Limbo gets good reviews at film fest

The artistic ambience of the Callaloo Company mas camp in Chaguaramas offered the perfect setting for the screening of Limbo when the Trinidad and Tobago film festival (TTFF) and bpTT continued their monthly Community Cinergy series last Saturday. A release from bpTT said almost 200 patrons were taken through a gamut of emotions as the 105-minute film explored the experiences of a Norwegian woman whose life falls apart as she and her family adjust to expatriate life in Trinidad in the 1970s. The film captures the emotionally charged story of Sonia, who moves to Trinidad with her family to join her husband—a senior executive in the oil industry—who is having an affair with a local colleague. Released in 2010 and directed by Maria Sodahl, Limbo was shot on location in T&T featuring an international cast, including a number of local actors, among them Michael Cherrie, Arnold Goindhan and Catherine Emmanuel. The film won the prize for best director at the Montreal Film Festival and opened the European Film Festival in Port-of-Spain last October.

 

 

Danielle Jones, corporate communications manager, bpTT, explained the objective behind Community Cinergy.  “It is not often that film aficionados enjoy the privilege of experiencing films such as Limbo. What we are doing is taking that film experience to the community so a variety of audiences can enjoy film in ways once only experienced outside of T&T.” A special feature at Saturday night’s screening was the presence of two of the vintage cars used extensively in the film. Owned by Clifford Tardieu of V8 Boys Unlimited motor garage, the cars are a yellow 1973 Mark 11 Corona and a black 1969 Toyota Crown. Tardieu, who supplied 65 cars for the production, said it was a great thrill to see the cars in the film itself, especially knowing that it would be viewed all over the world. Members of the cast and crew who turned up for the screening included Margaret A E Julian, (the strong-willed housekeeper, Mrs George), Catherine Emmanuel (the mistress), Alison Smith-Dobson (the schoolteacher), Dion Boucaud (the best boy) and Terry Perry-Budin. The next Community Cinergy film—dancehall documentary Hit Me With Music—will be screened at the St James Amphitheatre, Western Main Road, St James, on June 2. The screening, which begins at 8 pm, will form part of the WeBeat Festival.