Saturday, March 13 2010

FILMS FROM Africa will feature prominently at the fifth annual trinidad + tobago film festival (ttff/10), set to take place from September 22 to October 5.

Founded in 2006, the ttff, with the generous support of presenting sponsor FLOW, has grown over the past few years to become one of the leading film festivals in the Caribbean.

This year is expected to be another ground breaking one, with established and new elements to the festival's programme. This is in addition to the dozens of local, Caribbean and Diaspora films that will be screened.

Last year, the festival introduced a heritage aspect to its programming, with a focus on the cinema of India. This year the focus shifts to Africa, with films from countries such as Senegal, Ethiopia and Nigeria to be shown. A number of noted African filmmakers are also expected to attend the festival.

In addition, the ttff/10 has entered into a partnership with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF).

This initiative, which is being facilitated by the Commonwealth Foundation, will see films from Zanzibar and East Africa being screened at the ttff/10, and local films being shown at the ZIFF.

There will also be a filmmaker exchange programme.

Other features of this year's festival include a celebration of Brazilian cinema, and a series of technical workshops for aspiring and established filmmakers. There will again be lucrative cash prizes for the top films in the festival, and the established pay-per-view initiative is also set to continue.

This will see select films screened at the festival being made available for viewing on FLOW, with all proceeds going to the filmmakers.

Screenings at this year's festival are set to increase, with a new programme of outdoor screenings, and screenings for the first time in Chaguanas, at MovieTowne. There will also be an expanded programme in Tobago, as well as a music video production workshop in the sister isle.

The ttff/10 has expanded its organising committee to reflect a more youth-oriented outlook.

This is expected to positively impact the festival's outreach programme, and the desire to get the young people of Trinidad and Tobago more interested in alternative and non-mainstream cinema.

The festival enjoys the continued support of key sponsors and partners. These include the presenting sponsor FLOW, supporting sponsors the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, the Tourism Development Company Limited and the National Gas Company, and our programming partners MovieTowne, the University of the West Indies and Studiofilmclub.

For updates on preparations for the 2010 festival, visit the film festival blog at www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com/blog.