From Newsday tt

Film festival moves to August

THE annual TT Film Festival (TTFF) is partnering this year with Carifesta XIV for its 2019 edition.

In a media release, the festival said TTFF, now in its 14th year, “has become a mainstay of TT’s cultural calendar, and is well-established as the premiere film festival of the English-speaking Caribbean.”

This year’s iteration of the festival, TTFF/19 Carifesta Edition, will be held in August – rather than the regular September – “to coincide with the largest regional celebration of culture in all its form Carifesta XIV.”

The film festival will run from August 17-23, with free screenings at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (North and South), Naparima Bowl and Shaw Park Cultural Complex.

Festival director Dr Bruce Paddington said: “Carifesta is a time when the whole country is alive with culture and creativity (and) visitors come from all over the region and internationally too. The TTFF is very excited to be able to partner with Carifesta XIV to bring the best Caribbean films into this important celebration of regional culture.”

TTFF pointed out that for more than four decades Carifesta (the Caribbean Festival of Arts) has been a catalyst for the strengthening of regional integration among Caribbean countries, artisans and cultural practitioners. Carifesta showcases a multi-talented cultural display in the visual and literary arts, storytelling, fashion, body art, craft, theatre, dance, music, film and new media from participating countries.

“TT will showcase and market the culture of our country to the Caribbean region as it hosts Carifesta XIV. As host nation, it is TT’s intention to create the space, avenue and hub for participating nations to flourish and ‘Connect, Share, Invest’ in the arts and culture of the Caribbean.”

TTFF said Caribbean films are a dynamic and all-encompassing expression of what it is to be from this place, in this moment.

“Film brings together diverse cultural forms, including music, art, writing, fashion design and so much more; it is a medium that can transport viewers around the Caribbean (from the comfort of their cinema seats) as they explore, confront and celebrate key issues affecting and engaging the region.”

The TTFF/19 Carifesta Edition will include new shorts, and features, narrative films and documentaries from around the region and its diaspora which explore the Caribbean experience; the festival will include some classic films as well. The majority of the films to be exhibited will be from Caricom countries, as well as from the wider Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora and a few guest countries.

This year’s call for submissions will open on March 18.

“We look forward to reviewing submissions from filmmakers in TT, the Caribbean region and the wider diaspora.”

For more on this story go to; https://newsday.co.tt/2019/03/13/ttff-partnering-with-carifesta-xiv/