We’re delighted to announce the esteemed panel of programmers selecting films for the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival. The ttff/23 programming team is composed of film curators, producers, historians, writers and directors from Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom and Cuba. They will select all the films for the 2023 film programme, as well as choose the films shortlisted for competition.

Ivonne Cotorruelo is a Cuban film curator and former producer based in New York, who has been empowering storytellers for over a decade. She is a features programmer at Cleveland International Film Festival CIFF, Miami International Film Festival MIFF, Outfest LA, trinidad+tobago film festival. She has served as juror for film festivals around the globe, and as reviewer for The Chicken and Egg fund, Warner Media New Voices Initiatives, Black and Latino Inclusion Fellowship in LA, and Disney. A Berlinale Talent Campus alumnus, she is always seeking out stories for underrepresented voices. and working on a plan of strategic diversity, equity and inclusion.

Danielle Dieffenthaller has over 20 years of experience in the television and film industry. She is the owner/producer/director of Dieffenthaller Style Films Ltd, which produced the popular programmes “Iere Vibe” and “The Reef”.  She was the main force behind the television production company Earth TV Ltd, and producer/director and co-writer of the acclaimed “Ecowatch” series and the long-running “Westwood Park” (100 episodes). Dieffenthaller’s resumé includes work with TTT, UK-production company Bandung Productions and the groundbreaking production house Banyan Productions, where she and one other crew member were the only local crew to capture the events of the 1990 attempted coup. She is a co-founder of FILMCO and the 2019 Arts and Letters Laureate of the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence.

Jim Kolmar is an independent programmer who curated films for South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) from 2009-2020, where he continues to consult on international and feature films. He is also currently programming for trinidad+tobago film festival, and was a founding committee member at Festival Internacional de Cine Tulum (FICTU). Jim was also a guest curator for Portland International Film Festival 2021. Jim is a contributing writer for Ambulante Film Festival in Mexico, and has served on juries, panels and committees for organisations including Austin Film Society, BAFICI, Berlinale, Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), CONNeXT, CPH:DOX, IDFA, IFFPanama, IN-EDIT Barcelona, San Sebastián, and Ventana Sur.

Dr Bruce Paddington
Bruce Paddington (PhD) is a filmmaker, academic and film festival curator. He was a senior lecturer in film at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and the co-founder of the Bachelor of Arts Film Programme. He is the founder of Banyan Productions, the New World Film Centre and the trinidad+tobago film festival and was the festival director from 2006–19. He is a programmer for trinidad+tobago film festival.

BC Pires was called to the bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 1984 and enrolled as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1989 but, since January 1988, has done nothing but write for a living. His satirical column, “Thank God It’s Friday”, published more or less every Friday of the last 32 years, has been published in the Express, the Guardian and Newsday. He has tried to write sensibly about film from an informed lay perspective since 1988. He sat on the first jury of the trinidad+tobago film festival and wrote the Judges’ Report. He has also written about West Indies cricket for publications all over the world, notably, the UK Guardian and Observer newspapers. He has lived in Port of Spain, London, Georgetown and, since 2008, Barbados. 

Patrice Robinson is a film programmer and writer based in London. She has volunteered at Leeds International Film Festival, Leytonstone Loves Film, Norwich International Film Festival and our very own trinidad+tobago film festival. She is currently a member of the cinema team at the Barbican Centre in London. Entering the film industry as a graduate of the Independent Cinema Office’s FEDs Scheme, Patrice is committed to programming films that speak to under served communities. Most recently, Patrice curated the season – Snapshots: Caribbean Cinema Up Close which explores Caribbean self-representation in film.  

Ultimately, if you’re building a career as a filmmaker, you’re going to need to find a way to reach an audience for your work. Audiences could be connected via sales agents and distributors to film festivals, television, online or cable broadcasts, theatrical exhibitions, etc.

In this 90-minute discussion, panellists involved in the distribution pipeline (including Jim Kolmar, programmer for SXSW; Ingrid Jahra, CEO of CinemaOne Ltd; Diane Robertson, head of programming at TTT; Gian Franco, CEO of Pavilion Studios and Marcia Smith, President of Firelight Media) will discuss the various ways in which filmmakers can forge their own routes to audiences.

logistics

date: Thursday 22 September, 2022
time: 2.30pm–4.00pm
location: NALIS (AV Room)
rsvp: pre-registration required. Sign up here!
tickets: free of charge
moderator: Mariel Brown

Premiere regional film festival returns for its 17th edition

Port of Spain, Tuesday 16 August 2022 – The region’s premier film festival, trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is back with a full calendar of events. This year’s festival will see a return to in-person screenings and events after two years online due to pandemic restrictions.  

With an impressive panel of film programmers comprising three Caribbean and two international industry specialists, more than 250 films were considered for the festival programme. This year’s film programmers are Bruce Paddington (ttff founder), Danielle Dieffenthaller, BC Pires, Ivonne Cotorruelo and Jim Kolmar. Together, they have shortlisted just over 25 films to compete for prizes and awards recognition.

Kolmar, also a writer who has been curating features for the renowned South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), shares, “It’s been a real thrill to work with the programming team on this year’s lineup. It represents the diversity, creativity and the sheer breadth of talent emerging from the Caribbean and beyond. Heartfelt and restlessly inventive, these films exemplify the bold visions and unique voices long celebrated by the festival.”

He continues, “The most exciting part of all this is the opportunity to watch these films with enthusiastic audiences. It’s the kind of community experience that we need more than ever, and it’s a great pleasure to play a part in that. I can’t wait for people to watch these remarkable films.”

Apart from the opening night (which will be at IMAX), screenings will be held at MovieTowne, Port of Spain and NALIS (AV Room and Amphitheatre). Screenings at NALIS are free to the public and tickets for MovieTowne will be available at their box office from 15 September.

The trinidad+tobago film festival wishes to acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors – our signature sponsor:The National Gas Company (NGC); our leading sponsors: Shell Trinidad and Tobago and Republic Bank; our contributing sponsor: the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts; our supporting sponsors:  the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited (FilmTT). 

We also acknowledge the contributions of our programming partners:  the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS), the Embassy of the United States, Port of Spain, the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, Festival International du Film Documentaire Amazonie-Caraibes (FIFAC) and FILMCO; our event partners: the Dalai Llama, Calabash Garden, the Naughty Grape, MovieTowne and C15 Studios Limited; our media and promotion partners:  TTT Limited and Scrip-J.

featured image: production still from ‘Cette maison’

FILMCO is pleased to announce a call for applications for the 2022 Strategies for Succeeding on the Festival Circuit Workshop. We will be selecting six filmmakers to take part in a one on one session during the trinidad+tobago film festival. Filmmakers with an interest in joining the festival circuit are invited to apply here!

In recent years, film festivals have become the first go-to exhibition stop for independent filmmakers, many of whom would struggle to find distribution and audiences otherwise. But, with so many film festivals all over the world, and with clear hierarchies in the festival circuit, choosing which ones you should send your film to, and in what order, needs to be considered as part of an overarching strategy that can guide your decision-making as you seek to release your film. Under the guidance of industry professionals – European Film Market head of diversity and inclusion, Themba Bhebhe; film industry publicist, Marcin J. Sobczak; festival programmer, Jim Kolmar; and filmmaker, Michaelangelo Masangkay , you will receive individual advice on how you should approach getting  your work onto the festival circuit.

Once chosen your project will be assigned to one or more film festival experts with whom you’ll have the opportunity to sit with one on one and strategise plans for the festival release of your film during the scheduled workshop on Friday 23 September, 2022 @ 10:30 am – 12:00 pm at NALIS (Seminar Room 2).

Application prerequisites

• All genres will be accepted
• Film must be set in the Caribbean
• Applicants must have a financed film in production or post-production. The application deadline is 12 pm AST, September 19 2022.
• You must be able to attend the workshop in person on Friday 23 September, 2022 @ 10:30am – 12:00pm

logistics

date: Friday 23 September, 2022
time: 10.30am–12.00pm
location: NALIS (Seminar Room 2)
application: please apply here
tickets: TT$150. Tickets are available here.
facilitators: Themba Bhebhe, Jim Kolmar, Michaelangelo Masangkay + Marcin J. Sobczak

Advance tickets are available at ttfilmfestival.com and can also be purchased via bank transfer or in person (cash, credit card or linx) at our FILMCO office, located at 22 Jerningham Ave. 

FILMCO members, filmmakers with a film in the Festival and students with a valid photo ID, can receive a 50% discount on workshops and masterclasses! Please email Nyola at festival@filmco.org for information on payment options and to receive your discount code.

about Themba Bhebhe

After working for a decade in international film sales, Themba has been in charge of Diversity & Inclusion at the European Film Market (Berlinale) since the autumn of 2017. His work comprises curating a series of events on inclusion, equity and accessibility at the EFM’s Industry Sessions, and liaising with community-based film organisations and advocacy groups whose policies also strive towards greater inclusivity in the film sector. Founded with Dok Leipzig’s Nadja Tennstedt, Themba also co-manages the EFM’s Doc and Fiction Toolbox Programmes for marginalised and Global South film producers as well as the EFM (Online) Market Badge Inclusion Initiative. Within the framework of this role, he also works in close collaboration with imagineNATIVE and a host of other Indigenous-led film organisations regarding, in particular, the Native Indigenous Cinema Stand and the Native Fellows Programme at the EFM.

Themba is also one of the founding members of the Programmers of Colour Collective (POC2) that aims at working towards a more diverse and inclusive programming pool at international film festivals through research, awareness events, networking, profile raising, mentoring and shadowing. Alongside Chloë Walters-Wallace, Themba co-founded the Caribbean Film Academy, an initiative of Third Horizon that, through workshops, community-building, seminars and industry meetings, aims at introducing filmmakers from across the Caribbean region and its diaspora to burgeoning new resources in order to further their access to the film landscape. Themba is a mentor for Durban FilmMart’s Pitching and Financing Forum, where he has advised long-feature fiction projects from across the African continent. Also born from his connection with DFM, alongside Mitchell Harper and Tiny Mungwe, Themba is the co-founder of Engage, a series of curated think tank conversations and panels on the pertinent, challenging and multi-faceted questions facing the African film industry.

about Jim Kolmar

Jim Kolmar is an independent programmer who curated films for South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) from 2009-2020, where he continues to consult on international and feature films. He is also currently programming for trinidad+tobago film festival, and was a founding committee member at Festival Internacional de Cine Tulum (FICTU). Jim was also a guest curator for Portland International Film Festival 2021. Jim is a contributing writer for Ambulante Film Festival in Mexico, and has served on juries, panels and committees for organisations including Austin Film Society, BAFICI, Berlinale, Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM), CONNeXT, CPH:DOX, IDFA, IFFPanama, IN-EDIT Barcelona, San Sebastián, and Ventana Sur.

about Michaelangelo Masangkay

Michaelangelo Masangkay is a respected filmmaker, producer, director (at the Toronto Film School), and gifted drone pilot, with 15 years in the independent film industry. His vast industry knowledge and extensive global network enables him to seize opportunities for clients across Canada, the US and beyond.

about Marcin J. Sobczak

Marcin J. Sobczak, owner of This Way Publicity, has worked in the film industry for over 13 years, supporting sales and production and every step of film development, working on more than 50 films, running international campaigns, and recently handling international Academy Awards campaigns. Some of the titles he has worked on include ‘Coda’, ‘Summer of soul’, ‘Cargo’ (by Kareem Mortimer), and ‘The enforcer’.