At the recently concluded T&T Film Festival, there was a renewed focus on local films. Green Days By the River, a local feature based on the Michael Anthony novel, opened the Festival and is still running at cinemas. There was also a fantastic response to short films like Maya Cozier’s Short Drop and Shari Petti’s Sorf Hair. Away from the glare of the Festival spotlight, however, there was an extremely important educational event taking place. The British Council teamed up with the T&T Film Festival to host development training for filmmakers in the form of a scriptwriting workshop with British script development consultant Ludo Smolski.

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’.