Venus & Magnet
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2015
Venus: Doggess of Love
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Supreme Being
I was recently in Tobago (8 - 14 July) as film facilitator for this year's EMA environmental camp for youths. The camp started off with environmental lectures (this year's theme was "Green Economy: Does It Include You?"), then the 15 students were separated into Drama Group (10 students) and Film Group (5), each under a facilitator ... with 4 days to develop pieces based on the theme.
We stayed at Footprints Eco Resort where the creating took place. The above video, Supreme Being, is the resulting film product, written and filmed by the 5 youths in my group.
Enjoy.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Thou + Art + Yoga = Inspiration
Member of film crew transforms herself into a bird at sunset
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Does it include you?
Frog swimming in large outdoor tub at Footprints
Spent a fantastic week (8 - 14 July) at Footprints Eco Resort in Tobago as film facilitator for the EMA's environmental youth camp 2012.
Guided by two facilitators (one for film, one for drama), fifteen youths (5 in the film group, 10 in the drama group) spent the week creating pieces (one short film by the film crew and two skits by drama) based on this year's theme: The Green Economy—Does it include you?
We could not have asked for more—a great group of people, fun, creativity, productivity, purpose and fantastic food, accommodation, service and beautiful surroundings courtesy Footprints.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Screening of films by the girls from India
Tues 22 May 2012
7:00 p.m.
Little Carib Theatre
The films created by the girls who participated in the film workshop in Kolkata, India, will be shown as part of TTFC's new film screening
initiative at Little Carib Theatre—"Filme Caribe - An Evening of
Shorts." On the night I will give a short talk to put the project into context.
The films "Siege: and Sans Souci" (Francesca Hawkins, Dion Boucaud, Junior-Andrew Lett) will also be screened. There will be a Q & A after.
Tickets cost: $35 TT and are available from the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) 625-3456, info@trinidadandtobagofilm.com
Saturday, July 9, 2011
All of Emily showing tonight & rescheduled time
GISL (Channel 4) at 9 p.m.
CNC3 at 9:30 p.m.
Re GISL—I've been told that Emily may show at 9 p.m. or it may show at 9:20 p.m. Tune in from 9 p.m. tonight just to be safe.
Due to revised CNC3 schedule, AOE will no longer be screened tonight on that station. Instead, CNC3 will screen All of Emily on Saturday 16th July at 11:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
View my films in TV Film Fest (July)
 | |||||
| Click to enlarge image |
See below for schedule (date, time, station) and trailers:
ALL OF EMILY (22 minutes)
1.Sat 9 July @ 9:00 p.m. on GISL
2. Sat 9 July @ 9:30 p.m. on CNC3
3. Mon 25 July @ 8:40 p.m. on Gayelle
See ALL OF EMILY trailer below
INVISIBLE: CHILDREN LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS (10 minutes)
1. Sun 3 July @ 9:30 p.m. on TV6
2. Sat 9 July @ 8:30 p.m. on GISL
3. Fri 15 July @ 9:30 p.m. on CNC3
4. Mon 18 July @ 9:30 p.m. on Gayelle
See INVISIBLE trailer below:
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Facing Life
For the past few years I have been one of the judges at the Rebirth House "Facing Life" film competition for secondary schools. This year I've been asked to be Head Judge for the event (Facing Life Nine).
Date: Friday 6th November 2009
Time: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Venue: Andre Kamperveen Hall, Centre of Excellence, Macoya
All are invited.
Admission: donations welcome.
Rebirth House is a centre for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of drug abuse. Themes therefore always revolve around substance abuse and its impact on our lives. Tomorrow, 10-minute awareness-raising films produced by students of 12 national secondary schools will explore the issue through this year's theme: "Highs and Lows".
Also on the day:
- Entertainment
- Motivational speakers
- Lunch
- Refreshments.
An interesting, entertaining and educational experience for those who have the time to attend (some or all of the event).
All are welcome.
Date: Friday 6th November 2009
Time: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Venue: Andre Kamperveen Hall, Centre of Excellence, Macoya
All are invited.
Admission: donations welcome.
Rebirth House is a centre for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of drug abuse. Themes therefore always revolve around substance abuse and its impact on our lives. Tomorrow, 10-minute awareness-raising films produced by students of 12 national secondary schools will explore the issue through this year's theme: "Highs and Lows".
Also on the day:
- Entertainment
- Motivational speakers
- Lunch
- Refreshments.
An interesting, entertaining and educational experience for those who have the time to attend (some or all of the event).
All are welcome.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Awakening
Sparkling sunrise and silvery sea through palm leaf (Manzanilla)In a short while I'm going to a documentary workshop from 9:00 - 12:00 a.m. It's a part of this year's film festival.
I've been to see three films so far, but have ended up seeing six (i.e. the ones I've been to have had shorts before them). I've slept in each film (some for a longer time than others). This is no insult to the films or film makers. My friends know me as being famous for sleeping through movies. I close my eyes for a second and wake up to see credits rolling.
I have no films in the festival this year. It feels like a while since I've done one. Hmm.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Article in Caribbean Camera
(Canada Chronicles continued ...)
During the recent film festival I was interviewed by Jean Hodgkinson of The Caribbean Camera (a newspaper published weekly on Thursdays in Toronto and Fridays in Montreal).
Mme Palcy was fêted at this year’s fourth annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival. The theme, “Caribbean Film—A Tool for Education and Social Change,” was evident. On the page opposite, my compatriot Colin Rickards will help you get to know la Reine Cinéaste. Mingling freely she chatted enthusiastically with one and all granting interviews, it seemed from a distance, practically upon request. Never one to snub opportunity, I happily submitted to necessity. During our Saturday evening interview, not reviewed [ni traduit!] as of this writing, Mme Palcy employed a word I hadn’t yet heard her utter, not during the Q&A nor during her speech to accept the Award of Honour. That word was “revolution.”
It is perhaps no small coincidence this article is being written July 14. La Fête Nationale commemorates July 14, 1790, “which didn’t give France its soul,” said Henri Martin in 1880, as head of the Senate committee responsible for consecrating the holiday, “...but the Revolution made France conscious of herself.” The English-speaking world insists it be called Bastille Day, using the storming of the infamous Paris prison exactly a year earlier as its reference point, but it nevertheless remains inexorably linked to the profound social changes delivered by la Révolution. Mme Palcy was of course speaking of films, artistically, but it mattered little.
What was revolutionary intoned this Martinique-born Nefertiti, the “first black female director to be produced by a major Hollywood studio,” was that in her films an upstanding Sidney Poitier character did not have to pass his gun to an equally upstanding Michael Caine character in order to kill off a perfectly villainous white character. Many others at this year’s CTFF reinforced the argument that West Indians are, indeed have always been, participatory agents in history and not merely idle spectators. The explosion of filmmaking in the region simply means Le septième art is recognized as the best tool for people to tell their own stories and hence educate the world about the storytellers.
Christopher Laird, founder and CEO of Trinidad television’s Gayelle the Channel, presented a 44-minute package of the station’s live coverage of the Drummit 2 Summit protest. Held during April’s Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, it was organized by The Rights Action Group and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea. Although in April yours truly reported the Drummit 2 Summit protest attracted fewer media and police than the Independence Square protest, this opinion was formed within the Summit’s security perimeter as Gayelle’s cameras were recording well beyond it. “We were getting calls from other outlets to carry the live feed,” this year’s recipient of the CTFF Lifetime Achievement Award recalled.
“Gayelle is meant to be a touchstone, there as you channel surf,” Laird told me. Since its founding in 2004, Gayelle’s purpose has been to provide space for “street voices, a place where people can jump in and show what we can do. Sports and Carnival have been the only two outlets for 50 years.” But, he notes, the technological revolution of the past five years has made media production far more accessible to people. While demanding Gayelle “remain as nimble as possible,” this shift facilitates and encourages the kind of creative expression bottled up for too long in the Caribbean due to lack of technological resources. The spirit is both willing and able.
Elspeth Duncan said Gayelle provided a “large canvas” with which to hone her skills. Before shooting even began on her first film, the cameraman called in absent with a family emergency. “I had to shoot on my own. And then I realized I can do it myself,” she reminisced. Her film “Invisible,” an HIV/AIDS-awareness film, has aired on several Trinidad networks. It’s the story of discrimination faced by Veronica and her 4-year-old daughter, both of whom are HIV-positive, and her 8-year-old son, who isn’t. You don’t see faces, only hands and arms, children’s crayon drawings, faces behind curtains. Duncan didn’t want to digitally frost out faces, to avoid “perpetuating the idea that HIV must hide.” And Veronica the Invisible narrates her own family’s story.
So it went. A documentary on Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder; music videos and full-length features; documentaries like “Gathering the Scattered Cousins,” in which Nigerian-born Akin Omotoso travels to his mother’s native Barbados for the first time, after her death. And as Elspeth Duncan noted, “The intimacy of the festival is good for connecting with people.” The films helped out in this regard, too.
14 juillet ’09
During the recent film festival I was interviewed by Jean Hodgkinson of The Caribbean Camera (a newspaper published weekly on Thursdays in Toronto and Fridays in Montreal).
Director’s Cut
We are not shadows. We exist.
- Euzhan Palcy -
We are not shadows. We exist.
- Euzhan Palcy -
Mme Palcy was fêted at this year’s fourth annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival. The theme, “Caribbean Film—A Tool for Education and Social Change,” was evident. On the page opposite, my compatriot Colin Rickards will help you get to know la Reine Cinéaste. Mingling freely she chatted enthusiastically with one and all granting interviews, it seemed from a distance, practically upon request. Never one to snub opportunity, I happily submitted to necessity. During our Saturday evening interview, not reviewed [ni traduit!] as of this writing, Mme Palcy employed a word I hadn’t yet heard her utter, not during the Q&A nor during her speech to accept the Award of Honour. That word was “revolution.”
It is perhaps no small coincidence this article is being written July 14. La Fête Nationale commemorates July 14, 1790, “which didn’t give France its soul,” said Henri Martin in 1880, as head of the Senate committee responsible for consecrating the holiday, “...but the Revolution made France conscious of herself.” The English-speaking world insists it be called Bastille Day, using the storming of the infamous Paris prison exactly a year earlier as its reference point, but it nevertheless remains inexorably linked to the profound social changes delivered by la Révolution. Mme Palcy was of course speaking of films, artistically, but it mattered little.
What was revolutionary intoned this Martinique-born Nefertiti, the “first black female director to be produced by a major Hollywood studio,” was that in her films an upstanding Sidney Poitier character did not have to pass his gun to an equally upstanding Michael Caine character in order to kill off a perfectly villainous white character. Many others at this year’s CTFF reinforced the argument that West Indians are, indeed have always been, participatory agents in history and not merely idle spectators. The explosion of filmmaking in the region simply means Le septième art is recognized as the best tool for people to tell their own stories and hence educate the world about the storytellers.
Christopher Laird, founder and CEO of Trinidad television’s Gayelle the Channel, presented a 44-minute package of the station’s live coverage of the Drummit 2 Summit protest. Held during April’s Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, it was organized by The Rights Action Group and Fishermen and Friends of the Sea. Although in April yours truly reported the Drummit 2 Summit protest attracted fewer media and police than the Independence Square protest, this opinion was formed within the Summit’s security perimeter as Gayelle’s cameras were recording well beyond it. “We were getting calls from other outlets to carry the live feed,” this year’s recipient of the CTFF Lifetime Achievement Award recalled.
“Gayelle is meant to be a touchstone, there as you channel surf,” Laird told me. Since its founding in 2004, Gayelle’s purpose has been to provide space for “street voices, a place where people can jump in and show what we can do. Sports and Carnival have been the only two outlets for 50 years.” But, he notes, the technological revolution of the past five years has made media production far more accessible to people. While demanding Gayelle “remain as nimble as possible,” this shift facilitates and encourages the kind of creative expression bottled up for too long in the Caribbean due to lack of technological resources. The spirit is both willing and able.
Elspeth Duncan said Gayelle provided a “large canvas” with which to hone her skills. Before shooting even began on her first film, the cameraman called in absent with a family emergency. “I had to shoot on my own. And then I realized I can do it myself,” she reminisced. Her film “Invisible,” an HIV/AIDS-awareness film, has aired on several Trinidad networks. It’s the story of discrimination faced by Veronica and her 4-year-old daughter, both of whom are HIV-positive, and her 8-year-old son, who isn’t. You don’t see faces, only hands and arms, children’s crayon drawings, faces behind curtains. Duncan didn’t want to digitally frost out faces, to avoid “perpetuating the idea that HIV must hide.” And Veronica the Invisible narrates her own family’s story.
So it went. A documentary on Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder; music videos and full-length features; documentaries like “Gathering the Scattered Cousins,” in which Nigerian-born Akin Omotoso travels to his mother’s native Barbados for the first time, after her death. And as Elspeth Duncan noted, “The intimacy of the festival is good for connecting with people.” The films helped out in this regard, too.
14 juillet ’09
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Intimate and Inspiring
(Canada chronicles continued ...)
Some of my film work has been screened at various festivals - in Trinidad and internationally, but until this year (apart from festivals in Trinidad) I've only ever physically been to two of the international festivals - both in England. The second one was the Commonwealth Vision Awards (2004), which wasn't really a festival - it was an award ceremony at which they screened the films of those of us who had been awarded.
The first was the Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester (2003), where my film "All of Emily" was screened. It was a good experience, but perhaps because it was my 'first time' and I didn't know anyone, it was also a bit overwhelming. Opening night was a huge bee hive of people dressed in black, swarming around, greeting each other with dramatic 'Daaaaahhhhlings!' followed by the theatrical kissing of both cheeks and the exchanging of call cards and fancy postcards advertising films (none of which I had or knew anything about doing). It took a while for me to sink in.
In contrast, the recent 4th CaribbeanTales Film Festival (my third physically-attended international festival) was very intimate. I found this to be one of its strengths. The experience allowed everyone the opportunity to connect and interact easily with each other ... whether as founder, member of audience, film maker, organizer, volunteer, member of the media or guest of honour (who, this year, was Euzhan Palcy).
I think it's safe to say that everyone there was struck by Euzhan Palcy's ageless beauty, grounded energy and humility. I don't think she needed to speak much. Her work and her presence speak on her behalf. But when she did speak at length on the Saturday of the festival, in an interview with Professor Elizabeth Nunez, it was fascinating ... hearing of her life, inspiration and evolution as a film maker.
In her early years in Martinique, among other things, she used to write short stories, lock her brothers in a room with her (so they wouldn't escape once they were bored) and direct them in acting out her plots. They were always anxious to hear what was going to happen next in these 'productions'. It took me back to my own childhood when I would write short stories and books for my sisters, read to them and stage productions (not locking them in the room though), using their various dolls as the actors and the bed as the stage/location. My sisters would eagerly await the next episodes and sequels.
The beautifully produced opening night documentary - "Carmen and Geoffrey" was well selected. The love and passion these two share(d) for each other, their art and life in general was highly moving and emotive ... not only to me, but to others who commented on it post-screening. Through the film I saw their life partnership as a spontaneous, creative, combustive and alive experience - still ongoing. Early in the movie, Geoffrey, riding in a car, tells the camera that when he set eyes on Carmen for the first time, he knew she would be his. Four days later he proposed, she accepted and the rest is history.
How many can dive with such passion and immediacy into something or someone that they don't even 'know'?
I remember someone once tritely commenting to me (on the heels of an earlier CTFF) that the festival was small and simply consisted of the founder's friends and family. Being there this year I noted that the festival did indeed feel like a gathering of family and friends - literally and otherwise. The air of familiarity and fraternity placed icons not on lofty pedestals, but as neighbours on chairs around cosy tables with everyone, as equals. It was the 'friends and family' aspect of the CTFF that embraced us all as an integral part of the bigger picture.
You live and learn. This time I made little quarter-page flyers advertising Emily,
with links to the CTFF. Photocopied and guillotined at Kinko's on Bloor. Handed out to people in the area.
On a more personal note, what was this festival for me?
From my observation, audiences (whether small or more sizeable) were appreciative and respectful of the films they viewed. The feedback I got for my two (especially "Invisible") was good.
I reconnected with some people I already knew and haven't seen in a while and made connections with new ones (including other film makers) from Canada and the Caribbean.
I got interviewed by the Caribbeancamera newspaper and one of the TV stations.
I met up again with Professor Nunez (with whom I'd done a writing course at UTT last year) and she gave me the impetus to get back to working on my novel, Lily.
I got to speak/practice French a few times (inclusive of telling two French visitors about mon roman).
I was reminded of a few things ... one of them being that time waits on no one, that focus and dedication are of the essence and that one must find/know and follow/live one's passions. What else is there?
Most of all, I was grateful to this festival for being the catalyst in my decision to return now to Toronto. For both obvious and inexplicable reasons, TO has captured my heart and spirit in a way that no other place (to date) has. I had been intending to come later in the year ... but when I unexpectedly got the email about the CTFF, something in my heart blazed open in a way that I had not felt in a long while and I knew that, for whatever it was worth, I had to go there now. (Guided by a "Magical Raven" - long story). I knew the blazing heart feeling wasn't specifically about the festival. It was/is about something larger and more ongoing ... i.e. being alive, following my heart and trusting where it leads me even when I don't always know and understand exactly why.
Some of my film work has been screened at various festivals - in Trinidad and internationally, but until this year (apart from festivals in Trinidad) I've only ever physically been to two of the international festivals - both in England. The second one was the Commonwealth Vision Awards (2004), which wasn't really a festival - it was an award ceremony at which they screened the films of those of us who had been awarded.
The first was the Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester (2003), where my film "All of Emily" was screened. It was a good experience, but perhaps because it was my 'first time' and I didn't know anyone, it was also a bit overwhelming. Opening night was a huge bee hive of people dressed in black, swarming around, greeting each other with dramatic 'Daaaaahhhhlings!' followed by the theatrical kissing of both cheeks and the exchanging of call cards and fancy postcards advertising films (none of which I had or knew anything about doing). It took a while for me to sink in.
In contrast, the recent 4th CaribbeanTales Film Festival (my third physically-attended international festival) was very intimate. I found this to be one of its strengths. The experience allowed everyone the opportunity to connect and interact easily with each other ... whether as founder, member of audience, film maker, organizer, volunteer, member of the media or guest of honour (who, this year, was Euzhan Palcy).
I think it's safe to say that everyone there was struck by Euzhan Palcy's ageless beauty, grounded energy and humility. I don't think she needed to speak much. Her work and her presence speak on her behalf. But when she did speak at length on the Saturday of the festival, in an interview with Professor Elizabeth Nunez, it was fascinating ... hearing of her life, inspiration and evolution as a film maker.
In her early years in Martinique, among other things, she used to write short stories, lock her brothers in a room with her (so they wouldn't escape once they were bored) and direct them in acting out her plots. They were always anxious to hear what was going to happen next in these 'productions'. It took me back to my own childhood when I would write short stories and books for my sisters, read to them and stage productions (not locking them in the room though), using their various dolls as the actors and the bed as the stage/location. My sisters would eagerly await the next episodes and sequels.
The beautifully produced opening night documentary - "Carmen and Geoffrey" was well selected. The love and passion these two share(d) for each other, their art and life in general was highly moving and emotive ... not only to me, but to others who commented on it post-screening. Through the film I saw their life partnership as a spontaneous, creative, combustive and alive experience - still ongoing. Early in the movie, Geoffrey, riding in a car, tells the camera that when he set eyes on Carmen for the first time, he knew she would be his. Four days later he proposed, she accepted and the rest is history.
How many can dive with such passion and immediacy into something or someone that they don't even 'know'?
I remember someone once tritely commenting to me (on the heels of an earlier CTFF) that the festival was small and simply consisted of the founder's friends and family. Being there this year I noted that the festival did indeed feel like a gathering of family and friends - literally and otherwise. The air of familiarity and fraternity placed icons not on lofty pedestals, but as neighbours on chairs around cosy tables with everyone, as equals. It was the 'friends and family' aspect of the CTFF that embraced us all as an integral part of the bigger picture.
You live and learn. This time I made little quarter-page flyers advertising Emily,with links to the CTFF. Photocopied and guillotined at Kinko's on Bloor. Handed out to people in the area.
From my observation, audiences (whether small or more sizeable) were appreciative and respectful of the films they viewed. The feedback I got for my two (especially "Invisible") was good.
I reconnected with some people I already knew and haven't seen in a while and made connections with new ones (including other film makers) from Canada and the Caribbean.
I got interviewed by the Caribbeancamera newspaper and one of the TV stations.
I met up again with Professor Nunez (with whom I'd done a writing course at UTT last year) and she gave me the impetus to get back to working on my novel, Lily.
I got to speak/practice French a few times (inclusive of telling two French visitors about mon roman).
I was reminded of a few things ... one of them being that time waits on no one, that focus and dedication are of the essence and that one must find/know and follow/live one's passions. What else is there?
Most of all, I was grateful to this festival for being the catalyst in my decision to return now to Toronto. For both obvious and inexplicable reasons, TO has captured my heart and spirit in a way that no other place (to date) has. I had been intending to come later in the year ... but when I unexpectedly got the email about the CTFF, something in my heart blazed open in a way that I had not felt in a long while and I knew that, for whatever it was worth, I had to go there now. (Guided by a "Magical Raven" - long story). I knew the blazing heart feeling wasn't specifically about the festival. It was/is about something larger and more ongoing ... i.e. being alive, following my heart and trusting where it leads me even when I don't always know and understand exactly why.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
4th CaribbeanTales Film Festival starts today
(Canada Chronicles ...)
As Canada’s premier standalone Caribbean film festival, CaribbeanTales presents the best Caribbean films from around the world.July 9 - 12th 2009
William Doo Auditorium,
45 Willcocks St.,
Toronto, ON
| |
Tickets are available now through the University of Toronto Box Office at UofTtix Box Office, (416) 978-8849 or Uof T's Central Box Office, open Mon-Fri 11am-5pm in Hart House, U of T.
"Elliot, about my cremation. There's one thing I want you to do for me when it's over ..."Photo: Elspeth Duncan
Two of my films, "INVISIBLE" and "ALL OF EMILY" will be screened on Friday 10th July 2009 from 7:00 p.m. for "Trinidad Night" at the 4th CaribbeanTales Film Festival, which starts today.
"Trinidad Night" will feature "an explosion of new work by film and TV creators from the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago."
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
"Out of the Box" stimulates youth discussion
Production still: One of the young girls who worked with me on the film "Out of the Box".*
The theme of this year's National Poetry Festival is "Defying the Disease through the Power of the Word: Resisting Stigma and Discrimination". The organisers are focusing on identifying innovative ways of addressing problems associated with HIV/AIDS. One of their points of focus is the role which can be played by the media in the reduction of stigma and discrimination.
In light of this, I was asked by the organisers to use one of the HIV-related films I've worked on for TTCRC. The first was Invisible.
I gave them the second and most recent film, Out of the Box, which I worked on with girls aged 12 - 17 over the 2008 Christmas holidays and into January 2009. The festival organisers screened it on Monday as part of National Poetry Week, at an event/panel discussion for school children at the National Library.
"Out of the Box" was the catalyst which stimulated a vital discussion post-screening. Read more in this media release from the Idakeda website, which outlines the event (see below):
Media Release
Young people speak frankly about dealing with HIV and AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago
In light of this, I was asked by the organisers to use one of the HIV-related films I've worked on for TTCRC. The first was Invisible.
I gave them the second and most recent film, Out of the Box, which I worked on with girls aged 12 - 17 over the 2008 Christmas holidays and into January 2009. The festival organisers screened it on Monday as part of National Poetry Week, at an event/panel discussion for school children at the National Library.
"Out of the Box" was the catalyst which stimulated a vital discussion post-screening. Read more in this media release from the Idakeda website, which outlines the event (see below):
Media Release
Young people speak frankly about dealing with HIV and AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago
A touching film about a family living with the discrimination caused by HIV and AIDS was the catalyst for an open and frank dialogue among young people attending the Poetry Festival Panel Discussion on Monday. The film 'Out of the Box' by Elspeth Duncan depicts an HIV positive mother and her children who do not have the virus, talking about the reactions from the rest of the community to their situation.
In discussing the main theme of the session 'The Role of the Media in Resisting Stigma and Discrimination' a number of important and concerning points came out. According to the young people present there is still a high prevalence of unprotected sex among their age group. Additionally, they admit that young people do not educate themselves about HIV and refuse to get tested either out of embarrassment, fear or simple ignorance.
They pointed out that another important reason for young people not being as proactive as they should be, is the perceived general lack of tolerance to the issue. This lack of tolerance they say, leads to insensitivity in the community and lack of confidentiality.
At the end of the discussion some very real solutions were recommended:
- Use community centres and spaces more effectively as sources of counseling and real help for young people
- Retrain health care workers. The young people complained that they would meet surly and unhelpful health care staff, who actually would not treat them with sensitivity or care once they know about your HIV positive status.
- Develop programmes specifically targeted towards parents to help with their knowledge, empathy and general awareness
- Increase the number of targeted programmes in schools
- Incorporate education about HIV and AIDS in the school curriculum, even at the primary level as a means of breaking down uninformed opinions and prejudice
We would like to thank the young people for their contributions and at Idakeda will continue to do our part to make a difference.
Stay with us on our journey ...
Friday, September 19, 2008
Great news ... for those who missed the dance
One of the dancers in Invisible (the Dance) - choreographed by Sonja Dumas*
Those of you who never got to see Invisible (the Dance) which was inspired by Invisible (the mini documentary), will get the opportunity to do so this Saturday 20 September at Movie Towne, when Invisible (the mini doc) makes its first appearance.I have seen the dance performed twice and was moved both times. As such, I thought it would be fantastic to have it performed along with the film at the festival, for maximum emotive impact.
When I approached Sonja with the idea, she and the dancers agreed. Even though the space in the cinema is not optimal (not designed for dance and not spacious enough for full movement), it is worth adapting to the spacial limitations and giving it a try. Thanks also to the FF organisers for agreeing to let us do it.
Invisible will be screened at 8 p.m. on the dot. The dance (4 mins long) will happen just before. They are running a tight schedule, so if you do not want to miss it, please make sure to be seated by 7:30/7:45 p.m.
There will be a short Q & A session with the film maker (me) after.
Hope you can make it.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
TTFF focuses on Caribbean women filmmakers
Source: Today's Newsday
Among the women filmmakers are Sonja Dumas and Nalini Akal, whose films – W and Dancescape, respectively – both incorporate the subject of dance, in strikingly different ways. Dumas’s film is a meditation on water and the environment, while Akal’s is a portrait of a dancer who fuses different styles in her work.
Renee Pollonais’ Directions is a wonderfully comedic look at how Trinidadians give (or don’t give) directions. In sobering contrast, Invisible by Elspeth Duncan is a heartbreaking, yet hopeful documentary about a woman and her young daughter living with HIV.
Other films helmed by women to be screened at the Festival are On the Map, by Annalee Davis, an eye-opening look at regional migration and the CSME; Kareen Brown’s The Fiddler, a touching portrait of a well-known street musician; and Wrestling with Angels, an exploration of Caribbean identity through the medium of the music video, by Marsha Pearce.
Prominent female guests of the Festival include Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, award-winning independent film producer Effie T Brown (Executive Producer of In The Cut 2003) and Stephanie James of Shakti Productions who, along with her husband Steven James, produces the popular magazine series Women West Indies.
The TTFF is being hosted at MovieTowne and at other venues throughout the country. For more information,visit the website at www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com. and the blog, at www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.blogspot.com
WOMEN DIRECTORS are set to make their presence felt at the 2008 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF).
The TTFF, which is running until September 30, is an annual celebration of films from and about Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and its diaspora, and Latin America. This year, there are more films in the Festival made by women than ever before, covering a wide range of themes and genres.Among the women filmmakers are Sonja Dumas and Nalini Akal, whose films – W and Dancescape, respectively – both incorporate the subject of dance, in strikingly different ways. Dumas’s film is a meditation on water and the environment, while Akal’s is a portrait of a dancer who fuses different styles in her work.
Renee Pollonais’ Directions is a wonderfully comedic look at how Trinidadians give (or don’t give) directions. In sobering contrast, Invisible by Elspeth Duncan is a heartbreaking, yet hopeful documentary about a woman and her young daughter living with HIV.
Other films helmed by women to be screened at the Festival are On the Map, by Annalee Davis, an eye-opening look at regional migration and the CSME; Kareen Brown’s The Fiddler, a touching portrait of a well-known street musician; and Wrestling with Angels, an exploration of Caribbean identity through the medium of the music video, by Marsha Pearce.
Prominent female guests of the Festival include Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, award-winning independent film producer Effie T Brown (Executive Producer of In The Cut 2003) and Stephanie James of Shakti Productions who, along with her husband Steven James, produces the popular magazine series Women West Indies.
The TTFF is being hosted at MovieTowne and at other venues throughout the country. For more information,visit the website at www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com. and the blog, at www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.blogspot.com
Monday, September 15, 2008
On TV tomorrow
As one of the film makers with a film in the TTFF, I will be on TV tomorrow talking about INVISIBLE, which will be screened on Monday 22 September at 5:30 p.m.
6:15 am on Gayelle
10:00 am on Allyson Hennessy's show on NCCTV 4
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
TT Film Festival 2008 17 - 30 September
The Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival
Movie Towne
17 - 30 September, 2008
INVISIBLE will be showing on 22 September at 5:30 p.m. (all ages)
Lots of films to be shown.
Click on the TTFF link and have a look at the schedule.
Movie Towne
17 - 30 September, 2008
INVISIBLE will be showing on 22 September at 5:30 p.m. (all ages)
(Below: extract from festival website):
Invisible: Children Living with HIV/AIDS
Running Time : 10 minutes
Origin : Trinidad & Tobago
Year : 2007
Director : Elspeth Duncan
Heartbreaking, heartwarming yet hopeful, this mini-documentary focuses on the true story of Veronica and her two children. Both Veronica and her four-year-old daughter are HIV positive. In light of the debilitating social discrimination faced by the small family as a result of HIV, Invisible asks which is the greater threat to human existence: HIV/AIDS or ignorance?
Lots of films to be shown.
Click on the TTFF link and have a look at the schedule.
Monday, August 25, 2008
A bit about the workshop
View of the beach just in front of the hotel and the little room where the students were immersed in environmental sessions and lectures in the 3 days before the drama and film workshops began.*
We stayed at the open and friendly Mt. Plaisir, which is practically on the beach. Most people, local and foreign, who go to that beach have come at night to witness the nesting of the giant leatherback turtles (hundreds per night). A fascinating experience. Karen (aka Chookooloonks) gives an informative personal overview of a nesting experience here. I will share some more about that (with a short video) in another post.
Even though we were housed in such a rustic and relaxing location, we managed to get all of our work done within the six fleeting days. Five of the eighteen youths were allocated as my film group. We had three of the six days in which to workshop 'film'. Given the short time frame I decided to focus initially on concept and conceptualising and, from that point, the students conceptualised and created short environmentally conscious pieces inspired by their Northern range experience, their information gathered and their feelings felt. A few days of fun, focus, feelings and filming ... and for me, my second lengthy stay on the north eastern coast doing creative workshops (one as participant, one as facilitator) within a one month period.
See a few more photos from the 6 day stretch here. Click on each photo to see the caption below it, explaining what it is.
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