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.

The Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO) has launched the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which the organisation has managed since 2019.

The ttff showcases films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Under the theme #lookwe, films on the roster this year will include World and Caribbean premiers. The countries represented in this year’s Festival include Trinidad, Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Suriname, St. Vincent, Haiti, Brazil, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, France, Spain, Germany, USA, Netherlands, and Nepal.

This year’s Festival premieres on September 20, with the Opening Night, being hosted at Queen’s Hall from 6pm-11pm.

Audiences will be able to mix and mingle with local and international filmmakers and actors, while getting the chance to see the premier film, “Doubles” which was written and directed by Ian Harnarine, a Canadian born to Trinidadian parents.

Plus, get ready for live entertainment by Olatunji Yearwood.

In celebration of First People’s Day on October 13, the trinidad+tobago film festival will host Indigenous Voices, an afternoon of films that present a diverse spectrum of indigenous storytelling and powerful narratives on the disappearing indigenous cultures of Trinidad and Tobago and the Americas.

The event will be held on Saturday, October 14 from 12.00pm – 5.00pm, at the Arima Town Hall, in association with the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community, and with sponsorship from the Ministry of Community Development Culture and the Arts.

The screenings are free.

There’s a long weekend ahead which means time to catch up on some rest, maybe hit the beach…and get your movie on!

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival is currently on and there is an overabundance of films not just from our twin islands but the region and around the world. We can understand that there may be a lot of selections to choose from, so we’ve put together our picks for screenings this weekend.

While it may seem as though everyone is embracing natural hair, for a very long time, it was something it was not considered to be the standard of beauty. Societal norms stipulated having ‘good hair’ which meant having straight, manageable, tame hair.

Film director Shari Petti explores the natural hair phenomenon in Trinidad and Tobago in her upcoming film, Sorf Hair, taking a deep dive into issues ranging from discrimination to lost opportunities, which still exist today.

The film will capture the experience of Trinbagonians from all walks of life with different hair textures who share their stories and challenges.

Petti stopped by Loop to give us more insight into the documentary, including how certain historical factors have influenced the perception of what it means to have ‘good hair’.

As part of its support for the film, BP Trinidad and Tobago is sponsoring a free screening of To Be A Renegade by James O’Connor, on Friday, September at 8:30pm, at MovieTowne Port of Spain, during the trinidad+tobago film festival (tt/ff).

Tickets will be available from the box office on a first-come-first-served basis, at the start of the Festival, which runs from September 19 – 26.

O’Connor’s film captures the story of the BP Renegades from the violent beginnings of pan, later eras of social and economic change, to the present where pan is considered to have a positive influence on communities, and steelbands now travel abroad, representing Trinidad and Tobago as international ambassadors.

Featuring players, founding members and supporters, To Be A Renegade, funded by BPTT, seeks to show what it really means to be a Renegade.

After several months of teasing and hints, the 12th edition of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival Festival officially kicked off on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency with the promise to get the nation ‘high on film’.

From September 19 -26, film enthusiasts can expect a fully loaded schedule of films from Trinidad and Tobago, the wider Caribbean and the world. However, they can also expect to see and take part in several other activities aimed at developing filmmakers and fostering patriotism and generating discussions on social issues.

To ensure that as many people as possible have access to the Festival, MovieTowne San Fernando has been added to the list of screening venues.

The Festival will open on September 19 with Green Days by the River, the highly anticipated film based on the novel of the same name. The film was one of 15 films in development that participated in the Caribbean Film Mart in 2015. “It is such a joy to see the film come to fruition. It will no doubt play to sold-out audiences across the country. It is, of course, just one of the 100+ films we will be screening at five venues across Trinidad and Tobago,” according to a statement from tt/ff.

Three documentaries about steelbands will make their debut at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival, which takes place from September 19 – 26 at MovieTowne Port of Spain, San Fernando, and Tobago, as well as the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine.

James O’Connor’s film To Be A Renegade, captures the story of the BP Renegades through an examination of the violent beginnings of pan, the era of change, and its present state as a positive influence on communities, with steelbands now travelling abroad as international ambassadors.

Featuring players, founding members and supporters, the documentary funded by BP Trinidad and Tobago, seeks to show what it really means to be a Renegade.  As part of its support for the film, BPTT is sponsoring a free screening of To Be A Renegade on Friday, September 22 at 8:30pm, at MovieTowne Port of Spain. Tickets will be available from the box office on a first-come-first-served basis, at the start of the Festival.

As part of its commitment to use film to develop transferable skills among young people, the trinidad+tobago film festival has teamed up with RBC Royal Bank for the RBC Future Critics Initiative to prepare journalism students for the rigour, best practices and industry standards of critical film analysis and festival reporting.

For the second consecutive year, ten students from the Ken Gordon School of Journalism at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts (COSTAATT) will be selected to attend special Festival events for professional journalists, as well as public screenings, in order to write critical reviews of films under the mentorship of film critic and journalist, BC Pires. The students will be expected to write daily reviews for the Festival’s website and post social media reports.

At the conclusion of the Festival, the best Future Critic will be selected on the basis of the quality of their writing and analysis, their ability to meet tight deadlines, and the number of reviews published. They will be awarded a cash prize of $TT5,000, by RBC Royal Bank, at the tt/ff’s award ceremony on September 26.

Excitement is high for the film adaptation of Michael Anthony’s 1967 coming of age novel Green Days by the River.

The movie will open the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival on Tuesday, September 19 with a red carpet gala and screening to be held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA),

Director Michael Moleedhar and two of the stars from the film, Sudai Tafari and Anand Lawkaran dropped into The Lounge to give us a glimpse into what we can expect when the movie opens this weekend and goes into nation-wide release from September 27.