ANTIGUAN FILM TO HAVE CANADA PREMIERE AT THE CARIBBEANTALES INTERNATIONAL FIIM FESTIVAL IN SEPTEMBER IN TORONTO, CANADA, AS THE EVENT CELEBRATES 10 YEARS IN 2015
‘Vanishing Sail’ tells the beautiful breathtaking story of a Caribbean tradition that is being lost, the art of boat building found in the Grenadines. From Carriacou, it follows one mans last dream and journey.
The filmmaker Alex Andrews states from the films website: “…the project represents over fifteen years of research and documenting the art of wooden boat building in the Eastern Caribbean. Theres a profound poetry in the fact that these humble vessels are fast becoming iconic cultural artifacts of our time. Alwyn Enoe, (the main character and master boat builder, and who’s personal story became the entire frame for the film), with his sons, created something more than just a beautiful vessel, but a possibility for the once proud traditions of the West Indies to continue a little longer…”
At a recent media launch held at the Consulate General for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Toronto on July 8th, CaribbeanTales unveiled its 2015 Programme. The standing- room-only event featured many Toronto luminaries, and was MC’d by the Honourable Jean Augustine, PC, CM with speakers including T&T Consul General Dr. Vidya Gyan Tota-Maharaj, CaribbeanTales founder and Executive Director Frances-Anne Solomon, Programmer Christopher Pinheiro, Partnerships Coordinator Emmy Pantin, and Incubator Chair Dr. Rita Shelton-Deverell.
“CaribbeanTales continues to have its finger on the pulse of a dynamic movement of evolving film expression across the region and its Diaspora,” says founder and filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon. “In just ten years, a very short period of time, our film stories have matured to become stunningly assured, explosive, transgressive, probing, beautiful and urgent. And this is what we see represented on screen in this year’s selections.”
Running from September 9 – 19 at the chic Royal Cinema, CTFF’s 10th anniversary edition will showcase a fantastic selection of Caribbean films from around the globe. These include 16 feature-length films and 30 short films in Official Competition for the CTFF Jury and Audience Awards, to be announced on the closing night – September 19.
CTFF, runs alongside the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival and also features an intensive five-day Incubator Program for Caribbean and Diaspora filmmakers, followed by a Pitch Breakfast at the TIFF Bell Lightbox (Toronto Int’l Film Festival facilities) and many exciting networking events.
CTFF’s 2015 programming committee, consisting of movers and shakers from the Caribbean film community, has worked hard to put together a line-up that will surely WOW audiences. The festival’s uniquely themed Program consists of evenings of features and short films including Caribbean SCI-FI new exciting Caribbean science fiction stories; Vanishing legacies covering important Caribbean traditions; Trini-to-the-Bone, a celebration of old and new Trinidad culture; Jamaican Symphany legendaries and the best of the Jamaican music culture; Queer Caribbean, spotlighting new LGBTQ films; Shifting Perspectives, a partnership with the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival that focuses on mental health issues; After The Exodus, exploring themes of reparations, slavery and trafficking, and #AllBlackLivesMatter – Caribbean, that addresses in fiction and documentary the escalation of tensions between Haitians and Dominicans in the Dominican Republic…
The September 8 – 13, 6th Annual CaribbeanTales Incubator Program (CTI), is an internationally recognized platform that offers selected filmmakers the opportunity to hone their creative and business skills, through workshops and one‐on‐one mentorships with world-class specialists. CTI will culminate in The Big Pitch, when participants present their developed film projects to international funders and buyers.
This CTFF Film Festival & 10 Year celebration is a first in Canada and the only one of its kind in North America devoted to Caribbean films – and is not to be missed !! Festival Website: http://www.caribbeantales.ca/CTFF/
ABOUT CARIBBEANTALES
The CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF), now in its 10th year, celebrates the talents of established and emerging filmmakers of Caribbean heritage who practice their art across the Caribbean Diaspora worldwide – including Canada and the Caribbean, Europe, the Americas, Africa, China, India and the Middle East. CTFF presents a multi-ethnic mix of exciting and dynamic films that showcase diverse shared stories and cultures.
CTFF is produced by CaribbeanTales Inc, a registered Canadian charity that aims to connect people through film. The company’s mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and racial equality, through the creation, marketing and distribution of film programs, events and projects that reflect the diversity and creativity of Caribbean heritage culture.
As well as the CTFF, CT’s activities include its renowned Incubator Program, community screenings and partnerships, and CaribbeanTales-TV, a video on demand platform. Past projects have included community and school screenings of the movie “A Winter Tale”; The Literature Alive Project (funded by Canadian Heritage) a multi facetted multi-media project that celebrates and features three generations of Caribbean Canadian literary achievement, from Austin Clarke to Dbi Young; the CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival – Celebrating Black History Month (founded in 2009) and the CaribbeanTales Multi-media E-newsletter (since 2003).
