f Paria - Ins and Outs of Trinidad & Tobago 2013

at the 2009 Festival had almost doubled from two years ago; everyone
from business executives to high-school students and housewives,
flocked to the MovieTowne theatres to see heroes and heroines that
represented their historical and cultural truth onscreen.
An official statement from the TTFC said, “TTFC’s mandate is both
to develop local content and ensure the increased appreciation and
appetite for local films. To this end, TTFC is a sponsor of the Film
Festival and we have noted the support provided by other private
sector sponsors.”
The Solitary Alchemist is just one prototype of how excellence in
local film industry has emerged. The TTFC statement added, “We have
seen the overall standard and calibre of the festival improve year-onyear
and with increased private sector support we expect this trend
to continue.”
Several excellent and often controversial films held court at the
2009 Festival, including Yao Ramesar’s Sista God: The Second Coming
and The Ghost of Hing King Estate by Francis Escayg. Coolie Pink and
Green, produced and written by Professor Patricia Mohammed won
the People’s Choice Award at the Festival. Carmen and Geoffrey,
based on the life of Trini-born dancer, artist and musician, Geoffrey
Holder and his dancer wife Carmen de Lavallade, and produced by an
American film crew, won the festival’s Best Film award.
Every year there is an increase in the number and quality of local
entries. Novice and established filmmakers have begun to experiment
with different genres. Filmmakers also seem more inclined to use T&Tbased
storylines, archetypes and legends, like Jardine and Holder, to
create their films and documentaries. It’s a burgeoning industry, but
also historical documentation of indigenous culture and development
through its people.
“The point of our film was to show the movement of black dance
in the U.S. through the Alvin Ailey Company,” said Linda Atkinson.
She and her husband, Nick Doob, produced and directed Carmen and
Geoffrey, following the couple to Trinidad, Texas and Paris to film their
continuing work. “But it started when we realised that Carmen and
Geoffrey are just too important not to have a film made about them.”
Jardine’s work is similarly important; she had not received wide
local recognition before The Solitary Alchemist was released, but
her work is internationally acclaimed. One of her best pieces, called
The Warrior, is exhibited at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
She recently received a grant to produce pieces for an exhibition in
Scotland in two years; no pressure to make a living, she said, just the
freedom to let her creativity loose. Brown remembers seeing Jardine’s
work as a child, and growing up to realise how important it was for her
genius to be accessed by the wider T&T community.
“She has not been recognised as she should be,” argued Brown,
whose crew filmed Jardine for three years in three locations—Scotland,
England and Trinidad.
The TTFC exists to promote T&T talent and resources in the film
industry. According to its Web site: T&T boasts twelve production
companies, thirty-three companies that offer production support and
nine television stations, as well as a host of film-ready locations, many
of which have been used by foreign film crews. The TTFC estimates
that between 2005 and 2006, foreign film-production companies
contributed nearly US$1.4 million in revenue for this country.
“The Solitary Alchemist’s production value attests to T&T’s
capability as a filmmaking country. Mariel Brown is establishing a
new benchmark through her work,” the Film Company stated. “The
Solitary Alchemist film is certainly an exemplar. Both it and Carmen
Heigh-ho, My Heart
and Geoffrey are well-produced films, which will hopefully
find their way to many international festivals to be enjoyed by
international audiences.”
“In 2009, a partnership with the Black Filmmakers (bfm)
International Film Festival (IFF) facilitated the screening of a
selection of films made by filmmakers of Caribbean origin
at the 2009 TTFF,” the TTFC said. This collaboration in turn
ensured that local films were screened in the U.K. to Diaspora
audiences. The first three films screened at the festival,
which took place from November 6–10, were Soca Power,
by Jean Michel Gibert, Mas Man by Dalton Narine and The
Ghost of Hing King Estate by Francis Escayg. The company’s
Production Assistance and Script Development programme
(PASD) provides funding to nationals for film production, and
awardees continue to produce award-winning films.
The TTFC and other stakeholders are building a tangible
continuity within the film industry’s professionals. But a
less tangible continuity exists within the stories themselves;
audience impact is immeasurable, but can go a long way to
validating film in T&T, and authenticating the T&T film industry
internationally.
“It’s got good lessons in it…it’s got lot of emotion, it’s got a
lot of heart,” Jardine said of The Solitary Alchemist. “It shows
the soul behind the work.”
Michele Jorsling
The Ins & Outs of Trinidad and Tobago
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