Storyteller, historian, retired court judge, Ray Funk, stumbled across Trinidad and Tobago and fell in love with Carnival, steelpan and calypso, and in so doing he became a national treasure whose extensive research has led to the unearthing of rare historical finds of forgotten Carnival history.

For our next ttff talk, we’ll be sitting down for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation on falling in love with carnival, steelpan and calypso with aficionado Ray Funk.

When: 1pm AST, 23 June 2021
Where: Facebook Live @ttfilmfestival

Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan state court trial judge, a Fulbright scholar, an honorary fellow of the University of Trinidad and Tobago and has been coming to Trinidad Carnival for over two decades. He has written dozens of articles on calypso, steelpan and mas, primarily for the Trinidad Guardian and Caribbean Beat; co-written books, curated exhibitions, and lectured in Trinidad, across the US, Canada and England at schools, universities, and libraries on aspects of Trinidad music, carnival, and culture. Funk co-curated a traveling and online exhibition at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, “Calypso: A World Music”, which went on to tour colleges, libraries, and museums in the US and Trinidad. Michael Eldridge and Funk co-wrote and produced “Calypso Craze”, a boxed set, with a coffee table book, six CDs and a DVD in 2014. He co-wrote two books, Invaders Steel Orchestra and Steelpan in Education: Northern Illinois Steel Orchestra. Funk has done several presentations for the trinidad+tobago film festival over the last decade on historic Carnival footage.

ttff talks is geared towards inspiring and motivating film and television practitioners in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, by creating a forum for in-depth and wide-ranging one-on-one conversations about the art and creativity, business, joys and challenges of working in the film and creative industries.

Gone but Not Forgotten

Ray Funk helps to kick off ttff’s 15th anniversary year!

The trinidad+tobago film festival is delighted to reprise beloved carnival aficionado, Ray Funk’s video presentation and talk, ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’, as part of our 15th anniversary celebrations! On 12 February at the National Museum and Art Gallery, Funk will be presenting a celebration of pan pioneers who have passed away. The presentation will include a newly discovered ten minute film called ‘Panboo’ (shot in 1954),​ as well as clips of pan visionaries Ellie Mannette, Kim Loy Wong, Cliff Alexis, Pat Bishop, Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore, Clyde Bradley and Jit Samaroo. This presentation was first offered as part of the film festival’s numerous programs last August at Carifesta.

This programme represents Funk’s desire to offer, in one event, an opportunity to let his audience hear and see these pioneers of pan talk, and look at rare clips of pan in concert, festival, and on the streets at Carnival. “I want to let the history of pan unfold from the voices of the icons who contributed to its history.” The clips come from various films, television programmes and private sources. They are primarily from Ray Funk’s own collection with assistance from Christopher Laird of Banyan Archives and Timmy Mora of Visual Arts and Production.

Since CARIFESTA, Funk has continued to search for more rare early footage and is excited to screen what he believes is the first film about steelpan. He found a newspaper clipping in a Canadian newspaper from 1955 referring to this short film, and arranged for it to be digitised from an archive.  He only got a copy several weeks ago and is very excited to share it. “Before Panboo, there were a couple very short clips of steelbands in newsreels, but this is the first film about pan. It features the Woodbrook band, Dixie Stars, who had traveled to Toronto as the first Esso Steel Band and later settled in Bermuda. It traces the evolution of pan from skin drums to steel, and it seems to have only ever had a few public showings in Canada back in the 1950s. I believe it is the first time anyone has seen this film in over sixty years!”

Ray Funk has done a number of previous presentations for the trinidad+tobago film festival of historic film clips on Trinidad Carnival, calypso, pan and mas. A retired Alaskan trial judge, Funk has been coming to Trinidad regularly for over two decades, primarily during carnival. He has written dozens and dozens of articles for all three Trinidad daily newspapers, co-written books on Invaders and Northern Illinois Steelband, and been a Fulbright US scholar. 

Gone But Not Forgotten is presented in partnership with The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC), The National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago and The Central Bank Museum. 

12 February 2020, 6pm-8pm
National Museum and Art Gallery, Frederick Street, Port of Spain

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

American enthusiast and documentarian of T&T culture Ray Funk will this year participate in the T&T’s Film Festival’s Carnival Film Series  for the fifth out of six iterations of the event since it started in 2011. (The series, which showcases films about the personalities and art forms that contribute to Carnival, didn’t happen last year because of financial constraints caused by the recession.)

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

Carnival Film Series to honour The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Superior, Pan! and the Calypso Craze
The trinidad+tobago film festival is starting off its 10th anniversary celebrations on a high note with its 5th annual Carnival Film Series (CFS). Over the past four years, the CFS has presented diverse and unusual representations of Carnival on film and screen. Films have included tributes to pioneers such as Lord Superior, Calypso Rose and Shadow, Peter Minshall and other Carnival practitioners in narrative and documentary forms. In addition, the highly entertaining, anecdotal presentations on vintage Carnival by historian Ray Funk has continued to delight and surprise audiences. For this year’s Carnival Film Series, the ttff promises even more diversity and entertainment. Admission is FREE to all screenings and presentations for the Carnival Film Series.

Calypso Dreams and Tribute to Midnight Robber, Brian Honoré at UWI
The first of the four-part 2015 Carnival Film Series will be shown on Saturday January 17 from 6:30pm at the UWI Film Department’s Studio at 12 Carmody Road, St Augustine. The programme will feature Calypso Dreams – directors Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne’s chronicle of the rich and complex cultural roots of calypso music in Trinidad and Tobago. Also on the programme is Robbertalk, a special film and Midnight Robber performance tribute to Brian Honoré, one of this country’s most popular Midnight Robbers, on the 10^th anniversary of his passing. This will be preceded by Living Legacies: Trains in Trinidad; and Clay and Dirt Ovens in T&T – two short documentaries produced with the support of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration.

The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior at the Globe Cinema:
Next, the CFS moves on to the highly-anticipated Caribbean premiere of The Glamour Boyz Again: Sparrow and Lord Superior on The Hilton Rooftop, at the Globe Cinema, on Sunday January 18. At this screening, both Sparrow and Lord Superior will be present to receive honorary awards by the Embassy of The United States of America, Port of Spain. The audience in the 1,200 seat Globe Cinema will also be treated to an exclusive live performance by both honourees. This special event is sponsored by RBC Royal Bank in association with the Embassy of the United States of America. The International Art Alliance (IAA) is also working closely with the Embassy to facilitate the awards and the participation of The Mighty Sparrow and Lord Superior. This event starts at 6pm and doors open at 5pm. THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT

Pan! Our Musical Odyssey at San Fernando Hill
On Friday January 23 from 6.30pm, San Fernando Hill will become an outdoor cinema for the special showing of Pan! Our Musical Odyssey, which recently had its theatrical release at local cinemas. Limited DVDs and CDs of the film will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be on sale and limited seating will be provided. Audiences are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments.

Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze at NALIS, Port of Spain
The CFS will conclude at NALIS Amphitheatre on Sunday January 25 from 6.30pm, with Ray Funk Presents: Calypso Craze. Once again, Alaskan-based Carnival historian Ray Funk will thrill audiences with rare vintage Carnival film clips—this time focusing on the Calypso Craze—a comprehensive survey of the excitement for calypso that swept America in 1957 when the whole American entertainment industry thought calypso would kill rock and roll. This presentation at the NALIS Amphitheatre will also coincide with the official launch of the book, CD and DVD set of the same name. Both events on this weekend will be preceded by Living Legacies: Trains in Trinidad; and Clay and Dirt Ovens in T&T, produced with the support of the Ministry of National Diversity and Social Integration.

The trinidad+tobago film festival is presented by Flow, and given supporting sponsorship by the Embassy of the United States of America.

For the second year in a row the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is pleased to feature Carnival historian and researcher Ray Funk presenting rare historic film clips on calypso, pan and Carnival, at two events.

These free presentations, part of the film festival’s annual Carnival Film Series (CFS), take place at San Fernando Hill and the NALIS Amphitheatre at the National Library in Port of Spain, on Friday 21 and Sunday 23 February, respectively. Both events begin at 7pm.

Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan judge and has been coming to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival for almost 20 years. He writes regularly for the local newspapers, and is passionate in researching a range of traditional Carnival arts. His collection of early film clips is an important part of that research, and he has been doing free educational events showcasing these clips for years, as a way of giving back this heritage.

Over two hundred people came to Funk’s presentation at the NALIS Amphitheatre during last year’s Carnival Film Series.

“I had a great time last year and was thrilled to be able to show cuts that it took me years to find,” he said. “But the highlight of the evening was to have Bill Trotman show up—on his birthday, no less—and see an Italian film clip of a comedy limbo dance that he had performed back in 1961.

“He had told me about it a decade ago and I have been searching ever since to find it. It was special to present it on the big screen with Bill present and give him a copy of the footage.”

Another clip was of the Mighty Sparrow’s first feature-film performance from the same Italian film.

“He couldn’t be there the night of the screening but I was able on Carnival Sunday to see him and show him and his wife Margaret and give them a copy.”

With the success of last year’s presentation, the film festival is pleased this year to have presentations from Funk both in Port of Spain and San Fernando.

When asked about what he is bringing this year to show, Ray is hesitant to reveal too much. “I am still determining which pieces to present, but I guarantee there will be many things that almost no one has seen before,” he said.

“Here are a couple things. Steve and Amanda Zeitlin—the parents of filmmaker Benh Zeitlin, who attended the film festival last year and presented his film Beasts of the Southern Wild—came to Trinidad and shot a short film on extempo several years ago. That will get its T&T premiere.

“For an Association of British Calypsonians tribute to Lord Kitchener, I commissioned a music video on one of his first recordings, on a boxing match. That will also get its local premiere.”

Funk has been working for several years on a project on Harry Belafonte and the American “calypso craze” of the 1950s, which will result in a major coffee table book with a set of six CDs and a DVD. It will be out hopefully towards the end of 2014.

“I have a couple of calypso craze film and TV performances that I want to show in my presentations, including popular American performers doing material by Roaring Lion.”

For Funk, bringing these performances to a local audience is all about returning T&T’s culture to its home.

“My ongoing search to find these clips, present them in Trinidad and Tobago and give them back to the performers has been very rewarding. At all times I am in search of more missing bits of the country’s rich cultural heritage.”

Image: Ray Funk (in orange T-shirt at left) speaks at his presentation at last year’s Carnival Film Series. (Photograph by Marlon James for the trinidad+tobago film festival.)

Coming off an extremely successful 2013, the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) kicks off its programme of events for the new year with its Carnival Film Series (CFS).

Now a firm fixture on the annual Carnival calendar of events, the CFS, in its fourth year, is a showcase of films about Carnival and its related artforms.

The series is sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) and the National Carnival Commission (NCC). Technical support is provided by North Eleven, the ttff’s media and projection partner.

This year the CFS takes place over six nights in February. Two of these nights will be given over to presentations by renowned calypso, pan and mas researcher and historian Ray Funk.

These presentations follow on from Funk’s extremely popular presentation at last year’s CFS at NALIS in Port of Spain, and will again feature vintage Carnival footage, much of it never before seen in T&T.

As ever admission to all screenings is free of charge. There will be refreshments on sale, and giveaways. All events begin at 7pm.

Saturday 08 February
Paramin Recreational Grounds and Cool Breeze Bar, Paramin

Shorts film package comprising the following:

Between the Lines
Director: Abigail Hadeed
2012/T+T/Experimental/3mins
An exploration of the frenzied, chaotic, moving shadows cast on the roads by moko jumbie Carnival characters.

And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison
Director: Natalie Wei
2006/T+T, Canada/Experimental/3mins
An examination of notions of gender, identity and belonging in the contemporary Carnival.

Beneath the Mas
Director: Dinesh Maharaj
2014/T+T/Documentary/10mins
A look at some traditional mas-making techniques and Carnival characters, particularly the art of wire-bending, the fancy Indian, the jab jab, the midnight robber and the bull mas. (Production sponsored by NCC.)

Kings of the Gayelle
Director: Christopher Laird
2014/T+T/Documentary/11mins
A portrait of two stickfighters, King Kali and King Tony, who have distinguished themselves in the discipline of Kalinda. (Production sponsored by NCC.)

Dance de Calypso
Director: John Barry
1996/T+T/Documentary/46mins
An exploration of the history and evolution of the different ways people dance to calypso music.

y-ning?
Director: Emilie Upczak
2010/T+T, USA/Documentary/13mins
An “academic music video” that explores wining as a dance language with a history and identity born out of the Caribbean experience.

After Mas
Director: Karen Martinez
2013/T+T, UK/Narrative/20mins
A story of love that flourishes under the cover of darkness during J’Ouvert on the streets of Port of Spain. In the cold light of day, will these young lovers from very different backgrounds stay true to their desires?

Sunday 9 February
Trevor’s Edge, St Augustine

Shorts package
Between the Lines/And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison/Beneath the Mas/Kings of the Gayelle/Dance de Calypso/y-ning?/After Mas

Thursday 13 February
MovieTowne, Tobago

Beneath the Mas

No Bois Man No Fraid
Director: Christopher Laird
2013/T+T/Documentary/72mins
Keegan Taylor and Rondel Benjamin are young martial arts experts from Trinidad and Tobago. In this uplifting and eye-opening documentary, they embark on a discovery of their roots by setting out to learn the local martial art of stickfighting. In the process, they receive guidance from living legends such as Congo Bara, King Stokely and King Kali, and set out to compete in the annual national stickfighting championships.

Friday 21 February
San Fernando Hill Recreational Grounds

Kings of the Gayelle

Beneath the Mas

A presentation by Ray Funk

Saturday 22 February
Saith Park, Chaguanas

Shorts package
Between the Lines/And They Say, Don’t Play with Poison/Beneath the Mas/Kings of the Gayelle/Dance de Calypso/y-ning?/After Mas

Sunday 23 February
NALIS Amphitheatre, National Library, Port of Spain

Kings of the Gayelle

Beneath the Mas

A presentation by Ray Funk

Image: a still from Between the Lines

Our third annual Carnival Film Series, sponsored by the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company, kicks off on 23 January. The series showcases Carnival-themed documentary and dramatic films, and takes place at venues across the country. Admission is free.

Wednesday 23 January, 7pm
Medulla Art Gallery, 37 Fitt Street, Woodbrook
Tribute to Peter Minshall
Masman: The Complete Work/TT/89 mins
Rat Race/TT/20 mins
Director: Dalton Narine

Friday 25 January, 7pm
Amphitheatre, National Library, Port-of-Spain*
Vintage Calypso, Pan and Mas on Screen: A Presentation by Ray Funk
TT/90 mins

Sunday 27 January, 7pm
Holy Faith Convent, Couva *
Mystic Fighters/TT, France, UK/52 mins
Director: Sophie Meyer
Jeffrey’s Calypso/TT, USA/25 mins
Director: Vashti Anderson
Centre-staging the Jamette: An Interview with Machel Montano/TT/30 mins

Wednesday 30 January, 7pm
MovieTowne, Tobago*
Bacchanal Time/TT/110 mins
Director: Kamalo Deen

Tuesday 5 February, 7pm
Trevor’s Edge, St. John’s Rd, St. Augustine*
Jab/TT/47 mins
Director: Alex de Verteuil
Series of short films on traditional mas characters and the fire dance
TT/50mins
Director: Yao Ramesar

*Refreshments will be sold at these locations

Image: Mystic Fighters

Fans of calypso and pan are in for a special treat on Friday 25 January from 7pm at the amphitheatre of the National Library, as part of the third annual Carnival Film Series, hosted by the trinidad+Tobago film festival (ttff).

Sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, the series features a programme of Carnival-themed documentary and dramatic films. Films shown include feature-length and short works, and comprise both recent and classic films.

This year’s programme includes a presentation by renowned Carnival researcher Ray Funk. A retired Alaskan judge, Funk has been coming to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival for over 15 years. His presentation will show the latest treasures he has acquired in his constant quest to find rare Carnival film and television footage.

“I have found several items recently that I think will excite audiences, whether they love calypso, pan or mas,” Ray noted from his home just below the Arctic Circle. “Almost everything I will show will be over thirty years old and represents rare finds that have come from a wide variety of sources.”

For the pan enthusiasts there will be footage from the greatest steelbands in T&T history, including Dixieland in England as well as Les Flambeaux, Cavaliers, Pan Am North Stars and Desperadoes. There even will be cartoons featuring pan, including a group led by Patrick Arnold when he lived in California.

The calypso clips will include a German documentary featuring Mighty Chalkdust in the 1980s, as well as Lord Cristo at the Rose Bowl parade in the US. Also included is Sparrow’s performance in his first feature film, an Italian movie that also stars Bill Trotman as a limbo dancer.

The various mas bands in other films are harder to identify. “In filming Carnival on the streets filmmakers just shot what came by, rarely concerned whether it was George Bailey, Harold Saldenah or Stephen Lee Heung,” said Funk. “But to serious scholars or Carnival enthusiasts it is important as to exactly what bands are depicted.” Ray hopes the audience will help in the quest to identify what bands are being shown.

Ray’s passion is not only to to bring back these films that were shot in T&T and most of which have never been show here, but also to give copies of this footage to institutions like the film festival. Dr Bruce Paddington, Founder and Festival Director, believes that Ray’s research is an essential part of the educational work being carried out by the ttff. “We need to reclaim our film heritage and the Festival is dedicated to programmes like this that get the film history of T&T out to the people.”

The Carnival Film Series runs from 23 January to 05 February at venues across T&T. Admission is free to all events.

Image: Screenshot from a Carnival film that will form part of Ray Funk’s presentation

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) will launch its programme of events for this year with its third annual Carnival Film Series. Sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) as part of the T&T Film Nights community film screenings initiative, the series showcases Carnival-themed films, and takes place from 23 January to 5 February at venues across the country. Admission is free and all screenings start at 7pm.

The programme gets underway on Wednesday 23 January at Medulla Art Gallery, 37 Fitt Street in Woodbrook, where there will be a tribute to celebrated Carnival bandleader, Peter Minshall. The tribute will take the form of screenings of two films about Minshall and his work: Rat Race and Masman: The Complete Work, both directed by Dalton Narine.

Then on Friday 25 January, Carnival researcher Ray Funk will make a presentation at the amphitheatre of the National Library, Port-of-Spain. This 90-minute event will include the screening of vintage, never-before-seen video footage of Mighty Sparrow, Lord Christo, Desperadoes, Cavaliers and others.

Sunday 27 January will see the pgrogramme move into Couva, at Holy Faith Convent. Here three films will be screened: the stickfighting documentary Mystic Fighters, directed by Sophie Meyer; Jeffrey’s Calypso, a short dramatic film written and directed by Vashti Anderson; and Centre-staging the Jamette, an interview with Machel Montano conducted by Sr Theresa Vialva.

Tobago will then get its share of the action, with a screening of Kamalo Deen’s classic comedy Bacchanal Time, featuring appearances by Mighty Shadow, Crazy, Calypso Rose and others. This takes place on Wednesday 30 January, at MovieTowne in Lowlands.

The programme comes to an end on Tuesday 5 February at Trevor’s Edge, St. John’s Rd, St. Augustine. Here there will be a screening of Jab: The Blue Devils of Paramin, directed by Alex de Verteuil, and a series of short films by Yao Ramesar, on traditional mas characters and the fire dance.

Image: Peter Minshall