The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is presenting a series of film screenings to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the country’s independence, sponsored by The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited.

The screenings take place over three days in San Fernando, Port of Spain and Tobago, respectively. All screenings are free and open to the public.

The first screening takes place on Thursday 28 August, in the observatory at the San Fernando Hill Recreational Centre, from 7.00pm. The films to be screened are the documentaries Julia & Joyce (Sonja Dumas/2010/60’), the story of two pioneers of dance in T&T, Julia Edwards and Joyce Kirton; and The Strange Luck of VS Naipaul (Adam Low/2008/78’), a portrait of the Nobel Prize-winning author.

Then on Friday 29 August from 7.00pm, at the audiovisual room at NALIS in Port of Spain, there will be a screening of Fire in Babylon (Stevan Riley/2011/87’), the inspiring story of the all-conquering West Indies cricket team of the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

Finally, on Sunday 31 August at 3.00pm at MovieTowne, Tobago, two films will be screened: The Audacity of the Creole Imagination (Kim Johnson/2010/13’) and
‘70: Remembering a Revolution (Alex de Verteuil, Elizabeth Cadiz-Topp/2011/120’). The first film looks at milestones in the history of the creation of the steelpan, while ’70 is a thoroughgoing account of the black power uprising of 1970.

Doors for the first two screenings open at 6.00pm. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Technical services will be provided by North Eleven, the ttff’s official screening partner.

Image: A still from Fire in Babylon

The documentary Carmen and Geoffrey (2005, 80′), a portrait of dancers Carmen de Lavallade and her husband Geoffrey Holder, will screen on July 24 at the offices of the ttff at 199 Belmont Circular Road in Port-of-Spain.

The screening takes place in association with the New Waves! One-night Stand Dance Film Festival.

Filmed over three years in New York, Texas, Paris and Holder’s native Trinidad and Tobago, Carmen and Geoffrey is an affectionate portrait of two (literally) towering icons of dance, who met and wed in 1954. Ever since, they have been celebrated dancers, actors, choreographers and much, much more, together and individually. The film combines archive footage with candid interviews with de Lavallade and Holder, as well as friends and acquaintances, to provide a emarkable glimpse into the lives of an extraordinary couple.

Directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob, Carmen and Geoffrey won the Jury Prize for Best Film at the ttff/09.

The screening will begin at 7pm and is free of charge. There will be a preceding short, Tickle Me Rich, a ttff/12 selection directed by Sonja Dumas.

Image: A still from Carmen and Geoffrey