T+T Film Nights: Calypso Dreams, the Directors’ Cut

A new version of the classic documentary Calypso Dreams, directed by Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne, will be screened at the National Library in Port of Spain as part of the ongoing T+T Film Nights, an initiative of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) and sponsored by the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company.

The screening, which is being held in association with NALIS, takes place on Sunday 12 February from 6.30pm. Admission is free.

First released in 2004 to great popular and critical acclaim both in T&T and abroad, Calypso Dreams is the story of calypso as told through interviews with and the music of some of its greatest exponents, including Mighty Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Black Stalin, Crazy and Sugar Aloes.

The film—which novelist Earl Lovelace called “a cinematic monument to calypso”—also pays posthumous tribute to many legendary calypsonians, such as Lord Kitchener, Lord Pretender, Mighty Terror, Lord Blakie and Mighty Duke.

The version of the film to be screened at the National Library is a recent directors’ cut, never seen in T&T and featuring significant new footage.

Before the screening there will be a live performance by an artiste who appears in the film, courtesy of TUCO. There will also be food and drinks on sale.

“NALIS is once again pleased to collaborate with the ttff to showcase our culture via the medium of the film,” said Debbie Goodman, Public Relations and Marketing Officer of NALIS. “We view our role in preserving and promoting our national heritage as critical to the development of a sense of self and national identity.”

UPDATE: Lord Superior, one of the stars of Calypso Dreams, will perform before the screening.