ttff’s next Backyard Cinema screening will make you want to move! On 05 December, we’ll screen two engaging ttff/20 films, Best Student Film winner: La Pieza de Casseus, and fan favourite, Jump! (directed by Shari Petti), at our in-person screenings on Jerningham Ave in Belmont.

Tickets cost $35 each and can be purchased in advance or at the gate for one of two showtimes: 6.15pm and 8.00pm. Screenings will take place at 22 Jerningham Ave, Belmont.

Films will be screened in compliance with health and safety guidelines for masks, size of the gathering, and social distancing.

Buy tickets for the 6.15pm screening

Buy tickets for the 8.00pm screening

•We can receive cash, credit card or linx payments, and there will be refreshments for sale.

We’re delighted be be screening two of this year’s award-winning films at our first backyard cinema!  Join us Friday 13 November at 22 Jerningham Ave, Belmont, for in-person screenings of “Unbroken” and “I don’t call it Ghetto”. Tickets cost $35 each and must be purchased in advance for one of two showtimes: 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Films will be screened in compliance with health and safety guidelines for masks, size of the gathering, and social distancing.

buy tickets for 5.30 screening

buy tickets for 7.30 screening

#ttffbackyardcinema#ttffcommunityscreening#watchsomething
#inperson#sociallydistanced#ttfilmfestival#ttff20

We’ve extended our online screenings
through 22 September!

Did you miss a film you really wanted to see? Hoping for a re-watch of a new favourite? Well, here’s your chance!

All film bundles are now available until midnight on Tuesday 22 September! Bundles cost $35 (US$5.25) as usual, and are screening to the English-speaking Caribbean at online.ttfilmfestival.com

You can buy tickets for film bundles by heading direct to online.ttfilmfestival.com.

You can also buy a five bundle pass (for the cost of four bundles) here, and we’ll send you the coupons to watch the film bundles of your choice!

trinidad+tobago film festival announced ten winning films across its two award categories (jury prizes and special awards) at our virtual awards ceremony held on Monday 14 September on Facebook Live. The juries comprised several international film industry professionals, and films selected for the juried competitions were rigorously discussed, dissected and unanimously agreed upon by the festival’s programmers before being selected for competition.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Coast Land, directed by Alexander Arjoon
Our Own House, directed by Vanessa Bergonzoli, Jeremy Kaplan and Tyler Robinson
Atordoado, Eu Permaneço Atento / Stunned, I Remain Alert, directed by Henrique Amud and Lucas H. Rossi dos Santos  
The Onyx Butterfly, directed by. Yasmin Evering-Kerr
Unbroken, directed by Gabrielle Blackwood

WINNER: Unbroken, directed by Gabrielle Blackwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY MED LENGTH FILM

I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by. Miquel Galofré
No Island Like Home, directed by Giulio Gobbetti and Jan Stöckel
Men sa lanmè di (Thus Spoke the Sea), directed by Arnold Antonin

WINNER: I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by. Miquel Galofré

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM

Irma, directed Lisa Cruz
Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray
Ma dame au Camélia (My Lady of the Camellia), directed by Édouard Montoute 
Ici C’est Paris (Paris Is Here), directed by Léa Magnien and Quentin Chantrel 
Pure Service, directed by Reyda Gay
Yellow Girl and Me, directed by Isabella Issa 
Timoun Aw (Your Kid), directed by Nelson Foix

HONOURABLE MENTION: Irma, directed by Lisa Cruz
WINNER: Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray

BEST NARRATIVE MEDIUM LENGTH FILM

Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles 
Mightier dan de Sun, directed by Trevon Christopher Jugmohan
Zeen?, directed by Calyx Passailaigue

HONOURABLE MENTION: Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles 
WINNER: Zeen?, directed by Calyx Passailaigue

BEST NEW MEDIA WORK

Murciélago (Bat), directed by Claudia Claremi
Centella (Firefly), directed by Claudia Claremi
Looking for ‘Looking for Langston’, directed by Ada M. Patterson
The Whole World is Turning, directed by Ada M. Patterson

WINNER: Centella (Firefly), directed by Claudia Claremi

BEST STUDENT FILM

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

HONOURABLE MENTION: Carmencita, directed by Nayibe Tavares-Abel
WINNER: La Pieza de Casseus (The Raging Dance of Casseus), directed by Camilo Mejía

BEST FILM AS DECIDED BY A YOUTH JURY

Avatara, directed by Nadav Harel
Choosing Destiny, directed by Angelo Berkeley and Shemaiah Trotman 
Isla Serena, directed by Leonel González
K.I.N.G, directed by Rashad Frett
Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray
Yellow Girl and Me, directed by Isabella Issa

WINNER: Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray

BEST TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FILM

Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles
I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by Miquel Galofré
Mightier dan de Sun, directed by Trevon Christopher Jugmohan
Waiting In Strange Times, directed by Kristof West

WINNER: I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by Miquel Galofré

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE LENGTH

501 Not Out, directed by Sam Lockyer
A media voz (In a Whisper), directed by Patricia Pérez Fernández and Heidi Hassan 
Servidão (Servitude), directed by Renato Barbieri
Stateless, directed by Michèle Stephenson

WINNER: Servidão (Servitude), directed by Renato Barbieri

BEST NARRATIVE, FEATURE LENGTH

La Imagen del Tiempo (Timeless Havana), directed by Jeissy Trompiz 
Malpaso, directed by Héctor M Valdez

WINNER: Malpaso, directed by Héctor M Valdez

Congratulations to all the winners!

This year, the ttff will award ten juried prizes. Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the ttff/20 programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the three programmers. The shortlist of films in competition is sent on to the various juries, who then watch and deliberate on all the films before coming to a final agreement. The best Trinidad & Tobago film will be decided based on the aggregated results of the combined juries.

We’re honoured to present this year’s jury members.

narrative jury

Ian Harnarine 
Ian Harnarine earned his MFA from NYU’s Graduate Film School. His film “Doubles With Slight Pepper” won a Genie Award for best live-action short drama from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, along with the 2011 Best Canadian Short Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. His work for “Sesame Street” was nominated for an Emmy. Harnarine was one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and has been profiled in the New York Times.

Jaie Laplante
Jaie Laplante has led Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival as executive director and director of programming for the past decade, overseeing the Festival’s international growth and influence. Additionally, he is the director of MDC’s Tower Theater Miami, the highest-grossing year-round art cinema in South Florida. In 2018, Laplante received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica from Felipe VI, King of Spain, for his career work in the exploration of contemporary Spanish and Spanish-language cinema in the state of Florida.

Robert Maylor
Rob Maylor is the CEO and founder of Mental Telepathy Pictures. The company’s first production “Sprinter,” directed by Storm Saulter, won three awards at the 2018 American Black Film Festival (Best Feature, Audience Award and Best Director) as well as awards from around the globe; Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were executive producers. Rob began his career working with the late powerhouse attorney Johnnie Cochran and went on to hold Hollywood industry positions at United Talent Agency, Mark Burnett’s One Three Media and Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Pictures. He received his formal training at Princeton, William & Mary Law School, and the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program, where he received a MA in Fine Arts. 

documentary jury

Leslie Fields-Cruz
Leslie Fields-Cruz is the executive director of Black Public Media, and the executive producer of the award-winning series “AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange”. Leslie serves on the board of directors for New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and New Era Creative Space, a local community arts center in Peekskill, NY.

Shola Lynch
Shola Lynch is a Peabody and Emmy award-winning filmmaker, and a 2016 member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She makes films about audacious women – and in particular black women. She is best known for her documentaries, “Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed” (2004) and “Free Angela & All Political Prisoners” (2012). She is currently working on her first scripted film and the lead character is, of course, a woman. Lynch is also the curator of the Moving Image & Recorded Sound Division archive at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 

Chris Metzler
Since graduating from USC with a degree in business and cinema, Chris Metzler’s film career has taken him from the depths of agency work, to coordinating post-production for awful American movies seen late at night in Belgium. His filmmaking work has resulted in him criss-crossing the country with the aid of caffeinated beverages and creating award-winning documentaries such as “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea”, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” and, most recently, “Rodents of Unusual Size”. Metzler also serves as the associate director of programming for the all documentary film festival, SF DocFest, in San Francisco, California.

new media jury

David Gumbs
David Gumbs is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist from Saint Martin, based in Martinique. Recent works include the Currents New Media digital festival in Santa Fe, and the touring exhibition “Relational Undercurrents”, a major survey of Latin American and Caribbean Art, in the United States. 

O’Neil Lawrence
Chief curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Lawrence has curated over 35 exhibitions including the critically-acclaimed “Seven Women Artists” (2015), “Masculinities” (2015), “I Shall Return Again” (2018) and “Beyond Fashion” (2018). His research interests include race, gender and sexuality in Caribbean and African diaspora art and visual culture; memory, identity and hidden archives; photography as a medium and a social vehicle; Caribbean and general art history and museums and other public cultural institutions. He has contributed essays to publications on Caribbean art and sexuality, most recently Beyond Homophobia (UWI Press 2020). He is currently on the Advisory Council of the Caribbean Art Initiative.

Marsha Pearce
Marsha Pearce is a scholar, writer, educator, and curator based in the Caribbean. She holds a BA in Visual Arts and a PhD in Cultural Studies. Pearce is a lecturer and Visual Arts Unit coordinator at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

student films jury

Analisa Chapman
Analisa Chapman is one of the founding directors of the film production company, Have A Bawl Productions. She has had diverse experience as a producer, traversing film, radio and theatre; and is the president of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA). By day she is an intellectual property and entertainment attorney.

Fanny Huc
Fanny Huc is the programming manager at the International Film Festival of Panama. She is also part of the Panalandia Film Festival programming team and collaborated in the first Panama Animation Film Festival. Huc has participated in multiple independent films as well as productions for mainstream media including the BBC, VH1, MTV, Netflix and others.

Eloise Van Wickeren
Eloise Van Wickeren was born and raised in Curaçao. After receiving her MA from the University of Amsterdam, she moved back to her island to apply her skills there. She has had extensive experience in filmmaking in Curaçao, writing and directing several documentaries and short films, but also doing location management for both feature films shot on the Island – “Tula: The Revolt” and “Double Play”.

Happy Trinidad and Tobago Independence, film lovers! In celebration of Patriotism Month and the development of the Trinidad and Tobago film industry, we bring you ‘love t&t’, a series of online film screenings during ttff/20, of some of the new films and filmmakers emerging in T&T. ‘love t&t’ is brought to you in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

---

Our first love t&t bundle will be screened online Wednesday 09 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  A Day at the Beach: Marcy is having a relaxing day at the beach when a nationwide catastrophe occurs in this sci-fi horror short set in South Trinidad. The Interview: A confident young man meets with unforeseen complications at a job interview where things are not quite what they seem. Get Free: Twenty-one-year-old Iris’ life is endangered as her ex-boyfriend returns to seek unwanted closure. A series of events unfold as we see what was, and what still is, between them. The Covid Chronicles: Filmed during two weeks in March, “The COVID Chronicles” is an intimate, candid portrait of our strange new times, seen through the eyes of a group of friends spanning Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. Waiting in Strange Times: 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. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 1 here!

---

Our second love t&t bundle will be screened online Thursday 10 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  Mightier Dan De Sun: “Mightier dan de Sun” is the story of an Indian couple with nothing to lose. When combined with mental illness and supernatural forces, alcohol becomes a catalyst for unfortunate events. Jump: “Jump!” follows the three-month journey of the JumpTT programme which used parkour and physical theatre as an aesthetic to tell the stories of young people transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 2 here!

---

Our third and final love t&t bundle will be screened online Monday 14 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  A La’Diablesse Curse: A womanising absentee father is hunted by La Diablesse, a powerful shape-shifting Caribbean spirit, who demands his soul in exchange for his son’s freedom. Code R.E.D.D.: A man with a briefcase is more dangerous than a man with a gun. Two struggling private detectives hired to find a briefcase instead find themselves running for their lives. Now they must find the businessman who set them up and thwart his plans to set up a human trafficking ring in Trinidad. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 3 here!

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD, 17 August, 2020 — Feature-length documentary, ‘501 Not Out’, which charts cricket legend Brian Lara’s record-breaking first class innings, will open the 15^th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) on 09 September. This year’s much anticipated opening night event and screening will be held online, so that cricket lovers and Lara fans in Trinidad and Tobago and around the English-speaking Caribbean will be able to screen the film and share in the excitement.

Directed by award-nominated UK director and lifelong cricket fan, Sam Lockyer, “501 Not Out” was inspired by the extraordinary career of Brian Lara. Twenty-five years after Lara’s world-record-breaking innings for Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the UK, the documentary tells the story of cricket’s first global superstar.

“I am truly honoured that ‘501 Not Out’ will be opening the trinidad+tobago film festival this year!” said the film’s director, Sam Lockyear. “I have fulfilled a long-held dream in making the film and I hope that it is a fitting tribute to the genius of Brian Lara, my childhood hero and the greatest cricketer to ever live. For the film to be screened where this incredible story begins means a great deal to me and to everyone here at Iconic Productions. I cannot wait for everyone to see it… Thank you ttff!”

Featuring rarely seen archive footage and stills, the film explores Lara’s remarkable ascent in 1994 and celebrates his development in Trinidad. It features interviews with iconic names from the world of cricket, including some of Lara’s former international and county teammates from the historic treble-winning season, his friends and coaches in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, fans who witnessed the marathon knock first-hand and those inspired by his heroics. 

“We are thrilled to be screening an opening night film that has such resonance with us at home and around the Caribbean. Brian Lara is a cricket legend! Sam’s film will give our Caribbean audiences the chance to relive Lara’s astonishing, record-breaking performance. With ttff making the switch to a primarily online festival this year, we decided to screen the opening night film online as well, and we have some lovely things in store for attendees,” said interim executive director of FILMCO, Mariel Brown. 

With 120+ films being screened online during the festival period 09-15 September, ‘501 Not Out’ will have its Caribbean premiere at ttff/20.  The opening night event will be held online at online.ttfilmfestival.com from 7pm AST, 09 September, 2020.

Opening Night tickets cost TT$50 (US$7.50), and are available now for online purchase at here. Tickets can also be paid for in advance via online bank transfer, or at the ttff office at 22 Jerningham Ave, Belmont. For more information on tickets, call the ttff office at (+)1.868.323.3228 or email Kamille at hello@ttfilmfestival.com

trinidad+tobago film festival is given leading sponsorship by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, contributing sponsorship by Republic Bank Ltd, with Shell T&T supporting ttff/20 online industry events. 

Image credit: courtesy ttff/20 and Iconic Productions

trinidad+tobago film festival is proud to announce the industry programme for this year’s edition! From the Caribbean to Latin America, Europe to North America, our masterclass and workshop facilitators, presenters and panelists are a diverse, international and award-winning group of filmmakers.

Online industry events and training will be offered as panels and presentations, which will be free and live-streamed via the ttff Facebook page; or workshops, which will be ticketed and take place via Zoom. For Zoom workshops, tickets must be paid for in full and in advance, and Zoom links will be sent in advance of workshop commencement. All workshop tickets are available at ttfilmfestival.com (see event-specific ticket links below). They can also be purchased via bank transfer or in person at our office at 22 Jerningham Ave.

Please register for our industry events here, and one of the ttff team will be in touch to arrange payment and/ or send Zoom links as necessary.

Please email Catherine at admin@filmco.org for information on payment options and discount codes. FILMCO members, filmmakers with a film in this year’s festival and students with valid photo IDs can receive a discount on all workshops.

*If you sign up for three or more ‘paid-for’  industry events at once, you will be entitled to a total discount of 30% off the ticket price.

---

Masterclass

---

Workshops

---

Presentations

---

---

Filmmaker Panels

Narrative Filmmakers Panel

with Shola Amoo (‘The Last Tree’), Akkel ‘Lee’ Charles (‘Get Free’), Isabella Issa (‘Yellow Girl and Me’), Calyx Passailaigue (‘Zeen?’), and Héctor M. Valdez (‘Malpaso’)
9 September, 11.00am–12.30pm
Online via Facebook Live @ttfilmfestival

Documentary Filmmakers Panel

with Henrique Amud (‘Stunned, I Remain Alert’), Gabrielle Blackwood (‘Unbroken’), Sam Lockyer (‘501 Not Out’), Shari Petti (‘Jump!’), and Michèle Stephenson (‘Stateless’)
12 September, 1.00pm–2.30pm
Online via Facebook Live @ttfilmfestival

Every year, ttff highlights homegrown talent and excellence by awarding prizes for Best Trinidad+Tobago Film. In competition for this year’s prize are the following films:

• Get Free!, dir. Akkel Charles
• I Don’t Call it Ghetto, dir. Miquel Galofré
• Mightier dan de Sun, dir. Trevon C. Jugmohan
• Waiting In Strange Times, dir. Kristof West

The Youth Jury views and considers for award recognition, films which focus on young protagonists dealing with coming-of-age issues, challenges and triumphs. These are the films in competition for the Best Film as Selected by the Youth Jury:

• Avatara, dir. Nadav Harel
• Choosing Destiny, dirs. Angelo Berkeley and Shemaiah Trotman 
• Isla Serena (Serene Island), dir. Leonel González
• K.I.N.G, dir. Rashad Frett
• Mortenol, dir. Julien Silloray
• Yellow Girl and Me, dir. Isabella Issa

synopses

Best Trinidad+Tobago Film

Get Free!

Directed by Akkel Charles/ 2019/Trinidad and Tobago/ Narrative Medium/ 37 minutes

Twenty-one-year-old Iris’ life is endangered as her ex-boyfriend returns to seek unwanted closure. A series of events unfold as we see what was, and what still is, between them. A raw, realist exploration of violence against women.

I Don’t Call it Ghetto

Directed by Miquel Galofré/ 2019/ Trinidad and Tobago/ Documentary Medium/ 42 minutes

Single, divorced, mother-of-three, police officer Onika James-Turner has had a life filled with challenges, obstacles and heartache. In “I Don’t Call it Ghetto”, we see how her difficult past has only made her stronger, impelling her to reach for a different life, one in which she could help her community. We witness the great pride she takes in the work that she does, and how she is driven by the desire to be “part of the solution and not part of the problem”. Her three children are the centre of her life and a new husband gives her strength. But she still faces the challenge of raising a teenage son in an area known for crime and must work hard to build trust in her role as a police officer.

Mightier dan de Sun

Directed by Trevon C. Jugmohan/ 2020/ Trinidad and Tobago/ Narrative Medium/37 minutes

Ten years in the making and filmed in Trinidad and Tobago with a team of home-grown professionals, “Mightier dan de Sun” is the story of an Indian couple with nothing to lose. In combination with mental illness and supernatural forces, alcohol becomes a catalyst for unfortunate events.

Waiting In Strange Times

Directed by Kristof West/ 2020/ Trinidad and Tobago/ Narrative Short/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.

Best Film as Decided by the Youth Jury

Avatara

Directed by Nadav Harel/ 2020/ Israel/ Documentary Short/ 25 minutes

Set in the cultural frontier zone of the Hindu Himalaya, “Avatara” (from the Sanskrit, “descent”) explores the lived religion of goddess worship (Shaktism) in a remote pastoral valley. For her farmer and herder followers, the goddess’s presence is all too real; quick to anger and ever-thirsty for sacrifices, she haunts them in their dreams and rituals, demanding complete submission as both child-like friend and motherly-punisher. In this enchanted world of magical creativity, the encounters with the goddess are transient, intuitive events that hold the key to creation and, for those lucky enough to see her, a short-lived salvation.

Choosing Destiny

Directed by Angelo Berkeley and Shemaiah Trotman/ 2019/ Trinidad and Tobago/ Narrative Medium/ 35 minutes

Two high school students are faced with life-changing choices as they try to navigate their love and the difficult circumstances that surround them. Tackling the contemporary issues of teenage pregnancy, abortion, suicide and illegal drugs, “Choosing Destiny” follows young people at a crossroads in their lives.

Isla Sirena (Serene Island)

Directed by Leonel González/ 2019/ Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela/ Narrative Short/ 15 minutes

Vivi, a young inhabitant of a fishing village, takes a trip by road and sea with her friend Vale to get to an island where, according to the stories of her dead mother, the mermaids live.

K.I.N.G.

Directed by Rashad Frett/ 2019/ United States of America/ Narrative Short/ 12 minutes

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, a troubled boy is sent to Connecticut from the Virgin Islands to temporarily stay with his paternal aunt. In hopes of seeing his deadbeat father after broken promises, he ventures out into an unfamiliar city to find him.

Mortenol

Directed by Julien Silloray/ 2019/ Guadeloupe/ Narrative Short/ 28 minutes

Eleven-year-old Dwayne wants to avenge his older brother who was killed by an enemy gang.

Yellow Girl and Me

Directed by Isabella Issa/ 2019/ United States/ Narrative Short/ 9 minutes

Set in the Jamaican countryside, a young child named Nicole waits for her sister, Yellow Girl, to teach her how to swim. Like the water, Nicole does not resist; she flows, and nothing can stand in her way. Circumstances escalate when Yellow Girl breaks her promise and Nicole realizes that she is next in line for a lifestyle of sexual abuse. Nicole is forced to decide how far she will go in order to protect herself and her sister.

Images: production stills from ‘Mightier dan de Sun’, directed by Trevon C. Jugmohan and ‘K.I.N.G’, directed by Rashad Frett

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.

Image: production still from ‘Endless Love’, directed by Duda Gambogi