The first Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) will feature films that contain stories surrounding the various plots including: A single mother’s battle to get out of a relationship with an abusive lover.
A young man’s comic attempt to woo the girl of his dreams. The coming of a black female messiah during a time known as the Apocalypso. The farmer who every Carnival transforms himself into a menacing blue devil. And the Saga of a woman who begins life in poverty and ends up owning her own grand hotel.
The TTFF brings together over 40 feature films, documentaries and short films made by film-makers from the Caribbean and the Caribbean diaspora, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia, Guadeloupe, Suriname, Canada, the United States and Trinidad and Tobago.
Many of these films are made by young, first-time film-makers looking to tell particular Caribbean stories, histories and realities. And while the films all differ in technical standard, they are all very ambitious and have strong story lines, natural acting and powerful social messages.
Some of the highlights of the festival include the much-lauded Grenadian film Blinded, winner of the Best International Film Debut Award from the New York Independent Film Festival.
The Kairi Film Festival was held in 2002, and now the TTFF seeks to deepen the appreciation for Caribbean cinema, as well as expose local audiences to films they usually do not get an opportunity to see.
