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CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival
William Doo Auditorium (New College) :: July 9, 2009 - July 12, 2009
 image from Carmen & Geoffrey
Canada’s only standalone event offering the best of Caribbean cinema from around the world Caribbean Tales Film Group presents CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival July 9-12 THURSDAY-SUNDAY William Doo Auditorium KP108 KP113 45 Willcocks Street New College Residence basement level Map to William Doo Auditorium Enter the William Doo Auditorium through the door at the Southeast corner of Willcocks Street & Spadina Avenue. For Group Rates, or to register for the workshops call (416) 598-1410 ~~~~~~~~~~ Canada's One and Only Forum Showcasing The Best of Caribbean Cinema, At Home and Abroad, Classical and Creole, Digital and Celluloid, This Year Puts The Spotlight on Caribbean Film - A Tool For Education and Social Change Celebrating its fourth anniversary, the Caribbean Tales Film Festival this year presents the CaribbeanTales Industry Development Program (CTIDP), an initiative that offers industry activities such as training workshops, roundtable sessions, and panel discussions on film practice, business development and marketing, and storytelling. Workshops include: Guerilla Filmmaking, a practical day-long session led by renowned Jamaican cinematographer Franklyn ‘Chappie’ St. Juste (The Harder They Come), exploring ways in which Caribbean heritage directors and producers can use film to tell stories close to their heart. Other sessions include: "Working with the NFB" by National Film Board of Canada Producers Lea Marin and Anita Lee, "Navigating The Festival Circuit", by international festival programmer June Givanni, "Caribbean-themed Animation" by Camille Selvon Abrahams of Trinidad-based Animation studio Anime Caribe, and "Art for Social Change" led by veteran filmmaker and owner/general manager of Gayelle The Channel Christopher Laird. Friday 10th July is YOUTH DAY, and there will be a special edu-tainment program tailored for the interests of young people 12-18. The CaribbeanTales Annual Film Festival is North America's only standalone event offering the best of Caribbean cinema from around the world. It will take place over four exciting days from July 9th to 12th 2009, at the William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks Street), New College, University of Toronto. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and in partnership with New College, University of Toronto and U of T’s Caribbean Studies Program, this year’s theme, Caribbean Film – A Tool for Education and Social Change, brings together filmmakers and producers from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, the Eastern Caribbean, the UK, Africa, the U.S., and Canada. The Festival this year honors the career of award-winning international director Euzhan Palcy from Martinique, who became the first woman of African descent to direct a Hollywood movie, with MGM’s A Dry White Season (1989), starring Donald Sutherland, Marlon Brando and Susan Sarandon. The Caribbean Tales Film Festival is founded by award-winning director, filmmaker, and producer Frances-Anne Solomon whose last feature film A Winter Tale (for Telefilm Canada/CHUM Television) won many prestigious international awards, including most recently Special Mention in the Diaspora Category at the 2009 Fespaco Festival (Africa's Oscars, held biannually in Burkina Faso, West Africa). She is the president and artistic director of the two companies she created: Leda Serene Films and CaribbeanTales , whose selected projects include HeartBeat – a documentary series profiling Caribbean musical creators; Literature Alive , a many facetted multimedia project profiling Caribbean authors; and the Gemini-nominated Lord Have Mercy! , Canada’s landmark multicultural sitcom, for Vision TV , Toronto1, APTN and Showcase. CaribbeanTales is Canada’s premier multimedia company that creates, markets and distributes educational films, videos, radio programs, audio books, theatre plays, websites and events, that showcase the rich heritage of Caribbean Diaspora worldwide. CaribbeanTales’ mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and citizen participation through the medium of film, contributing to an inclusive Canadian society. ~~~~~~~~~~ July 9 THURSDAY 5pm VIP Meet & Greet 7pm Carmen & Geoffrey Opening Night Gala William Doo Auditorium $20 general admission Includes After Party at GSU Pub SCREENING 1 5pm VIP Meet & Greet 7pm WHERE DO WHITE PEOPLE GO WHEN THE LONG WEEKEND COMES The Wondrous Journey of Delroy Kincaid Powys Dewhurst Canada/Dominica 2008 7 mins An artistic 8 year old black child, Delroy Kincaid begins to wonder where his white friends disappear to for the holidays. His imagination comes alive and takes a journey to understand the death of his grandmother and his stark new life as an ‘immigrant.’'Delroy Kincaid' explores the black immigrant child's experience while celebrating cultural difference in a whimsical fantasy using a unique blend of simple animation, illustration, projection and live action. Powys Dewhurst is a Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker, his interests lie in fantasy, magical realism and science fiction and using those to explore social issues that at some level involve race and identity in unique ways, even controversial ones. GATHERING THE SCATTERED COUSINS Akin Omotoso South Africa, 2008 13 mins Akin's mother’s sudden death from cancer takes him on a psychological and physical journey across the Atlantic, to his mother’s birth home Barbados, a paradise island where he always found comfort as a child. Akin Omotoso was born in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and a West Indian mother. He is a well-known actor in South African film and television. GATHERING THE SCATTERED COUSINS is his first documentary. CARMEN & GEOFFREY Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob USA 2009 80 mins This beautiful feature documentary is about the work of two exceptional artists, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, who stepped forward in the 1950's to play a vital part in the newly energized world of American modern dance. It is also about a fifty-four year long love affair and the creative partnership that sustained their accomplishments. The film was directed by husband and wife team Linda Atkinson, (a former student of Carmen's) and Nick Doob. Linda began directing theatre in 1983 and worked at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Indiana Rep, the Peterborough Players, West Bank Theater Bar and for NBC’s Another World. Nick Doob has been director, cinematographer and editor on numerous award-winning films, including From Mao to Mozart, which won an Oscar. ~~~~~~~~~~ July 10 FRIDAY SCREENING 2 noon Youth Day William Doo Auditorium Sponsored by the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto $5 general admission THE CRACK HOUSE UWI STUDENTS STOP MOTION Animation 3 mins WHERE I'M FROM Music Video Cabral "Larc" Trotman Canada 5 mins The socio-political music video "Where I'm From" by recording artist Black-I tells the story of ghetto youth in Toronto from the inside out via. Mega City News, a television network created by the community to inform and educate. The son of Barbadian parents, Toronto-born Cabral Trotman became interested in film during a Grade 11 Media class. This evolved to a responsibility to share stories relevant to his community, and spawned the birth of Skylarc, a name he adopted when he made his commitment to rhyming. He said: "The Skylark originates from Africa, migrates to north america, hovers above all other song birds while singing the longest most versatile song". LARC is currently a Technical Officer for the Film Unit at Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, University of the West Indies, Barbados, and is shooting his first Bajan drama "Back Shots". A WINTER TALE Frances-Anne Solomon Canada 2008 103 mins This award-winning audience favorite tells the emotional story of a Black men's support group that meets in a Caribbean Takeaway restaurant, in the wake of the shooting death of a young child in Toronto's Parkdale community. Born in England to Trinidadian parents, Frances-Anne Solomon is an award-winning Filmmaker, Writer and Producer in Film, TV, Radio and theatre. She trained in Theatre at the University of Toronto, before moving to the UK where she built a successful career as a Film and TV Drama Producer with the BBC. She returned to Canada in 2000 and continues to create, write, direct, and produce projects through her company, Leda Serene Films. In 2002, she established CaribbeanTales, to create multimedia projects aimed at the educational market, and is the Founder and Director of the CaribbeanTales Film Festival. She is currently in development with her new project LOCKDOWN. LIFE WENT ON Animation 4 mins MY FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL WEARING MY HYJAB Mary Wells Jamaica 10min Sudani is a Muslim in a very Christian school and society as a result, she’s different, fortunately her difference wins her new friends and teaches them tolerance. This film is part of a childrens live-action drama series called: “Scribble A Story.” Mary Wells is an independent Director, Writer, Producer with twenty years experience in TV & Film production mainly in documentaries. She has travelled widely and worked in the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Southern Africa. She is currently in production with her first feature film "Kingston Paradise". NOT INNA DAT Lisa Wickham / Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs Trinidad and Tobago 2008 20 mins Through the eyes of Youth in underprivileged areas, this documentary goes on a journey to two districts of Trinidad impacted by violence; Caledonia & Enterprise Chaguanas. With the assistance of popular entertainers, the Youth give views on gangs, violence & death, why they turn to violence and ways that violence can be stopped. Includes a music video from RIZON (a conscious artiste) who implores youth to think twice before choosing a life of crime because we “Not Inna Dat”. SOUL Andy Marshall/Vision TV Canada 2009 45 mins SOUL revolves around Mahalia Brown. A young gospel singer with the Keystone Sanctuary Youth Choir, Mahalia has an unforgettable voice and an overwhelming passion for music. It's her elixir of life. It's also her potion for commotion. When she puts it out there, nobody can resist evening Trinidad Night $10 general admission SCREENING 3 5pm TRINIDAD NIGHT - VIP Meet & Greet William Doo Auditorium, GSU PUB Hosted by The Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 7pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium DEEPER SHADOW SONG Coretta Singer Animation Trinidad and Tobago 3 mins BOB Camille Selvon Abrahams Animation Trinidad & Tobago 4 mins CELEBRATION Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 10 mins INVISIBLE Elspeth Duncan Trinidad and Tobago 11 mins SEA IN THE BLOOD Richard Fung Canada 2000 20 mins "Forcefully moving, but made with a feather-light touch, Sea in the Blood manages gracefully to speak of illness and a brother’s absence at the end of his sister’s life; of colonialism and incipient political awareness; of growing up as a young gay man in a homophobic society; of a lover’s fears for his partner’s health." - Chris Gehman Trinidad-born Richard Fung is a Toronto-based videomaker and writer. His work explores the intersection of race, sexuality and representation, and has been widely screened internationally. He has lectured and taught across North America and is the recipient of many awards, including Rockefeller and McKnight Foundation fellowships, The 2000 Margo Bindhardt Award and The Bell Canada award for excellence in media arts. "Richard Fung has emerged as one of the most challenging, provocative, thoughtful and engaging experimental artists anywhere." DRUMMIT2SUMMIT Christopher Laird Trinidad and Tobago 2009 44 mins On the 18th April 2009 The Rights Action Group and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea held a public event in the St. James Amphitheatre, Trinidad. Called ‘Drummit2summiT’ its aim was to facilitate the expression by community organizations of concerns they felt were being ignored at the 5th Summit of the Americas, being held at a luxury waterfront development on the other side of the city and attended by the heads of all governments in the hemisphere (except Cuba). The event had no sooner begun than the police began applying increasing pressure to stop the proceedings until the amphitheatre was invaded by armed riot police. The confrontation was witnessed by the national community as it was being carried live on Gayelle the Channel - Soon many other radio and television stations were taking Gayelle’s live feed and people started to come to the amphitheatre in support of the activists. Gayelle’s documentary seeks to capture the essence of that afternoon which outraged and opened the eyes of a nation. Christopher Laird is the Founder and CEO of Gayelle The Channel, and co-founder and Managing Director of Banyan Limited, the Caribbean's foremost and most prolific producers of television programmes about the Caribbean and its people, which has produced more than 500 television productions over the past 30 years. Named by leading Toronto video artist and critic Richard Fung, as "one of the most important filmmakers working in the Anglophone Caribbean", he is also a published poet, has run a theatre in Port of Spain, published a journal of the Arts for five years in Trinidad & Tobago, and since 1975 written, directed and/or produced over 400 TV programmes for Banyan. He has won many awards for his pioneering use of television in the region as a tool for community engagement, as " a call and response" mechanism to reflect and engage the authentic diverse voices of the Caribbean and its people, as a collaborative medium through which artists and community make relevent creative interventions that change society. Q&A with Richard Fung, Christopher Laird, Elspeth Duncan SCREENING 4 7pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission MAMI WATA Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 11 mins BLUE OPERA Animation Trinidad & Tobago 4 mins ALL OF EMILY Elspeth Duncan Trinidad and Tobago 11 mins Emily’s last wish of her husband (Elliot) - to divide her ashes equally between himself and her best friend (Jessica) - goes unfulfilled, as Elliot is unwilling to share his wife, even in death. The plot revolves around the widower’s interaction with his wife’s urn. As events unfold and secret aspects of Emily’s life are brought to light through the pages of her diary, Elliot is driven to do the unthinkable. Elspeth Duncan is an independent Trinidadian multi-media artist (writing, music, interactive conceptual art, photography, art-video, film/documentary making). She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows and has won awards for both her photography and her film work (which has been screened at various international film festivals). WRESTLING WITH THE ANGELS Marsha Pearce Trinidad & Tobago/Jamaica 2008 91 mins This documentary explores Caribbean identity through the images and sounds of a ubiquitous feature of contemporary popular culture: the music video. Focusing on the English-Speaking Caribbean, this work wrestles with issues of self, as music video directors, producers and artistes share their views on the complexities of portraying Caribbean people and life using the moving images and sounds of the music video format. Is Caribbeanness too fluid to be pinned down? How can Caribbean identity stand up – in the context of globalisation – to foreign influence in the form of such dominant communications technology as satellite television and cable networks? The documentary puts the medium of television at the heart of discussions as it tells a story about struggle – a universal struggle, but one that has a resonant sound in the hearts of Caribbean people who have not had the power to control information and communications technology. A Cultural Studies PhD candidate at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus, Marsha Pearce’s PhD research explores audience engagement with music videos. She is the 2006 recipient of the Rhodes Trust Rex Nettleford Fellowship in Cultural Studies – an award used to fund her documentary project and launch her scholarly website www.caribbeanculturalstudies.com. She has written and presented conference papers on issues of Caribbean identity. Her writing and paintings appear in Callaloo, the African Diaspora journal on arts and culture published by Johns Hopkins University Press. SCREENING 5 7pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission SMALL THING MENTALITY Animation 6 mins FINDER OF LOST CHILDREN Ricardo Scipio Canada 2009 100 mins Maye and Angie are half-sisters who meet at the funeral of their estranged father. After discovering the existence of other half-siblings, Angie persuades Maye to go on a road trip to find them. They meet several and find amazing similarities and differences. But what they all have in common is the hole left in their hearts from their father’s absence. Trinidadian-born, Ricardo Scipio grew up in Toronto. In 1987, he was working as a fashion photographer in Canada, the US and Hong Kong. Shortly thereafter he began making fine art nudes that celebrated black beauty, exhibiting in galleries across North America. In 1997, he made his first feature film When, a comedic portrayal of struggling actresses in New York, starring Mackenzie Phillips. His second feature, Watershed, was the first independent North American feature to be shot in Digital H-D. He co-authored Illuminated Verses, a collaborative, poetry/photography project with George Elliott Clarke. He lives in BC where he runs his herbal/homeopathic practice, NatroPractica. Loosely based on his personal story, Finder of Lost Children is his third feature film. SCREENING 6 9pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission Includes After Party at GSU Pub THE SADHU OF COUVA Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago BACHANAL Music Video Lisa Wickham Trinidad and Tobago 2009 4 mins If you’ve never experienced ‘J’ouvert’ in Trinidad Carnival, get ready to be fully immersed! This video taps into the energy and vitality of the J’ouvert (day open) ritual. NOT INNA DAT Lisa Wickham / Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs Trinidad and Tobago 2008 20 mins Through the eyes of Youth in underprivileged areas, this documentary goes on a journey to two districts of Trinidad impacted by violence; Caledonia & Enterprise Chaguanas. With the assistance of popular entertainers, the Youth give views on gangs, violence & death, why they turn to violence and ways that violence can be stopped. Includes a music video from RIZON (a conscious artiste) who implores youth to think twice before choosing a life of crime because we “Not Inna Dat”. THE INSATIABLE SEASON Mariel Brown Trinidad and Tobago 2007 52 mins "The Insatiable Season is ... a film that, simply and appropriately, finds joy in the mundane romance of putting a mas together, from the conceptualising of the band to the construction of the costumes. This is a highly enjoyable film, not least for the bits of candour it is so adroitly able to capture." -- The Caribbean Review of Books, August 2008 Mariel Brown is the director of SAVANT, a company that has been working in television and print since 1997. She has produced features for Trinidad and Tobago Television, and created the TV series' Sancoche, Makin' Mas, Island Hop and Life Stories, designed with Caribbean content for a Caribbean audience. The Insatiable Season is her first feature documentary, and won best Documentary at the T&T Film Festival. She is currently working on her second feature about Trinidadian jeweller, Barbara Jardine. Q&A with Lisa Wickham SCREENING 7 9pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission Includes After Party at GSU Pub DON'T STOP Lisa Wickham Trinidad & Tobago This romantic music video explores the love relationship between Shurwayne Winchester and his ‘East Indian beauty’ whom he spots as she works the catwalk at a high-end fashion show. Don’t Stop is a beautiful and organic production that showcases the East-Indian heritage of Trinidad and Tobago as well as some of its lovely locations. BLU IN YOU Michelle Mohabeer Canada 20 mins A poetic essay mediated through the lens of a female observer, who watches conversations between a writer (Nalo Hopkinson) and a visual arts curator (Andrea Fatona). The video employs visual/aural poetics to politically challenge early ethnographic tropes of the colonist gaze; to engage a cultural history of the black female body, marked by violence, but also celebrated in art and culture; to bridge historical and contemporary cultural figures like the “Hottentot Venus,” Jeanne Duval, and Josephine Baker. Dr. Michelle Mohabeer is an award-winning Toronto-based video artist, and scholar whose work has been exhibited at festivals, conferences, and galleries across North America, Europe, India, Australia, the Caribbean and Japan. She is a lecturer in Film/Media Studies at the University of Toronto. Her films have been profiled in collections including Film Fatales, The Romance of Transgression in Canada, The Bent Lens, and Women’s Experimental Cinema. FREEDOM WALK Chris Laird Trinidad and Tobago 2008 100 mins At one minute past midnight on the 29th of February 2008, Errol Fabien began walking from Icacos (the furthest point from port of Spain) in Trinidad to the capital city, Port of Spain, in 24 hours. The walk celebrated 20 years drug free for the popular actor/Comedian and television personality. It symbolised how far his journey has been, One day At A Time. Called The Freedom march, it was also dedicated to drug demand reduction and together with a telethon on the same day raised in excess of $400,000TT. At each stage of the walk Errol was joined by hundreds of people who walked silently in support. On the last leg Errol was also joined by the President of the Republic and his wife. This film documents the walk and captures the tremendous and intensely emotional reaction this initiative stimulated in the national community. Q&A with Christopher Laird and Michelle Mohabeer SCREENING 8 9pm TRINIDAD NIGHT William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission Includes After Party at GSU Pub AND LIFE WENT ON Animation 4 mins AWAKE Animation 5 mins ONE NIGHT IN PIARCO Animation 4 mins THE CAGED BIRD 28 mins I IS A LONG MEMORIED WOMAN Frances-Anne Solomon United Kingdom 1990 52 mins AFTER PARTY at the GSU Pub Hosted by The Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago ~~~~~~~~~~ July 11 SATURDAY SCREENING 9 noon - Lunch 1:30pm - A Dry White Season Lunch with Euzhan Palcy William Doo Auditorium, GSU Pub $10 general admission Join us for an intimate lunch with one of the most accomplished and celebrated filmmakers working today. Martinique-born EUZHAN PALCY, was the first black female director to be produced by a major Hollywood studio. Her first feature, “Sugar Cane Alley” (1983) won the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion, and Best Lead Actress Award, and the Cesar Award (the French equivalent to our Academy Award) for best first feature film. Robert Redford hand picked her to attend the 1984 Sundance Director’s Lab, becoming her “American Godfather.” Marlon Brando was so moved by her next project, “A Dry White Season” (1989), and her commitment to social change that he came out of a self-imposed retirement, agreeing to act in the film for free. Also starring in the film were actors Donald Sutherland and Susan Sarandon. Brando’s performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Her other works include “Ruby Bridges” (1998) the compelling, the story of the little New Orleans girl who was the first to integrate the public schools. “The Killing Yard” (2001),starring Alan Alda and Morris Chestnut. “Parcours de Dissidents”, narrated by Oscar-Nominated and esteemed French actor, Gerard Depardieu. And the French three-hour period pieceset in the 17th century, “Les Mariees de I’isles Bourbon” (The Brides of Bourbon Island) (2007). In 1994, she was honored with the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (Knight in the National Order Merit) from French President,Francois Mitterrand. In 2001, she was presented with the Sojourner Truth Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2004 she was the recipient of the famous French Metal of Honor. A DRY WHITE SEASON Euzhan Palcy USA 1989 Marlon Brando, Susan Sarandon, Donald Sutherland Schoolteacher Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland) has been insulated all his life from the horrors of apartheid in his native South Africa. When the son of his black gardener is arrested and killed, Ben promises his servant that he will look into the incident. He discovers that the boy was killed simply to gratify the violent urges of Captain Stolz (Jurgen Prochnow), a "special branch" policeman. At long last he has gotten a glimpse into the truly arbitrary and violent nature of the system he has so long benefited from, and he hires Ian Mackenzie (Marlon Brando) to prosecute the killer. This situation turns Ben into a radical firebrand, which alienates him from his white friends and neighbors, as well as members of his family. "Euzhan Palcy, a remarkable talent, keeps her undeniably powerful film ablaze with ferocity and feeling." - Peter Travers Q&A with Euzhan Palcy SCREENING 10 1:30pm William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission DEEPER SHADOW SONG Animation 4 mins RUM SHOP Gladstone Yearwood 50 mins TOUCHING NICKON David Graham and Leslie Chin Jamaica 50 mins Produced in 2007 after 3 years of determination and hard work, Touching Nickon is a groundbreaking Jamaican documentary that tackles the stigma, discrimination, social disruption, alternative healing, cultural acceptance and the personal impact of HIV/AIDS in the island of Jamaica. The film starts with children born with the disease that are left up to the benevolence of the nation to render love and care and a ‘normal’ environment. The feature ventures off into a rural community and into the home of siblings who have lost both parents to HIV/AIDS, capturing their attempts to accept, rationalize and get past how something so relatively unheard of in their ‘neck of the woods’ could come and deal such a savage blow upon their happiness. SCREENING 11 1:30pm William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission BLOOD DUB 7 THE MATRIARCH D'Bi YOUNG Judy Singh Canada 2006 24 mins FANTASTIC SPACES - NALO HOPKINSON Frances-Anne Solomon / Ngardy Conteh Canada 2006 24 mins MISS LOU: THEN AND NOW Frances-Anne Solomo / Leonie Forbes / Regan Macaulay Canada 2006 24 mins SCREENING 12 3:30pm William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission THE SADHU OF COUVA Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 2002 6 mins RAIN Maria Govan Bahamas 2008 100 mins Director Maria Govan’s powerful debut, one of the first feature films produced indigenously in the Bahamas, shows a darker side of the country that tourists rarely see. A teenager named Rain has lived her entire life with her grandmother on a tiny rural island in the Bahamas. When her grandmother dies, Rain goes to Nassau to find her mother, Glory, whom she has never met. Rain is devastated to discover that Glory lives in a desperately poor, AIDS-ravaged neighborhood called “The Graveyard”. With no strong maternal role model in her life, Rain must look within for strength and discovers she has a gift for running. Toronto International Film Festival - Official Selection Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles - Best New Director/First Film Award International Women's Film Festival, Creteil - "Graines de cinéphage" prize (awarded by the young audience) SCREENING 13 3:30pm William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission B.C. Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 4 mins REUNION Frances-Anne Solomon UK 1992 25 mins SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE Melissa Gomez Antigua USA 2007 Share and Share Alike explores the relationships between three Antiguan brothers and celebrates their unique way of fighting for a brother diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Melissa is a trained documentary filmmaker whose greatest influence has been her experience of growing up in Antigua as a hearing child of deaf parents. Q&A with Melissa Gomez SCREENING 14 3:30pm William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission GHL ORIGAMI Animation 45 sec GIVEN ENOUGH ROPE Animation 4 mins JAMAICA FOR SALE Esther Figeroa Jamaica 92 mins Night of Tribute SCREENING 15 7pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission E LEYENDI DI BUCHI FIL (The Legend of Buchi Fil) German Gruber Curacao 2008 23 mins An Antillean legend from the times of slavery. Based on the poem "Balada di Buchi Fil" by Pierre Lauffer, about the strongest slave that ever lived. Only when they sold his beloved wife Mosa Nena, did his heart break. He commits suicide by jumping off a cliff and sometimes the wind carries his last words: Mosa Neeeeena, Mosa Neeeenaaaa… German Gruber was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1980. At the age of 11 he moved with his family to Bonaire, where his father started working for the local TV station. In 2003 i went to Holland to study film, and now is back in Curacao trying to make them. RUBY BRIDGES Euzhan Palcy USA 2003 The inspirational true-life story of one little girl whose simple act of courage helped change history in the racially-charged 1960s. When bright six-year-old Ruby is chosen to be the first African-American to integrate her local New Orleans elementary school, she is subjected to the true ugliness of racism for the very first time. Together with her parents who support her, Ruby's heroic struggle for a better education becomes an inspirational lesson for us all. "Exceptional, rewarding...for the whole family!" - Boston Globe Based on actual events that occurred in Louisiana during 1960. Ruby (newcomer Monet) is a first grader who, after scoring one of the highest grades on her school board exam, is chosen as one of the first black students to integrate an all-white school. As racial tension escalates, Ruby is escorted to school by federal marshals, who attempt to protect her from the angry protestors. With guidance and support from her mother (Rochon), father (Beach), teacher (Miller) and a child psychologist (Pollak), Ruby finds the determination to overcome all obstacles. An uplifting story of one girl's courage. SCREENING 16 7pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission WHERE I'M FROM Cabral "Larc" Trotman Music Video Where do White People go When the Long Weekend Comes? The Wondrous Journey of Delroy Kincaid Powys Dewhurst Canada / Dominica 2008 7 mins An artistic 8 year old black child from a tiny seaside village in the Caribbean immigrates to a ‘First World’ inner city. Delroy Kincaid begins to wonder where his white friends disappear to for the holidays. Delroy's imagination comes alive and must take a journey of discovery to understand the death of his grandmother and his stark new life as an ‘immigrant.’'delroy kincaid' explores the black immigrant child experience while celebrating the differences in cultures in a whimsical fantasy using a unique blend of simple animation, illustration, projection and live action. Powys Dewhurst is a Caribbean-Canadian filmmaker, his interests lie in fantasy, magical realism and science fiction and using those to explore social issues some some level involving race and identity in unique ways, even controversial ones. A WINTER TALE Frances-Anne Solomon Canada / Trinidad and Tobago 2008 103 mins DVD Launch of A WINTER TALE and TALK IT OUT with Actors from the film. SCREENING 17 7pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission DAME NITA Gladstone Yearwood Barbados 2009 50 mins A DISCOVERY OF HOME Natalie Edgecombe Montserrat 2008 43 mins SCREENING 18 9pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission DONT STOP Animation 4 mins “MY FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL WEARING MY HYJAB” Mary Wells Jamaica 10 mins Sudani is a muslim in a very Christian school and society as a result, she’s different, fortunately her difference wins her new friends and teaches them tolerance. This film is part of a childrens live-action drama series called: “Scribble A Story.” Mary Wells is an independent Director, Writer, Producer with twenty years experience in TV & Film production mainly in documentaries. She has travelled widely and worked in the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Southern Africa. She is currently in production with her first feature film "Kingston Paradise". SOME THINGS DOH CHANGE Animation 4.5 mins H2 WORKER Stephanie Black USA 1989 70 mins H-2 Worker is a controversial expose of the travesty of justice that takes place around the shores of Florida's Lake Okeechobee-a situation which, until the film's release, has been one of America's best-kept secrets. There, for six months a year, over 10,000 men from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands perform the brutal task of cutting sugar cane by hand-a job so dangerous and low-paying that Americans refuse to do it. This film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Cinematography Award at Sundance Film Festival and was selected as the U.S. representative during the prestigious Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival. From acclaimed director Stephanie Black (Life and Debt, Africa Unite), this hard-hitting documentary is still a timely exposé of the abuse and exploitation that characterizes temporary agricultural guest worker employment in the United States. SCREENING 19 9pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission A WEDDING IN MORIAH Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 10 mins THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER Jermy Robbins / Magali Damas USA / Haiti 72 mins SCREENING 20 9pm NIGHT OF TRIBUTE William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission RUM SHOP Gladstone Yearwood Barbados 2005 50 mins DRUMMIT2SUMMIT Chris Laird Trinidad and Tobago 2009 45 mins Q & A with Chris Laird and Gladstone Yearwood. ~~~~~~~~~~ July 12 SUNDAY Sunday at the Movies SCREENING 21 12:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission SHORT FILMS BY STUDENTS OF THE ERROL BARROW CENTER FOR CREATIVE IMAGINATION Barbados HIT FOR SIX Alison Saunders-Franklyn Barbados / Trinidad and Tobago 2007 A sidelined West Indies cricketer fights demons of his past, including a match fixing charge, and learns about love in an unlikely quest to play in a major global tournament and earn the respect of his estranged father, a former great West Indies player. ALISON SAUNDERS-FRANKLYN is a Barbadian/Trinidadian filmmaker with a background in corporate and public education television programming over the last 20 years. She is the founder and managing director of public relations firm Blue Waters Productions and in this capacity she has scripted, produced and directed “edutainment” programmes and public service announcements for organizations such as UNICEF, CARICOM and, the Barbados Government. HIT FOR SIX is her first feature film. Q&A with Gladstone Yearwood, Director of the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, Barabdos SCREENING 22 12:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission ALL OF EMILY Elspeth Duncan Trinidad and Tobago 11 mins JAMAICA FOR SALE Esther Figeroa Jamaica 2008 92 mins SCREENING 23 12:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission DONT STOP Lisa Wickham Music Video BACHANAL Lisa Wickham 4 mins Music Video BLUE OPERA Animation 4 mins WRESTLING WITH THE ANGELS Marsha Pearce Trinidad and Tobago / Jamaica 2008 91 mins SCREENING 24 2:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission E LEYENDI DI BUCHI FIL German Gruber Curacao 20 mins End of the 18th century; Kenepa Plantation, Island of Curacao - As part of their daily routines, the slaves tip off their hats to their master just before heading to the fields every morning. All of them, except Buchi Fil, the biggest one of the group. He walks by with his chin up, always refusing to wear a hat so he doesn’t have to take it off. Buchi’s knees have never touched ground, by punishment of the Bomba’s whip or watapana branches. Bomba, the man in charge of the slaves, has always disliked Buchi’s disrespectful attitude, but at the same time is greatly intimidated by the size of Buchi’s muscles. The Shon, owner of Kenepa finds Buchi’s only weakness. The film is based on the poem “Ballad of Buchi Fil” by Pierre Lauffer. German Gruber was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1980. When he was 11 his family moved to the island of Bonaire, where his father got a job for the local TV station. Living on the island German came in contact with “World-cinema” and has been wanting to make films ever since. German finished High school in ’99 and in 2002 and moved to Holland to get a degree and start making films. In 2008 he graduated from the Utrecht School of Arts. He wrote and directed the short-film “The Legend of Buchi Fil”, about a folkloric legend from the times of slavery on Curacao. NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY Charles Officer Canada 2008 An urban love story about the soul of a mother, the heart of a fighter and the faith of a child. JUDE is a single mother who descends from a long line of Jamaican caregivers. SILENCE is a ‘past his prime’ boxer who fights illegally to survive. CIEL is a boy who delves into music, conjuring dreams for his mother. During the last week of summer, a late-night brawl finds the fighter in the nurse's care causing their three fates to be forever entwined. CHARLES OFFICER studied visual art at Cambridge and communication design at OCAD. He worked as a graphic designer before attending the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. He has appeared in stage, film and television productions. HIs debut short, “When Morning Comes” premiered at the 2000 Toronto Int’l Film Festival. In 2001, he completed the Directors Lab at the Canadian Film Centre and premiered his second film, “Short Hymn_Silent War” at TIFF 2002, where he received a Special Jury Citation for Best Canadian Short. The film screened at Sundance and was nominated for a Genie Award in 2004. A music video for K’naan “Strugglin” and television pilot “Hotel Babylon” followed. NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY is his first feature film. SCREENING 25 2:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission THE CRACK HOUSE Animation MAMI WATA Yao Ramesar 15 mins CARMEN & GEOFFREY Nick Doob and Linda Atkins USA 2009 80 mins SCREENING 26 2:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission B.C. Yao Ramesar Trinidad and Tobago 4 mins MOJAH Lana Lovell Canada 24 mins SAIDAH BABA TALIBAH Mars Horodyski Canada 24 mins SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE Melissa Gomez Antigua / US 2008 50 mins SCREENING 27 4:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission BACHANAL Lisa Wickham Trinidad and Tobago Music Video 4 mins If you’ve never experienced ‘J’ouvert’ in Trinidad Carnival, get ready to be fully immersed! The early morning pre-carnival tradition is fully re-created in this video that taps into the energy and vitality of the J’ouvert (day open) ritual. Shot in one extended day and against the odds of rainy weather, Bacchanal has emerged to be one of the more popular videos of the 2009 Trinidad Carnival Season. HAPPY SAD Horace Wilson Trinidad and Tobago / USA 2008 HappySAD is an ensemble drama filmed on location in Trinidad and Tobago. Mandy Graham (Angel Ross) is a teenage girl born and raised in Trinidad by her irresponsible party-girl mother. Despite her mother’s wayward life, Mandy has created order through her soccer playing. She plans to get an athletic scholarship and go on to college. But Mandy’s plans go awry when her mother is unexpectedly incarcerated and Mandy is shipped off to live with a father and relatives she has never known, on the tiny island of Tobago. Her great-uncle Cephas (Bill Cobbs) is the colorful, passionate patriarch with a lust for life, but his distraction over his new young girlfriend, causes him to neglect Mandy and his own children as they struggle to overcome obstacles in their personal lives. It’s a touching story of love, pain, victory and redemption. California based, Trinidadian Producer of “Happy Sad” Horace Wilson is best known for writing the local Trinidad series “No Boundaries” and “Turn of the Tide” and he wrote and produced “Sinners Need Company” which was sold to Lifetime and is being marketed internationally. Director Dianah Wynter's directing credits include the Showtime series Soul Food, The Parkers, Moesha for UPN, Secret World of Alex Mack and the pilot for Technical Difficulties, as well as Movies- for-television Intimate Betrayal (BET) and Daddy's Girl featuring music sensation Lauryn Hill (Artios Award for Best Ensemble from the Casting Society of America, Emmy nomination, Best Director category). She has worked extensively in the Theatre, and her original screenplays include Somewhere over the Weekend and an adaptation of The Life & Times of Joe Briggs. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and the AFI directing programs. Followed by Q&A with Horace Wilson SCREENING 28 4:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission WHERE I'M FROM Cabral "Larc" Trotman Canada Music Video The socio-political music video "Where I'm From" by recording artist Black-I tells the story of ghetto youth in Toronto from the inside out via. Mega City News, a television network created by the community to inform and educate. THE SURVIVORS PROJECT: Voices from the Inside Out Cabral "Larc" Trotman Canada 2007 45 mins The Survivors Project: Voices from the Inside-Out! explores the traumatic impact and implications of gun violence on young people and young black men in particular, living in low-income, racialized neighbourhoods. The film follows the story of a Grenadian born, ex-gang member from 'The Town' in Rexdale, Toronto, Canada. The son of Barbadian parents, Toronto-born Cabral Trotman became interested in film during a Grade 11 Media class. This evolved to a responsibility to share stories relevant to his community, and spawned the birth of Skylarc, a name he adopted when he made his commitment to rhyming. He said: "The Skylark originates from Africa, migrates to north america, hovers above all other song birds while singing the longest most versatile song". LARC is currently a Technical Officer for the Film Unit at Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, University of the West Indies, Barbados, and is shooting his first Bajan drama "Back Shots". SOME TINGS DOH CHANGE Animation 4.5 mins IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON Maryse LeGagneur Canada 2005 50 mins In the Name of the Mother and the Son paints a portrait of life in the Montreal neighbourhood of Saint-Michel for two youths of Haitian origin, whom we follow in their quest for hope and freedom. Not unlike their parents, who had to start from scratch on arriving in Canada, James and Le Voyou both yearn to take wing, each in his own way. The film is a cri de coeur to the women of Haiti who, like the mothers of these two young men, sacrificed so much to give their children a better future. In the name of the mother and the son is also a sensitive account that eloquently decries the prejudice that, even today, plagues young Quebecers of Haitian origin. In French with English subtitles. Maryse Legagneur studied communications at university and then did an intensive course at INIS (Institut national de l'image et du son). She has directed television, initially for the program Taxi pour l'Amérique (Télé-Québec and TV5, 1999) and then for Culture Shock/Culture-Choc (RDI, SRC and CBC, 2000-2001) and Bande à Part.TV (ARTV, 2001-2002). In 2002 she was director of the TV magazines Tout un été! and Tout un automne!, also for the culture channel ARTV. Le facteur chance, a dramatic short that she co-directed with the collective Circonstanciel, won both first prize and the public's choice award at Film Blitz 2880. SCREENING 29 4:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission MUSIC IS MY LIFE TANYA MULLING, Mars Horodyski Canada 2008 24 mins ME AND MI KRU X 2 Rick Elgood Me and Mi Kru is a rag-to-riches tale of Beatrice played by Dancehall Queen lead actress, Audrey Reid, and her son Junior, played by Innocent Kru member Benzly Hype, who live in an inner-city community. Junior, a wannabe Dancehall artiste struggling in the tough world of the Jamaican music industry, suddenly has a turn of fortune when he wins $250 million in the lottery. The family immediately ditch the gritty inner-city streets for a posh mansion in an Upper St Andrew community. SCREENING 30 6:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission GHL ORIGAMI Animation 45 secs GIVEN ENOUGH ROPE Animation 4 mins THE SWEETEST MANGO Howard Allen Antigua and Barbuda 106 mins Lovelyanne "Luv" Davies returns from Canada to her homeland Anitigua. He adjustment to island life, her professional turmoil and a love triangle between her colleague and her boss gives this film depth and lasting entertainment value. This film is the first indigenous feature film for the Eastern Caribbean and is based on a true story of the director Howard Allen met and fell in love with his wife. Husband and wife team Howard and Mitzi Allen make up HAMA Productions, a independent production company based in Antigua that has been active over the past 10 years. They have produced documentaries, features and children's programs. Most recently HAMA have launched a cable TV Channel in Antigua. Howard and Mitzi are currently in production with their 3rd feature. Followed by Q&A with Howard and Mitzi Allen SCREENING 31 6:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP108 $10 general admission INVISIBLE Elspeth Duncan 10 mins Veronica and her four-year-old daughter are HIV positive. Her eight-year-old son is not. As the small family faces the bitter effects of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago, one is driven to ask which is the real disease: HIV/AIDS or ignorance? Elspeth Duncan is an independent Trinidadian multi-media artist (writing, music, interactive conceptual art, photography, art-video, film/documentary making). She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows and has won awards for both her photography and her film work (which has been screened at various international film festivals). “MY FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL WEARING MY HYJAB” Mary Wells Jamaica 10 mins Sudani is a Muslim in a very Christian school and society as a result, she’s different, fortunately her difference wins her new friends and teaches them tolerance. This film is part of a childrens live-action drama series called: “Scribble A Story.” Mary Wells is an independent Director, Writer, Producer with twenty years experience in TV & Film production mainly in documentaries. She has travelled widely and worked in the USA, Europe, the Caribbean and Southern Africa. She is currently in production with her first feature film "Kingston Paradise". H2 WORKER Stephanie Black USA 1989 70 mins H-2 Worker is a controversial expose of the travesty of justice that takes place around the shores of Florida's Lake Okeechobee-a situation which, until the film's release, has been one of America's best-kept secrets. There, for six months a year, over 10,000 men from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands perform the brutal task of cutting sugar cane by hand-a job so dangerous and low-paying that Americans refuse to do it. This film won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Cinematography Award at Sundance Film Festival and was selected as the U.S. representative during the prestigious Critics Week at Cannes Film Festival. From acclaimed director Stephanie Black (Life and Debt, Africa Unite), this hard-hitting documentary is still a timely exposé of the abuse and exploitation that characterizes temporary agricultural guest worker employment in the United States. SCREENING 32 6:00pm SUNDAY AT THE MOVIES William Doo Auditorium, KP113 $5 general admission THE MAKING OF ALEX CUBA Safiya Randers Canada 24 mins SCENT OF OAK (Roble De Olor) Rigoberto Lopez Cuba 140 mins First half of the 19th century, in Cuba, in the Caribbean. A space of changeableness, enigmas, dreams and endless tragedies. A black woman, beautiful and distinguished, from Saint Domingue. A German, a romantic tradesman recently arrived in the country. They are both the central characters in a story of boundless love that made the richest coffee plantation in Cuba -- Angerona -- reach its peak. In a sombre period, in a place surrounded by intolerance and misunderstandings, clashes of interests and absolute power, Ursula Lambert and Cornelio Souchay are more than two cultures, two identities, two ways of seeing life facing each other. Love is a doomed Utopia fighting to give birth to its fate, to the fate of a great coffee plantation - Angerona. Its beauty and its frailty. A metaphor of our times. SCREENING 33 8pm CLOSING NIGHT William Doo Auditorium $10 general admission ONE NIGHT IN PIARCO Animation 4 mins SMALL THING MENTALITY Animation 5.3 mins FINDER OF LOST CHILDREN Ricardo Scipio Canada 2009 100 mins Maya and Angie are half-sisters who meet at the funeral of their estranged father. Angie is a flamboyant wannabe-Trinidadian living inToronto. Maye lives in Vancouver and is a successful homeopathic doctor with an overbearing mother, Daphne. After discovering the existence of other half-siblings, Angie persuades Maye to go on a road trip to find them.They meet several and find amazing similarities and differences. But what they all have in common is the hole left in theirhearts from their father’s absence. Trinidad-born, Toronto-raised, Ricardo Scipio is a filmmaker and photographer. Loosely based on his own family experience, Finder of Lost Children is his third feature film. Followed by Q&A with Ricardo Scipio, and Powys Dewhurst ~~~~~~~~~~ CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival website . 
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CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film FestivalWilliam Doo Auditorium (New College) Ticket Sales Begin: Ticket Prices: Opening Night Gala - $20.00 Youth Day - $5.00 William Doo Auditorium - $10.00 William Doo Auditorium, KP108 - $10.00 William Doo Auditorium, KP113 - $5.00 
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