THE 18th edition of the TT Film Festival (TTFF) will be launched with the premiere of the film Doubles, and includes several local short films.

Festival organisers the Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago (FILMCO) announced this on September 4 at the festival launch press conference at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.

The festival will have its opening night on September 20 at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, with Doubles by writer/director Ian Harnarine, who was born in Canada to parents from TT. It is a feature-length sequel to his award-winning 2011 short film Doubles with Slight Pepper, which told the story of a young doubles vendor dealing with the return of his estranged father from Canada.

The festival will screen over 100 films from the Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora and about the Caribbean. FILMCO director Danielle Dieffenthaller said there are only 17 local films in the festival, and explained this was due to a lack of investment in films.

“We’ve seen how lack of investment hurts the festival. And also too, the submissions that we did get, it was basically blood, sweat and tears and nothing else. That’s all they had.”

She said some of the local films were a minute to five minutes in length because that was all the filmmakers could afford.

Two new additions to the festival are the award category for best film by a woman and a film block titled I Advocate, of films on issues related to domestic violence and women’s rights, the latter curated in conjunction with the European Film Festival.

On the new award, Dieffenthaller said there are a lot of women involved in film who are not recognised. She added the block of women’s films will highlight issues normally swept under the carpet, including one called Our Menopause.

The drama Green Days by the River was the big winner on Tuesday night at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) bringing home both best TT feature and people’s choice for best feature film narrative.

The wins were announced at the ttff awards ceremony held at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain. The film, based on the novel by local writer and historian Michael Anthony, was directed by Michael Mooledhar and produced by Christian James. The coming of age story is set in Mayaro 1952 and is about a teenager named Shellie (Sudai Tafari) who is befriended by a plantation owner named Mr Gidharee (Anand Lawkaran) and falls for his beautiful daughter Rosalie (Nadia Nisha Kandhai).

All Caribbean films must start with the waves, the sea. It’s a rule that Bogotá-born director Samir Oliveros isn’t about to break in his crowdfunded debut Bad Lucky Goat.

To be fair, his opening is novel. A decapitated goat’s head floats peacefully by.

This was one of two films made on the same Colombian island screened at the TT Film Festival which ended yesterday.

Keyla was the other. Isla de Providencia’s population of just 5,000 might be forgiven for wondering when the big guns in Hollywood will discover this sleepy patch of paradise.

Apart from a tame Carnival, horse races on the beach and clandestine jet-ski drug-running, not a lot happens here.

Which is why a missing goat is enough to rouse the excitement of Oliveros’ fictional Port Paradise police force.

Today’s Republic Day observance will be a special one for Bertrand and Claudia Joseph.

The Paramin couple, who celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on February 15, will be featured in the documentary 70 Years Together at the TT Film Festival.

The documentary will be shown at MovieTowne’s cineplexs in Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Tobago, beginning from 1 pm.

The Josephs’ grand-daughter, Cassandra, told Sunday Newsday her grandparents story was inspirational and felt it should be shown to the world as an example of how married couples should live in an age where, according to recent statistics, the average marriage lasts only three years.

WITH the countdown on to the trinidad+ tobago film festival (ttff), the festival team is inviting film lovers to join them at two pre-festival limes.
The first, tonight is at Drink! Lounge and Bistro, in Woodbrook and on September 15, the lime moves to south at 519 Trinidad in the C3 Centre in San Fernando.

The limes provide an opportunity to meet film-makers and others involved in the industry, find out about film screenings, to generally be part of the buzz and excitement that surrounds the festival and to “get high on film.” Azreena Khan, events and marketing co-ordinator at the ttff said in a media release: “This year we are particularly pleased to be heading to San Fernando for our first ever pre-festival lime in the south and we hope some of our regular party crew from the west will join us there. Of course, we are also inviting our friends in the South to come out and show the Port of Spain crew how to party. It’s going to be fun and we’re excited.” Drinks and food will be on sale. Admission is free.

UWI medical student Nadia Kandhai never set out to be a movie star. However, a random meeting on a flight to Tobago set her on the path to play Rosalie, the female lead in Green Days by the River movie, that will be screened at the gala opening of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff) next weekend.
“I’m a third-year medical school student,” said Khandhai as she reflects on how she ended up playing the lead female character.

“I met Christian (James) on a flight to Tobago. He told me I looked like what he imagined Rosalie would look like, I auditioned and here I am,” said Khadhai in a media release.

She is one of just under 100 local actors that bring Michael Anthony’s beloved novel Green Days by the River to the big screen nationwide on September 27.

THREE documentaries about steelbands will make their debut at this year’s trinidad+ tobago film festival, which takes place from September 19 to 26, at MovieTowne Port of Spain, San Fernando, Tobago,and at 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.

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) has partnered with the United Nations Women and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at the University of the West Indies (The UWI) to present “The Power of Women in Film” on September 22 at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain.

The event starts at 9 am and admission is free. The TTFF said “individuals and organisations who are interested in the issues are invited to attend.”

The day of panels and presentations will include speakers from across the region who will explore depictions of women and girls, and how film can be used to address issues of violence against women, objectification, gender inequality and female empowerment. Short films will be incorporated into the programme to help illustrate some of the issues being discussed.

The event will be followed by three days of feminist cinema, from September 22 to 24, at the same venue.

IT IS Michael Anthony’s hope that the film adaptation of his iconic novel, Green Days by the River, inspires a new generation of Caribbean writers as well as those interested in film. The novel has been adapted into film by a local film-makers Michael Mooleedhar and Christian James and is set to launch this year’s Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival.
The film’s première will be held at a red carpet gala on September 19.

In a phone interview with Newsday the acclaimed author said, “I wrote the book as a writer hoping his work will be published… you think about telling a good story, a story that people would want to read and carry on reading it.” Not only did audiences want to continue reading Anthony’s novel 50 years on, but it has become so beloved in the hearts and minds of Caribbean readers that the novel is now finished.

Recalling what it was like initially crafting the novel, Anthony said, “When I finished Green Days by the River, I sent it and kept my fingers crossed that it would be published, and when it was published it began doing what you would call fairly well and I kept having hope. And then 50 years later, Mr Mooleedhar and his producer came to me and told me about the film and I said ‘my goodness, just in time I am ready to die’. I warmly accepted this and look forward to the film but I just did not have any real deep faith that we’d get to journey’s end.” Anthony now expects out of the film, a new wave in Caribbean literature with an eye on film. With a widely growing local and regional film industry, Anthony said, “I am hoping for success so that it will start a new day for writers and that there are some writers that will write with their minds on film. I did not because I never thought for one moment that my book was going to be filmed. There are young writers who would think, ‘Oh I hope they turn my book into film’.

Two weeks ago, the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) announced that the production will open next month’s premiere – making it the first feature film, directed and produced by Trinbagonian talent, to achieve such a feat.

Title sponsor, bmobile, has supported the film from its inception and Vice President, Marketing, Camille Campbell, explains why that decision was easy.

“Investing in this film was a win-win. We were able to use our resources to assist the filmmakers, both graduates of the Film programme at UWI, to realise their dreams of creating a first-class production. We take our responsibility to give back to Trinidad and Tobago very seriously and we have a perfect track record to prove it.” Green Days by the River stays true to the comingof- age 1967 novel of the same name by local author Michael Anthony and showcases young budding talent. Its main characters – Sudai Tafari, (Shellie), Nadia Kandhai (Rosalie) and Vanessa Bartholomew (Joan) – are all first-time actors.