Trinidad +Tobago film festival (ttff)

 MELAZA, directed by Carlos Lechuga

After screening a total of 142 films, the 2013 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which began on September 17th and closed on October 1, 2013, announced the competition winners. The Cuban film MELAZA, directed by Carlos Lechuga is the winner of the Jury Prize for Best Feature; and the Jury Prize for Best Documentary was won by two films: FATAL ASSISTANCE – directed by Raoul Peck, and SONGS OF REDEMPTION, directed by Miquel Galofre and Amanda Sans.

ttff/13 competition winners are:

Jury Prize: Best Feature
MELAZA, directed by Carlos Lechuga
In the town of Melaza the sugarcane industry is at a standstill and work is hard to come by. Monica, receptionist at the sugar mill, still goes to the factory daily, although it has been shuttered for a year. Her husband, Aldo, teaches swimming in a pool with no water. To make extra money, they engage in a lucrative but illegal venture. When the police discover their scheme they charge the couple a hefty fine. To get out of their predicament, Monica and Aldo must consider doing the unthinkable.

*The jury awarded a special mention in this category to GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER directed by Damian Marcano
Charlie is a young man seeking to make ends meet on the streets of Port of Spain. Reluctantly, he takes a job from a gang leader as assistant to a drug courier. This is how he meets Dinah, a prostitute, who works for the fearsome Putao. Dinah convinces Charlie to escape with her, in a move that triggers serious consequences. Shot in an urgent and unflinchingly gritty style, God Loves the Fighter is an honest yet sympathetic tale of real life as lived in contemporary urban Trinidad.

Jury Prize: Best Documentary
There was joint first prize: FATAL ASSISTANCE – directed by Raoul Peck / SONGS OF REDEMPTION, directed by Miquel Galofre and Amanda Sans

FATAL ASSISTANCE
Over three years after the earthquake that ravaged the country, conditions in Haiti remain far from acceptable. Why is this the case, despite billions of dollars in aid and the intervention of everyone from movie stars to former US presidents? This gripping documentary by Haiti’s most acclaimed filmmaker dissects the recovery effort and exposes its inner workings. In the process, it paints a damning picture of a country in thrall to a paternalistic aid system almost as invidious as any dictatorship.

SONGS OF REDEMPTION
At the general Penitentiary in Kingston, where inmates are serving sentences for crimes as serious as murder, a remarkable experiment is taking place. Through the progressive vision of the prison’s former superintendent, a rehabilitation scheme has been implemented that involves inmates creating and recording reggae music. Featuring riveting interviews and moving live performances, Songs of Redemption is an uplifting testament to the healing, even transformative power of music.

Jury Prize: Best Local Feature Film
GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER, directed by Damian Marcano

Jury Prize: Best Short
There was a joint first prize: PASSAGE – directed by Kareem Mortimer / PREVIOUS SCENES – directed by Aleksandra Maciuszek

Jury Prize: Best Local Short
AFTER MAS, directed by Karen Martinez

Best Caribbean Film by an International Director
3 KIDS, directed by Jonas D’Adesky
*The jury awarded two special mentions in this category: TULA: THE REVOLT, directed by Joeren Linders and THE STUART HALL PROJECT, directed by John Akomfrah

New Media Prize
Olivia McGilChrist

People’s Choice – Feature
GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER, directed by Damian Marcano

People’s Choice – Documentary
SONGS OF REDEMPTION, directed by Miquel Galofre and Amanda Sans

People’s Choice – Short
JAB IN THE DARK, directed by Robert McFarlane

RBC Focus Pitch prize
The Winner is Shakira Bourne

bpTT Student Award
The winner is Maryam Mohammed

bpTT Film in Development Award
The winner is Kevin Adams

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ABO SO Juan Francisco Pardo

The trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) announced the first section of its program of films for its 2013 edition, the Caribbean features section. Twenty-two feature-length Caribbean and diaspora films—ten fiction films and 12 documentaries—will screen at the ttff/13, which runs from 17 September–01 October. The 22 films come from 14 Caribbean countries, and all but one will be making their local premiere at the Festival. In addition five of the films will be world premieres, nine will enjoy their Caribbean premiere, and two their international premiere.

The full lineup of Caribbean features follows. Films marked with an asterisk (*) are in competition.

Narrative selections

ABO SO Juan Francisco Pardo, Aruba, 2013, international premiere*

ANA’S FILM Daniel Díaz Torres, Cuba, 2012, T&T premiere

CHRISSY! Marcia Weekes, Barbados, 2012, T&T premiere

GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER Damian Marcano, T&T/USA, 2013, world premiere*

I AM A DIRECTOR Javier Colón, Puerto Rico, 2012, T&T premiere*

KINGSTON PARADISE Mary Wells, Jamaica, 2013, Caribbean premiere*

MELAZA Carlos Lechuga, Cuba, 2012, T&T premiere*

PAYDAY Selwyne Bourne, Barbados, 2013, international premiere

THE SWIMMING POOL Carlos Machado Quintela, Cuba, 2012, T&T premiere

THREE KIDS Jonas d’Adesky, Haiti/Belgium, 2012, T&T premiere*

Documentary selections

CARMITA Laura Guzmán and Israel Cardenás, 2013, Dominican Republic//Mexico/Cuba, Caribbean premiere*

FATAL ASSISTANCE Raoul Peck, Haiti/France, 2013, T&T premiere*

FORWARD EVER: THE KILLING OF A REVOLUTION Bruce Paddington, T&T/Grenada, 2013, world premiere

NO BOIS MAN NO FRAID Christopher Laird, T&T, 2013, world premiere*

POETRY IS AN ISLAND: DEREK WALCOTT Ida Does, Aruba/The Netherlands/Suriname/Saint Lucia, 2013, world premiere*

RED, WHITE AND BLACK: A SPORTS ODYSSEY Robert Dumas, T&T, 2012

SILENT MUSIC Melissa Gomez, Antigua, 2012, Caribbean premiere

SONGS OF REDEMPTION Miquel Galofré and Amanda Sans Pantling, Jamaica/Spain, 2013, T&T premiere*

THE STUART HALL PROJECT John Akomfrah, UK/Jamaica, 2013, Caribbean premiere*

TEN DAYS OF MUHARRAM: THE CEDROS Hosay Che Rodriguez, T&T, 2013, world premiere*

VIVA CUBA LIBRE: RAP IS WAR! Jesse Acevedo, Cuba/Mexico/USA, 2013, Caribbean premiere*

THE WIND THAT BLOWS Thomas Weston, St Vincent and the Grenadines/USA, 2013, T&T premiere

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The Nigerian drama “HALF OF A YELLOW SUN” starring BAFTA award winner Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II, The Pursuit of Happyness, Crash) and three-time Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, American Gangster, Salt), has been selected as the opening film of the 2013 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which takes place September 17th – October 1st.

“HALF OF A YELLOW SUN” is an adaptation of celebrated Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same title, which won the Orange Broadbrand Prize for Fiction.

Set in 1960s Nigeria, the story brings audiences into a country torn apart by civil war and shows how the interwoven lives of four central characters intersect during a struggle to establish an independent republic of Nigeria.

The film features an impressive supporting cast that includes Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls, The Princess and the Frog), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Joseph Mawle (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Awakening, Game of Thrones), Genevieve Nnaji, and Nigerian singer and actress Onyeka Onwenu.

Directed by Biyi Bandele, “HALF OF A YELLOW SUN” is a product of “Nollywood” – the moniker bestowed on Nigeria’s booming film industry that produces over 2,000 movies a year and has become the third most valuable movie industry in the world behind only Hollywood and Bollywood. “Half of a Yellow Sun” is the country’s most ambitious and most expensive film to date, with a budget of N1.27 billion (approximately. $8 million).

http://youtu.be/pc83786XR8I

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