The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) is set to kick off its most ambitious community cinema initiative to date, the second annual Community Cinergy series, with ttff leading sponsor bpTT. The series, which will consist of six free events combining film screenings and live entertainment in open-air settings, begins on 26 April and runs until 9 June.

First up is a screening at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association in Chaguaramas on Friday 26 April, of the film Wind Jammers, a ttff/11 selection. Directed by Kareem Mortimer of the Bahamas, this inspiring story tells of a teenage girl who comes of age through sailing.

On Saturday 27 April the series moves to UWI, St. Augustine, where the supernatural thriller Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by T&T’s Steven Taylor, will be shown, along with the Brazilian feature Captains of the Sand. A ttff/12 film, Buck won the People’s Choice Award for Best Short Film. Captains of the Sand—the story of a gang of street urchins in 1950s Bahia—also screened at the ttff in 2012.

Then on Sunday 28 April, award-winning T&T-British director Horace Ové’s classic cricket film, Playing Away, which screened at the ttff in 2008, will be shown at Adam Smith Square in Woodbrook.

A poignant and tender Indian love story, Valley of Saints, follows next, at San Fernando Hill on Saturday 11 May. Written and directed by Musa Syeed, this ttff/12 selection and winner of the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival is set on the beautiful Dal Lake in Kashmir.

The series concludes with a weekend of family-oriented activities and films at the Buccoo Integrated Complex in Tobago on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June. On Saturday there will be a programme of short films, while on Sunday the Cuban feature and ttff/12 selection Habanastation—the touching story of the friendship between two boys from different social classes—will be screened. This event takes place in association with the Healing with Horses Foundation and the Growing Leaders Foundation.

All events begin at 6pm except in Tobago where the start time is 5pm on both days. Admission to all the film screenings is free and food and drink will be on sale at all venues except Adam Smith Square, where audiences are invited to bring their own refreshments.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SCREENINGS ON APRIL 27 AND 28 HAVE BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

Image: A shot from Valley of Saints

The lads of the Youth Training Centre (YTC) will be in for a Carnival treat as the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) screens two movies at the YTC in Arouca, as the Festival’s Carnival Film Series (CFS) comes to its conclusion.

Sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited, the CFS is a showcase of Carnival-themed narrative and documentary films. The public screenings take place across the country from 23 January to 05 February, while the YTC screening—which is a closed event—comes off on 8 February.

The two films at the YTC screening are by local filmmakers and both are previous selections of the ttff. The first is Pashan of the Froot, written and directed by Nadissa Haynes. Pashan of the Froot is a hilarious mock documentary about a singer who believes himself to be much more talented and popular than he actually is.

The second film to be screened is No Soca, No Life. Written and directed by Kevin Adams, this is an inspirational film about a young woman, Olivia, from a deprived background. Blessed with an amazing singing voice, Olivia is determined to overcome the obstacles before her and make it as a soca star. Soca Singer Terri Lyons, who plays Olivia, won the award for best actress at the ttff/12 for her performance in the film.

Both Nadissa Haynes and Kevin Adams will be on hand at the screening to introduce their films and engage the lads in question-and-answer sessions afterwards.

This is the second time the ttff will host a screening at YTC, after a successful event there in 2012.

“The YTC screenings reinforce our commitment to using film as an instrument of social transformation,” said Melvina Hazard, the ttff’s Director of Community Development. ”Through these films and Q&A sessions, we hope to inspire the lads towards productive forms of creative expression. We also hope that sometime in the future we will be able to showcase a film made by the lads in our annual festival.”

The YTC has as its main aim the rehabilitation and training of the lads committed to its custody, which would allow them to return to and function beneficially in the society from which, by due process of law, they have been temporarily set apart. To this end the centre has an active and varied programme of activities, including academic study, arts, sports and technical-vocational training.

Image: Penelope Spencer (left) and Terri Lyons in No Soca, No Life

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) continues to juxtapose traditional Carnival with the modern in its Carnival Film Series, which on Tuesday 5 February will be at Trevor’s Edge Bar in St Augustine from 7pm. International Power Soca Monarch finalist Lil Bitts will make a guest appearance to perform live after the film screenings of Jab: The Blue Devils of Paramin and five film portraits of traditional Carnival characters by Yao Ramesar.

Trevor’s Edge, located at St. John’s Road in St. Augustine, continues to be one of the most popular venues for the ttff’s community screenings. Audience attendance usually exceeds 200 patrons and to accommodate the great numbers the ttff provides simultaneous indoor and outdoor screening options.

The works of two prolific local filmmakers will be featured at this screening, paying homage to fading traditions in the contemporary Carnival landscape. Alex de Vertueil’s dynamic Jab: The Blue Devils of Paramin takes place in the weeks leading up to Carnival. The 47-minute documentary follows Kootoo, King Devil, as he prepares with his three brothers to once again win the village competition for the most convincing devil band. Known for his athletic prowess, and given to extraordinary feats like ripping up trees and scaling tall buildings, the charismatic Kootoo must still work hard with his band of devils to win the prize in the face of serious competition from a new generation of “jabs”.

Yao Ramesar’s film portraits of the minstrel lady, bat, midnight robber, black Indian and the fire dance pay touching and insightful tribute to five traditional Carnival performers renowned for their authentic, yet idiosyncratic characterisations of traditional mas.

Lil Bitts’ live performance—which will include “Raise de Dust”, a strong contender in the Power Soca Monarch finals—will follow the films. Lil Bitts, aka Shivonne Churche, was excited about the ttff’s Carnival Film Series and offered to perform at the Trevor’s Edge event presentation because she appreciates the role that Carnival traditions play for emerging, modern artistes. “Our traditional Carnival is the platform from which today’s mas and music has been built and is the source of my inspiration,” she says.

The screening at Trevor’s Edge marks the end of the public screenings for the Carnival Film Series, which is sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company Limited. Admission to the screening at Trevor’s Edge is free, and food and drinks will be on sale.

Image: Still from a short by Robert Yao Ramesar

Audiences in Tobago will have the rare opportunity to see a youthful Calypso Rose and Mighty Shadow as actors in the movie Bacchanal Time, on Wednesday 30 January at MovieTowne, Tobago. The free film screening is part of the trinidad+tobago film festival’s (ttff) Carnival Film Series, which starts on 23 Jan and continues to 05 February throughout T&T.

Bacchanal Time is a wildly hilarious comedy set at Carnival time in Trinidad and crammed with the music of the season. The story is centered around an island-wide stickfight competition on Carnival Sunday, and bubbles with Carnival weekend excitement, culminating with the first bands on J’ouvert morning.

Produced in 1977, this classic Carnival film stars Gregory Ballantine (the calypsonian GB) and Kamalo Deen (who directed the film) as stickfighters, and features appearances by Rose, Crazy, Count Robin, Trinidad Rio, Mighty Wanderer, Stork St. Hill and a host of others.

This is the second time that the ttff will be showing a free film at Movie Towne, Tobago. Last August film fans crammed the cinema for the classic Hollywood film Fire Down Below, which was shot partly in the island. The upcoming screening of Bacchanal Time also follows a three-year history of free community screenings by the ttff throughout Tobago.

The Carnival Film Series features Carnival-themed narrative and documentary films, both short and feature-length. The series is sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company. Admission to all the screenings is free.

Image: Mighty Shadow in Bacchanal Time

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