canadian Richard Fung, and The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, a Guyana-set documentary directed by Canadian filmmaker Christy Garland. Dal Puri Diaspora enjoyed its world premiere at the ttff/12, while The Bastard… won the jury prize for Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker.

See the full Caribbean-Canadian showcase in the VLAFF programme.

VLAFF is the latest of a series of international film festivals at which the ttff has programmed a showcase of films. Other such festivals include the Havana Film Festival and the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

Image: A still from Dal Puri Diaspora (Richard Fung, 2012)