After successful outdoor events in Chaguaramas, St Augustine, Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) brings its second annual Community Cinergy series to a close this Saturday and Sunday with two days of family-oriented activities and films in Tobago, at the Buccoo Integrated Complex.

Community Cinergy combines film screenings and live entertainment in open-air settings, and is sponsored by bpTT. This weekend’s film screenings take place in association with the Healing with Horses Foundation and the Growing Leaders Foundation, and the event is free, for all ages and open to the public.

Things kick off at 5pm on both days with live entertainment by the children of the Yahweh Foundation and a parade by the Healing with Horses Foundation.

Then from 6.30pm on Saturday a package of short children’s films will be screened. The lineup is:

The Itch of the Golden Nit
Director: Aardman Animation/UK/2012/34 mins
One Good Deed
Director: Juliette McCawley/TT/2012/12 mins
Mr Crab
Director: Faisal Lutchmedial/Canada/2012/5 mins
Pothound
Director: Christopher Guinness/TT/2012/11mins
Tinga Tinga Tales
Director: Tiger Aspect Productions/2011/24 mins
Healing with Horses: Love & Magic
Director: Elspeth Duncan/TT/2012/37 mins

Then on Sunday from 6.30pm the drama Habanastation, directed by Ian Padrón of Cuba, will be screened, in Spanish with English subtitles. The film tells the story of Mayito, the son of a wealthy jazz musician, who imagines all Cubans live as he does, eating chicken every day and playing video games on their Sony PlayStations. When he finds himself lost in a poor neighbourhood one day, however, he realises this is far from the truth, and must come to terms with the class differences that exist in modern-day Cuba.

Habanastation will be preceded by the short film Dis ah We Own?, Roxborough Secondary School’s prize-winning entry in the 2012 Secondary Schools Short Film Festival, and Elspeth Duncan’s Healing with Horses: Love & Magic.

Before and after the films on both days the Tobago Night Market, an initiative of the THA Division of Community Development and Culture, will take place. There will be refreshments as well as crafts and other products on sale, and giveaways from bpTT. Seating is provided in the stands.

Image: a shot from Habanastation

Macaroni Kid Trinidad, an organisation dedicated to helping families reconnect, and the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), presented by Flow, are coming together to present a number of film screenings, this Sunday 14 August at the St Anthony’s College grounds in Westmoorings.

The screenings will form part of Macaroni Kid Trinidad’s first annual family day, entitled Raising Hope. The event begins at 11am and ends at 6pm.

Films from past editions of the ttff will be screened. First, there will be a number of short animations out of Kenya, from a series known as Tinga Tinga Tales. These charming English- language shorts are centred around various African creatures, and tell such stories as how the elephant got its trunk and why the giraffe has such a long neck.

Following Tinga Tinga Tales will be Turtle: The Incredible Journey, a beautiful documentary that follows the life of a green turtle from its beginnings as a hatchling on a beach in Florida, across the Atlantic ocean, then back across the seas to the Caribbean.

There will also be a short preview of some of the children’s films to be screened at this year’s ttff, which takes place from September 21 to October 04.

“We thought having ‘a screen’ at Raising Hope to draw the kids and adults in, to share different cultural experiences, was important,” said Nicole Greene, founder of Macaroni Kid Trinidad. “Partnering with the ttff and connecting on that level is important to us.”

In addition to the film screenings, Raising Hope will feature storytelling, games, races, live music and much more. Admission is $50 for adults, and free of charge for children under 12 years of age. 95% of all the day’s proceeds will go to charity.

For more information on Raising Hope and Macaroni Kid Trinidad, visit www.trinidad.macaronikid.com.