announcing the ttff/22 student films jury

We are honoured to introduce the jury members who will be judging the student films in competition at ttff/22: producer and distributor, Gian Franco; TTT programme manager, Diane Robertson; president of JAFTA, Saeed Thomas.

Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. The shortlisted films then move to the juries which are given a list of criteria on which they must score each film. Films are watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. All the winners will be announced at the ttff/22 awards, 27 September.

Gian Franco
Gian worked at the Microsoft Corporation before moving to Amazon.com in 2010 to launch their digital gaming distribution platform. He then assumed responsibility for Global Content Business Development in Amazon’s TV and film distribution group, after having completed US content acquisition for the same group. As an independent advisor and consultant, Franco has worked with companies such as Comcast on its digital distribution, operations and training strategies; executing training and deployment for products like Xfinity on Roku and others. In 2015 he left Amazon to launch Pavilion Entertainment with business partner Min Lee. Pavilion Entertainment is a TV and film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles that seeks to tell universal stories from a Caribbean point of view. 

Diane Robertson
Diane is a broadcast television and multimedia professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry. She has led the Broadcast Services department, including the website and social media component, of a Washington, DC PBS station. Her role included vetting local programmes, working with producers to green light, and bringing their projects to fruition. While serving on national review panels, Diane’s contributions led to the release of popular, national PBS television series, including ‘Independent Lens’ and ‘Afropop’. She has also served as an advisor to the Caribbean Filmmakers Symposium. In 2018 she joined TTT Ltd as the television programming manager. Since then, she has been instrumental in forming partnerships with FILMCO, FilmTT, Tempo Networks, and other key organisations, to populate local and diasporic content and support local and regional creatives.

Saeed Thomas
Saeed began working in the creative arts as a stage technician, backstage assistant and audio tech. He also delved into stage management and audio for film and television. He has collaborated on projects with international companies such as Hulu, UNICEF, Concacaf, and IAAF. Saeed is the current president of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA), co-founder and CEO of M-One, previously known as Cine-core, a Jamaica-based video production company. A recipient of the 2020 Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Arts and Culture, he has for worked on various short films such as ‘Enhanced’, ‘Kinto’, ‘Cross my heart’ and ‘Flight’ and was selected as a participant of the Clermont Ferrand 2020 Euro Connection Programme with his script, ‘Black girl in the ring’. His most recent produced work is the short drama, ‘Sugarcake’.

ttff/22 in competition: student films

We are pleased to announce the student films in competition at ttff/22Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. They are then watched, scored and debated by the relevant jury, with the winning films ultimately being those which receive the highest aggregate scores. All the winners will be announced at the ttff/22 awards, 27 September, with cash prizes and trophies furnished by our sponsors.

For film synopses, screening details and director bios, please click the links (indicated as blue underlines) below.

BEST STUDENT FILM

in competition: new media works + student films


We are pleased to announce the new media works and student films in competition at ttff/21. 
Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the five programmers. In the case of the new media works, the programme curator shortlists the pieces in competition.

BEST NEW MEDIA WORK

production still: Musgo (Moss)

BEST STUDENT FILM

  • The Interview, directed by Ayana Harper
  • Juana, directed by José Antonio Martínez
  • Musgo (Moss), directed by Alexandra Guimarães + Gonçalo L. Almeida

In Competition: Student Films

Programmed as a separate category for the first time in 2020, Student films are narrative and documentary films made by student filmmakers (whether secondary or tertiary) from the Caribbean and the diaspora. The films competing for the Best Student Film award are:

Carmencita, dir. Nayibe Tavares-Abel
Carne e Casca (Meat and Shell), dir. Dani Drumond
Endless Love, dir. Duda Gambogi
La Pieza de Casseus (The Raging Dance of Casseus), dir. Camilo Mejía
Waiting In Strange Times, dir. Kristof West
Wicket, dir. Harsh Khurana

Synopses

Carmencita

Directed by Nayibe Tavares-Abel/ 2020/ Dominican Republic/ 27 minutes

In this documentary short, filmmaker Nayibe Tavares-Abel sets out to make a film based on her great grandmother’s diary entries written in 1918. Incorporating stop motion animation and a silent film shot in 16mm, the filmmaker begins with the aim of poking fun at her great grandmother’s jealousy and conceit, but ends up revealing much about herself in the process.

Carne e Casca (Meat and Shell)

Directed by Dani Drumond/ 2016/ Brazil/ 16 minutes

In the bowels of the Recife mangrove is Ilha de Deus (God’s Island). There, José Joaquim Francisco Filho, known as “Mosquito”, the oldest sururu (mussel) fisherman of the region, battles on. In the Capibaribe river, one of the most polluted in Brazil, Mosquito fights for the survival and future of his grandchildren.

Endless Love

Directed by Duda Gambogi/ 2020/ Brazil /20 minutes

A series of characters experience the joy of performance, demonstrating that it is better to live than to dream.

La Pieza de Casseus (The Raging Dance of Casseus)

Directed by Camilo Mejía/ 2020/ Dominican Republic /16 minutes

Casseus is a young Haitian man who decides to enroll in a ballet academy in order to accomplish his dream of being a dancer, but his job as a bodega delivery guy in the Dominican Republic gets in the way of his goal.

Waiting In Strange Times

Directed by Kristof West/ 2020/ Trinidad and Tobago/ 4 minutes

Set in Trinidad during the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of Covid-19, “Waiting In Strange Times” explores space and time during a period of boredom, uncertainty, confusion and fear.

Wicket

Directed by Harsh Khurana/ 2020/ India/ 4 minutes

A young boy dreams of being a cricketer but, like almost everyone else, ends up having an ordinary job. Nevertheless, his passion never dies and he lives his dream every day for the rest of his life.

Imageproduction still from ‘Endless Love’, directed by Duda Gambogi