The 1979 coup in Grenada and the resultant government's bloody demise in 1983 made up what was arguably the most shocking episode in the post-colonial English-speaking Caribbean.Yet it's taken 30 years for someone to document the period–which led to the only US invasion of a former British colony in the 20th century–in a full-length film.Forward Ever: The Killing of a Revolution will make its world premiere at the T&T Film Festival (ttff) this Friday. It's one of five feature films made by locals that will be showcased in this year's festival, which will be airing more than 140 short and full-length films overall.Besides films from T&T, the eight-year-old festival will also be screening films from the rest of the Caribbean and the Americas and from the regions and countries with ancestral ties to T&T: Africa, Europe, India and China.
Five isn't bad, considering T&T's still-developing film industry and the effort and financial resources necessary to produce a full-length film, said directors of the local feature-length films that audiences will be introduced to during the two-week festival."It is difficult, it is costly to do feature-length films, so that's why there is more emphasis on shorts," said Forward Ever director Bruce Paddington. He's also the founder and director of the film festival.T&T filmmakers have produced more than half of the 60 shorts that will be screened at the festival this year. The hope is that short-film makers will eventually become long-film makers.Forward Ever is actually only the second feature-length film Paddington has worked on in his near 40-year career. He's produced hundreds of shorter films and is being honoured by the festival as a "pioneer in film" along with the other founders of Banyan Ltd, the company that produced many local film and television productions, including the popular Gayelle, which spawned a TV channel.
The two-and-a-half-hour-long Forward Ever took five years from conception to completion, and Paddington calls it the most challenging and the most important film he's ever done.Christopher Laird, a Banyan co-founder being honoured along with Paddington, has produced a film about stick-fighting, No Bois Man No Fraid, that is up for the festival's best documentary feature film prize.No Bois Man, which was showcased on September 4 at the CaribbeanTales film festival gala in Toronto and will make its Caribbean debut on Wednesday, is Laird's third feature film out of the hundreds he has worked on. It took three years after conception to complete the film.
(One of his shorts–a documentary about his father's work called Public Spaces: The Architecture of Colin Laird–will also be screened at the festival this year.)"Five in a year is incredible when you consider where we've come from," said Laird, about the local feature films at the festival this year. He's the chairman of the Film Co; this year is the first time he's entered films for the festival."We've been making a lot of short films over the last few years," he said of T&T filmmakers."Some people think that is not a good thing because they want to see us making big features that are going to conquer the world."But Laird believes that short films are a good way for filmmakers to develop their skills and introduce themselves to audiences."You have to learn how to use film to tell a story successfully, and a short film is a great way to teach that, and it does not have the huge financial and logistical challenges that you face to make a large film," he said.
Che Rodriguez's documentary Ten Days of Muharram: The Cedros Hosay is up for the best local feature film prize against Damian Marcano's fictional drama God Loves the Fighter.Rodriguez, who has made both fiction and documentary films, breathlessly listed the many components of full-length filmmaking."You have to find people to edit, you have to find people to write, you have to find actors to act, you have to find people who can shoot your movie properly, you have to find people who can scout locations, you have to find people who can do costuming and make up... it's a whole involvement," he said.One of the most challenging aspects of feature filmmaking is funding. To convince investors, a filmmaker needs to build up a reputation and a body of work in the industry, said Rodriguez, who started his career in television as a reporter and producer and also worked in theatre as an actor and director. He's since made almost 50 short and long films, many on commission from state and international agencies.Ten Days of Muharram was commissioned by the Ministry of the Arts and Multiculturalism.His advice to aspiring feature filmmakers: "After you do your degree, you need to go out there and join some theatre company, go and work with directors, go and sit with actors and talk."When you show your clients that you have a history of success then you'll find that they'll be willing to invest in you."
For a full listing of the films at the 2013 ttff, as well as venues and times, check ttfilmfestival.com or call 621-0709.
The jury prizes inthis year's ttff are:
Best Feature Film (Narrative)
Best Feature Film (Documentary)
Best Short Film
Best Local Feature
Best Local Short Film
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker