The 2011 Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival Begins 21st September

We're really excited for the opening of this year's installment of the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (TTFF), now in its sixth year. Once again this year, MEP, Caribbean Beat and Discover Trinidad & Tobago are proud media sponsors of the event.

Running from Wednesday 21st September through Tuesday 4th October across Trinidad & Tobago, it is the largest of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean. But not only does it feature some of the finest films from Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean diaspora, it also showcases films from Latin America, Africa and Asia, showing films from partner film festivals in other parts of the world.

Though the Festival doesn't officially open for another week and change, the Festival has continued to be active through the year, promoting Trinidad & Tobago film and nurturing emerging filmmakers in initiatives both at home and abroad.

Curfew Diversions

This year, the Festival has also been whetting audiences' appetites for film (and providing entertainment options during T&T's recently imposed curfew and State of Emergency) with pre-curfew Festival limes each Friday evening, starting in late August, and online Curfew Cinema. At the pre-curfew limes, the Festival screens trailers from some of this year's selections while the drinks flow and some lucky folks can pick up some Festival merchandise. When the lime is done, Curfew Cinema begins – a specially selected film is made available free on demand online from 9pm (GMT -4) through the following Monday at 4am. Last week's offering was the Venezuelan film, Venezzia.


Opening

The Festival opens on Wednesday 21st September with a gala celebration at the Queen's Hall in St. Ann's, starting at 5:00pm with cocktails and the screening of a short film from Trinidad & Tobago, Pashan of the Froot (a "mockumentary" about a dancehall singer, written and directed by Nadissa Haynes).

A formal welcome will be followed by Chico & Rita (an animated tale of star-crossed lovers set to a Cuban beat), directed by the award-winning Spanish filmmakers Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, and with a score by renowned Cuban musician Bebo Valdés.

The party then moves across the road to poolside at the Carlton Savannah from 8pm to 10pm.

Tickets for the opening night gala are TT$100; call (868) 621-0709 to purchase.

The Festival Line-up

This year, the TTFF will screen nearly 100 feature-length and short films – more than in any previous year of the Festival.

Among the many anticipated films are the Jamaican Ghett’a Life, an urban drama and the new feature by Jamaica’s Chris Browne (writer and director of the popular Third World Cop); and the politically charged Better Mus’ Come, the debut feature by Storm Saulter. Ghett'a Life and Chris Browne are also featured in the latest issue of Caribbean Beat.

Two of the most exciting films from or about Cuba are Boleto al paraíso by veteran filmmaker Gerardo Chijona, about a group of young people trying to navigate the “Special Period” of deprivation in the early 1990s; and Sons of Cuba, a documentary by British director Andrew Lang that goes inside the elite Havana Boxing Academy.

Daring new documentaries from Trinidad & Tobago are also in the line-up. ‘70: Remembering a Revolution, directed by Alex de Verteuil and Elizabeth Topp, tells the story of the Black Power uprising of 1970; while Calypso Rose: The Lioness of the Jungle is a moving portrait of the pioneering calypsonian, directed by Pascale Obolo.

For a complete line-up of this year's films, open the document above, or
click here to view or download the complete Festival guide.