Thursday, July 30, 2009

CaribbeanTales is proud to partner with the Harbourfront Center's Island Soul Festival

Caribbean Tales Presents An Exciting Day of Films at the Harbourfront Center's "Island Soul" Festival

Caribbean Tales Annual Film Festival is proud to partner with the Harbourfront Centre to present a day of exciting film screenings and thought-provoking Talk Back sessions at the Island Soul Festival.

Curated by Caribbean Tales’ artistic director, Frances-Anne Solomon, an accomplished filmmaker, writer, director and producer, the day promises to be one you don’t want to miss.

Diasporic Documentaries
August 2, 2009 1.30pm

Featuring a selection of dynamic documentaries from the Caribbean and it's Diaspora.

Alex Cuba: The Making of Alex Cuba by Safiya Randera

From the Cuban countryside to rural British Columbia, discover Juno winner Alex Cuba. The Making of Alex Cuba observes the artist in his emerging success as an international musician from recording in Havana's famous Egrem Studios through behind-the-scenes footage of the upcoming music video, Tu Boca. Join Alex Cuba as he looks within his own history for discoveries on bridging culture through music. (24 min)

The Insatiable Season: Making Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago by Mariel Brown

The Insatiable Season: Making Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, a documentary production of SAVANT Ltd, was launched in January 2008, just in time for carnival. "The Insatiable Season is ... a film that, simply and appropriately, finds joy in the mundane romance of putting a mas together, from the conceptualising of the band to the construction of the costumes . . . and yes, in the end, to wining down to the ground come Carnival Tuesday. . . This is a highly enjoyable film, not least for the bits of candour it is so adroitly able to capture." --The Caribbean Review of Books, August 2008

Ramabai Espinet: Coming Home by Frances-Anne Solomon

Ramambai Espinet visits her home town of San Fernando, Trinidad. What was planned as “a simple, nostalgic trip” soon becomes a fascinating journey into a brilliant writer's personal history and cultural heritage. (44 min)

TRINIDAD EXPLOSION
August 2nd, 2009. 5pm

A spotlight on the explosion of new film and television work from the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

Bacchanal by Lisa Wickham

Music video from Destra Garcia's 2009 abum, Hott. (4 min)

Mami Wata by Yao Ramesar

An Orisha ceremony at the feast for Yemanja, the water goddess, at Salibiya Bay in Trinidad whee the river delta meets the sea. (11 min)

Reunion by Frances-Anne Solomon

In 1943, three hundred middle class "coloured" women from across the West Indies were recruited to the ATS, a branch of the British Army. This documentary documents for the first time the contribution of these women to WW2.(25mins)

Carmen and Geoffrey by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob

This beautiful feature documentary is about the work of two exceptional artists, dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade and director, painter, choreographer and designer Geoffrey Holder, who stepped forward in the 1950's to play a vital part in the newly energized world of American modern dance. It is also about a fifty-four year long love affair and the creative partnership that sustained their accomplishments. (80mins)

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

CaribbeanTales celebrates the success of its 4th Annual CaribbeanTales Film Festival

Toronto – July 22, 2009

The much buzzed about 4th Annual CaribbeanTales Film Festival has come to a close after another successful year: four event-filled days celebrating the exploding film and television industry across the Caribbean and it's Diaspora.

As Canada’s premier standalone Caribbean film festival, CaribbeanTales presented an astounding 65 of the best Caribbean films from around the world this past weekend. CaribbeanTales, Founder and Artistic Director Frances-Anne Solomon would like to thank all participants and sponsors for making this year’s theme “Caribbean Film – A Tool for Education and Social Change” a huge success!

A highlight of the festival this year was the CaribbeanTales Industry Development Program (CTIDP), an initiative that provided educational industry activities such as training workshops, roundtable sessions, and panel discussions on film practice, animation, business development and marketing to support producers to break into the Canadian industry.

Many special guests travelled from abroad to attend the festival this year including: Director Melissa Gomez (Antigua/UK), Producer Magali Damas (New York/Haiti), filmmaker and photographer Richardo Scipio (Vancouver, Canada) Penelope Hynam and Ian Smith from the Barbados Film and Video Association, Annette Nias from the National Cultural Foundation in Barbados, and Dr. Gladstone Yearwood, Director of the Errol Barrow Center for Creative Imagination, UWI, in Barbados.

Also present was a stellar contingent from Trinidad and Tobago including Lisa Wickham, CEO of Imagine International; Christopher Laird, CEO of Gayelle The Channel; Camille Selvon Abrahams, Founder/Director of Anime Caribe Animation and New Media Festival; Dr. Jean Antoine of the University of the West Indies; multi-media artist Elspeth Duncan, and emerging filmmakers Dara Healey and Andre Johnson.

Canadian-Caribbean filmmakers also participated in numbers including ReelWorld Film Festival President and Actor Tonya Lee Williams, multi-award winning video artist and lecturer Richard Fung, filmmaker and academic Dr. Michelle Mohabeer, Producer/director Nicole Brooks, Global TV Executive Karen King, National Film Board Producer Lea Main, "Soul" creator Andy Marshall, Director Powys Dewhurst and Vancouver-based Producer Glace Lawrence.

The festival's high point took place on Saturday evening with the Tribute Awards Ceremony which honored the careers of a number of movers and shakers in the Caribbean film industry.

The coveted Award of Honour went to Mme. Euzhan Palcy whoo was the first woman of African descent to ever direct a Hollywood Studio movie when she made A Dry White Season with Marlon Brando and Donald Sutherland in 1989. Ms Palcy who came from France to receive the Award, spoke movingly of the importance of this Festival.

"It is most important to me that we as Caribbean people be able to express love and appreciation for each other, not just in our films, but in relation to each other. For that, I treasure this award above others." Said Ms Palcy, whose first film Black Shack Alley, produced in 1983, remains a seminal Caribbean cinematic achievement.

Christopher Laird, Co-Founder and CEO of Gayelle The Channel in Trinidad received this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering use of television as a tool for community and social engagement. Earlier in the festival, rapt audiences were also treated to the World Premiere of Christopher's new film Drummit2Summit, which documents a tense stand-off between Police and local activists during the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain in April 2009.

Along with Mr. Laird, tribute was paid to several extraordinary Caribbean talents including Camille Selvon Abrahams who received the 2009 Innovation Award, for her groundbreaking and visionary work in establishing the Caribbean's first Animation studio and film festival (Anime Caribe) that trains, produces and exhibits work by a new generation of Caribbean-centered Animators.

Jamaican Film and Theatre icon Leonie Forbes presented the Festival's first Leonie Forbes Award to Canadian-Jamaican rising star Michael Miller for his work as an actor and youth worker youth-at-risk in Public Housing communities in Toronto.

Actor and Producer Tonya Lee Williams received this year's Award for Community Service in recognition for her tireless generosity in establishing and maintaining the Reel World Film Festival and Foundation, whose vision is to showcase Canada's diversity in film. The festival is now 10 years old.

Barbadian-Canadian actor, director, and producer Alison Sealey Smith received the 2009 Award for Excellence, presented to her by the Consulate General for Barbados in Toronto, Mr Leroy McClean. Ms Sealey-Smith's many accomplishments include Founding Artistic Director of the Obsidian Theatre, Canada's prolific and Dora Award-winning Black theatre company.

"Team Barbados (The Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), Invest Barbados and the Consulate General of Barbados)is happy to have been a part of this event and wishes the Festival every success as it continues to chart new paths in the artistic expression of the Caribbean's stories."said Leroy McCLean, Consul General for Barbados in Toronto.

The 2009 CaribbeanTales Film Festival was produced in association with The University of Toronto. Among the Festival's many sponsors were the Consulate Generals for Barbados, France, Trinidad & Tobago, The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company and the Canada Council for the Arts.

The CaribbeanTales Film Festival is founded by award-winning director, filmmaker and festival curator Frances-Anne Solomon who has had great success with her most recent highly acclaimed feature film A Winter Tale (for Telefilm Canada/CHUM Television).

CaribbeanTales is Canada’s premier multimedia company that creates, markets and distributes educational films, videos, radio programs, audio books, theatre plays, websites and events, to showcase the rich heritage of Caribbean Diaspora worldwide.

CaribbeanTales’ mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and citizen participation through the medium of film, contributing to an inclusive Canadian society.

Photos: The Festival's Guest Of Honor Mme. Euzhan Palcy; Jamaican film and theatre icon Leonie Forbes, who presented this year's Leonie Forbes Award to actor Michael Miller - with author Elizabeth Nunez, a guest of the Festival; Barbados' Consul General in Toronto, Leroy McClean presenting the Award of Excellence to Barbadian-Canadian Actor/Director/Producer Alison Sealey-Smith; Canadian-Trinidadian filmmaker Richard Fung listens to Gayelle The Channel's CEO Christopher Laird, recipient of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award; Mme. Euzhan Palcy with Trinidadian Animator and CEO of Anime Caribe Camille Selvon Abrahams, recipient of the Innovation Award; Reelworld Festival's CEO Tonya Lee Williams, who received the 2009 Community Service Award, with CaribbeanTales Founder and Director Frances-Anne Solomon.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Canadian Black Film Festival Honours Frances-Anne Solomon for Her Outstanding Achievements in Canadian Film

Dear Friends,

The Canadian Black Film Festival is hosting the event below on Sunday July 19th 1pm-5pm, and I hope you will come out and join me.

Much love,
Frances-Anne

__________________________________


Toronto – July 16, 2009

The Canadian Black Film Festival’s monthly Film Club is pleased to announce its July session – a special tribute to prolific award-winning Filmmaker, Writer and Producer Frances-Anne Solomon.

Three of Frances-Anne Solomon’s films will be shown in celebration of her achievements in Canadian and international film, taking place this Sunday July 19th, 2009 from 1pmto 5pm at the National Film Board of Canada (150 John St.).

“I am honored to be recognized by this dynamic community of my peers,” said Solomon. “The Canadian Black Film Festival and Film Club reflects the growing importance and contribution of Black filmmakers to the tapestry of Canadian film and television”

The Canadian Black Film Festival created the Film Club as a means of showcasing both Canadian and international filmmakers who produce works with Black world cinema content.

The tribute session titled “The Legacy of Frances-Anne Solomon, Lady Filmmaker” will screen three of her most captivating short films: Reunion, Bideshi and What My Mother Told Me. Following the screenings, Ms. Solomon will lead a discussion about her experience in the film industry, while discussing several of her upcoming projects.

Frances-Anne Solomon has had tremendous success with her most recent highly acclaimed feature film A Winter Tale (for Telefilm Canada/CHUM Television). The film is an emotional story about a Black Men's Support Group that comes together in a local Toronto Caribbean take-out restaurant in the wake of gun violence that takes the life of a young child.

A Winter Tale has won many prestigious, international awards, most recently at FESPACO 2009 (Africa’s Oscars held biannually in Burkina Faso, West Africa). It was nominated for, and won Special Mention in the Paul Robeson Diaspora Award category.

Following on the success of A Winter Tale, Solomon recently presented the world premiere of her new theatrical project Lockdown, which opened at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

Lockdown stars Jamaican film and theatre icon Leonie Forbes (What My Mother Told Me, Lord Have Mercy, A Winter Tale) and rising Toronto star Michael Miller (A Winter Tale, Get Rich or Die Trying) alongside a talented ensemble of young actors selected from city-wide auditions held across the GTA. It tells the explosive fictional story of a group of young people held hostage during a high school lockdown, and picks apart the violence that threatens to undermine their dreams.


Alongside her work as a writer/director, Frances-Anne Solomon is the president and artistic director of the two companies she created: Leda Serene Films and CaribbeanTales. She is the founder of the Annual CaribbeanTales Film Festival, which celebrates local and international Caribbean cinema. As Canada’s premier standalone Caribbean film festival, CaribbeanTales presents the best Caribbean films from around the world. Other recent projects by Solomon include HeartBeat – a documentary series profiling Caribbean musical creators; Literature Alive, a many facetted multimedia project profiling Caribbean authors; and the Gemini-nominated Lord Have Mercy!, Canada’s landmark multicultural sitcom, for Vision TV, Toronto1, APTN and Showcase.

CaribbeanTales is Canada’s premier multimedia company that creates, markets and distributes educational films, videos, radio programs, audio books, theatre plays, websites and events, to showcase the rich heritage of Caribbean Diaspora worldwide.

CaribbeanTales’ mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and citizen participation through the medium of film, contributing to an inclusive Canadian society.

Photos: Filmmaker, writer and producer Frances-Anne Solomon; Jamaican film and theatre icon Leonie Forbes in "What My Mother Told Me"; famed Indian actor Roshan Seth (Mississippi Massala, Such A Long Journey, Ghandi) in "Bideshi"; British actor Adjoa Andoh in "Reunion"; and, a scene from Solomon's new play "Lockdown".

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Caribbean People with Colin Rickards

Filmmaker Euzhan Palcy gives back

By Colin Rickards


When award-winning filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon announced her intention in 2005 of staging a Caribbean-focussed film festival in Toronto I recall a naysayer commenting: “It won’t work. Frances-Anne is dreaming.”

The lady was wrong in her assertion, because, though on a modest scale, the first Caribbean Tales Film Festival did work, and worked very well. She was right -- though not in the way she meant the phrase -- that Solomon was “dreaming.” She was also making the dreams into realities: The 4th Caribbean Tales Film Festival -- a four-day visual feast -- ended last Sunday.

“It is Canada’s only standalone festival showcasing the best of Caribbean cinema from around the world,” Solomon says with justifiable pride.

Featuring local and international Caribbean cinema, the Festival brought together full-length films and shorts, stories and documentaries, by Caribbean or Caribbean Diaspora filmmakers from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, the UK, Africa, India, the U.S. and Canada.

It has been said that the respect and esteem which any film festival enjoys can be gauged by the calibre of the guests -- not just the filmmakers who attend to screen their work -- the established professionals in the industry, who attend because they want to be part of it all.

Consequently, it was an enormous feather in Solomon’s cap when Martinique-born filmmaker Euzhan Palcy enthusiastically responded to an invitation to come to Toronto and play an active role in her Festival.


“Caribbean film festivals are always important to me,” Palcy, who flew in from Paris, told me. “It has always been my dream to be able to connect -- and connect with -- people in the Caribbean who are making films.”

She was the first Caribbean woman -- and also the first woman of African descent -- to direct a movie for a major Hollywood Studio movie. This was MGM’s 1989 South Africa-set film “A Dry White Season,” starring Donald Sutherland and Susan Sarandon, with a cameo appearance by Marlon Brando, which earned him an Academy Award Nomination.

Euzhan -- it is pronounced Urzan -- Palcy was already a fairly seasoned director, producer and writer by then, having made her first TV film, called “The Messenger,” for Martinique television at the age of 17.

She told me that she was so certain that filmmaking was what she wanted to do that when she went to the Sorbonne -- University of Paris -- she not only took Literature, Theatre and Opera, but also enrolled to study Cinema at the Rue Lumiere School.

At the age of 14 her mother had given her a novel by Josef Zobel about sugarcane cutters in Martinique, and she used it to direct a short film called “The Devil’s Workshop” in 1982. The following year she directed a full length film version of the book under the title of “Sugar Cane Alley.”

It won Palcy a Best First Film award from the French Academy of Cinema and the Silver Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival. Since then, she has won awards at the famed Cannes Film Festival and elsewhere, and received French civil honours as a Chevalier in the National Order of Merit, and the Legion of Honour. Yet even with her international adulation she has remained grounded.

“Remember where you come from,” Palcy urged the young filmmakers attending the Festival. “Never forget. Always go back -- and give back!”


She deliberately includes young would-be filmmakers on the sets of her films, to give them an understanding of the craft, and her director/producer -- and writer -- credits are significant.
They include an important 1994 three-part documentary on Martinique’s literary giant Aime Cesaire, who died last year. It was called “A Voice for History.” Her 1999 TV film for ABC called “Ruby Bridges” was about the six-year-old African-American girl who integrated the New Orleans’ elementary school system.

Palcy was last here in 2001 for the premiere of her film “The Killing Yard” at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was about the Attica Prison Riot of three decades earlier -- and its official cover-up -- and starred Alan Alda and Morris Chestnut.

“I pick my stories,” Palcy says. “I have a point to make.”

She was guest-of-honour at a lunch on Saturday, during which she was publicly interviewed by Trinidad-born author Elizabeth Nunez -- who came up specially from New York -- and answered audience questions. “A Dry White Season” was shown that afternoon, she received an Award of Honour on Saturday evening and “Ruby Bridges” was screened on Sunday.

Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Caribbean Tales Film Festival had the theme “Caribbean Film -- A Tool for Education and Social Change” and featured some hard-hitting documentaries, as well as films depicting social problems in the Caribbean and the Caribbean Diaspora.

“Caribbean film is palpably taking off,” Solomon says. “There has been an explosion of work over the past three years, but filmmaking is a back-breakingly hard profession, and a lot of us work in isolation.”

Her Festival opened with the Canadian premiere of “Carmen & Geoffrey,” a fascinating documentary about the lives of dancer, choreographer and actor Geoffrey Holder and his dancer/choreographer wife Carmen de Lavallade.

Solomon was running on adrenalin. She has just successfully presented her play “Lockdown” at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and tells me that it may in due course also become a film, as was the case with her stage play “A Winter Tale,” which went on to win awards at many international film festivals. The DVD was launched last Saturday.

For the record, Frances-Anne Solomon is still dreaming -- of making next year’s Caribbean Tales Film Festival, the fifth, even better.

Photos: Euzhan Palcy in conversation with Trinidadian author Dr. Elizabeth Nunez; being interviewed by journalist Colin Rickards; and receiving the CaribbeanTales Film Festival's Award of Excellence from Founder/Artistic Director Frances-Anne Solomon.

Monday, July 6, 2009

LOCKDOWN is getting rave reviews!

Dear Friends,

After our 3rd almost sold-out performance at the 2009 Toronto Fringe, the play is receiving rave reviews.

The Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/theatre/article/661058
"This gripping new work by writer/director Frances-Anne Solomon presents us with a classroom of various types rebelling against parental, school and police authority."

Moody's Global - by Gillian Moody

http://gillianmoody.blogspot.com/2009/07/july-1st-12th-lockdown-at-fringe.html
“Powerful plays like Lockdown are what we Fringe-aholics crave. Ms Solomon developed her stellar script through a collaborative improvisational process with the entire cast to further refine the ideas she explored in A Winter Tale.”

The More The Merrier - by Donna G

http://tmtmshow.blogspot.com/
"Please bring some young people with you to see this play. The young cast is incredibly natural, and legendary Jamaican actress Leonie Forbes is at her usual best. "

We also got "Recommended Viewing" in both the Toronto Star and Scene Changes Online

http://www.scenechanges.com/
http://www.scenechanges.com/previews.html
"Frances-Anne Solomon's Fringe show Lockdown is one step more for the award winning writer/filmmaker/producer to use storytelling to explore difficult personal experiences.
"

There are more performances taking place on:

Monday, July 6: 10:45pm to 12:15am
Tuesday, July 7: 1pm to 2:30pm
Friday, July 10: 4pm to 5:30pm
Sunday, July 12: 8:30pm to 12pm

Venue: George Ignatieff Theatre, Devonshire Place, Toronto.

Look forward to seeing you at the Fringe!

Best,
Daniel

---------------------------------------
Daniel Schneider
Pennant Media Group

Friday, July 3, 2009

CaribbeanTales Film Festival starts tomorrow!!!!

Friends,

The 4th CaribbeanTales Film Fstival starts tomorrow. Don't miss it!

Where: William Doo Auditorium, 45 Willcocks Avenue, Toronto

When: July 9th - 12th 2009

Our FULL FESTIVAL PROGRAM is online here.

Tickets are available now through the University of Toronto Box Office at UofTtix Box Office, (416) 978-8849 http://uofttix.ca, or Uof T's Central Box Office, Open Mon-Fri 11am-5pm in Hart House, Uof T.

Program Highlights

Thursday July 9th:

12 noon. Welcome Lunch. Join us to welcome our valued filmmakers! This year we welcome participants from Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica, Curacao, the U.K., the U.S. and Canada. Our special guest is internationally renowned Martinican filmmaker Euzhan Palcy.

12:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Industry Series. Featuring presentations and contributions from filmmakers, academics and industry leaders, in a Round Table format.


5:00 pm - late. Opening VIP Reception and Gala Presentation. Hosted by the Consulate General for Barbados, Toronto. Our Opening Night Feature is the beautiful documentary Carmen and Geoffrey about two exceptional artists, Trinidadian director, choreographer, designer, dancer and painter Geoffrey Holder and his wife American dancer Carmen de Lavallade, and their fifty-three year long love affair and creative partnership.

Friday July 10th:

12 noon - 5:00 pm. YOUTH DAY. A Program of edutainment, featuring screenings and workshops, aimed at young people 12-18 years old.

5:00 pm - late. Trinidad Night. An explosion of new work by film and TV creators from the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

Saturday July 11th:

12 noon. An Afternoon with Euzhan Palcy. Come and meet one of the most versatile, passionate and accomplished filmmakers working in the world today. Euzhan Palcy was the first woman of African heritgae to direct a hollywood movie with A Dry White Season starring Marlon Brando and Susan Sarandon.

5:00 pm - late. Night of Tribute. The 2nd CaribbeanTales Awards Ceremony honors the distinguished careers and contributions of a number of industry leaders and film Artists.


Sunday July 12th:


11:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Sunday at the Movies. Unparrallelled popcorn movie entertainment for your Sunday viewing pleasure!


8:00 pm . Closing Night.
The Canadian Premiere of Ricardo Scipio's 2nd Feature Finder of Lost Children.

See you there!
Frances-Anne

_____________________________________________


From exciting premieres to industry youth workshops, CaribbeanTales brings only the best Caribbean films from around the world.

Toronto – July 8th, 2009

For its fourth fabulous year, the CaribbeanTales Film Festival returns with four days of exciting programs, celebrating local and international Caribbean cinema. As Canada’s premier standalone Caribbean film festival, CaribbeanTales presents the best Caribbean films from around the world at the William Doo Auditorium (45 Willcocks St.) this July 9th to 12th 2009.

With the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts and in partnership with New College, University of Toronto and U of T’s Caribbean Studies Program, this year’s theme, Caribbean Film – A Tool for Education and Social Change, brings together filmmakers and producers from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, the Eastern Caribbean, the UK, Africa, the U.S. and Canada.
Kicking off its opening night celebrations on Thursday July 9th, 2009, CaribbeanTales Film Festival premieres the groundbreaking film Carmen & Geoffrey. Directed by the husband/wife team, Trinidadian director Nick Doob and American director Linda Atkinson, the film is about two extraordinary artists who step forward to play a vital role in the 1950s newly energized world of modern dance in the midst of their own love affair. Hosted by the Consulate General of Barbados, the evening starts at 5pm with a VIP Reception, followed by the feature presentation, and ends with an after party at the
GSU Pub.

In addition to the opening attraction, the festival launches the CaribbeanTales Industry Development Program (CTIDP), an initiative that provides educational industry activities such as training workshops, roundtable sessions, and panel discussions on film practice, animation, business development and marketing to help youth and emerging talent break into the industry and succeed.

CaribbeanTales Film Festival holds its annual Youth Day (July 10th), an edu-tainment program designed for young people aged 12 to 18. It is followed by a special thematic evening entitled Trinidad Night, sponsored by The Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, featuring an evening of films exclusively from Trinidad.

This year, the festival is honouring the outstanding career of the award-winning international director Euzhan Palcy from Martinique, the first woman of African descent to ever direct a Hollywood Studio movie. Join us at 12pm on Saturday for an intimate Lunch with Euzhan Palcy followed by a screening of her breakthrough film MGM’s A Dry White Season (1989), starring Donald Sutherland, Marlon Brando and Susan Sarandon.

On the evening of July 11th, 2009, CaribbeanTales presents A Night of Tribute, honouring the world’s leading innovators of Caribbean cinema. The evening also hosts the official DVD launch of the award-winning feature film, A Winter Tale, after the screening at 7pm.

At the festival finale (July 12th), guests can start the day with brunch at the GSU Pub, followed by Sunday Afternoon at the Movies, starting at 12:30pm with Hit For Six (Barbados), by Alison Saunders-Franklyn. The festival’s closing night film is Finder of Lost Children, by Trinidad-born, Toronto-raised filmmaker Ricardo Scipio. The film, about two half sisters embarking on a journey after meeting at the funeral of their estranged father, is loosely based on Scipio’s own family experience.

For the full schedule please visit www.caribbeantales.ca. Tickets available at UofTtix Box Office (416)978-8849 or uofttix.ca and University of Toronto's Central Box Office, open Mon-Fri, 11am-5pm in Hart House, University
of Toronto.

The CaribbeanTales Film Festival is founded by award-winning director, filmmaker and festival curator Frances-Anne Solomon who has had great success with her most recent highly acclaimed feature film A Winter Tale (for Telefilm Canada/CHUM Television).

Frances-Anne Solomon is also the president and artistic director of the two companies she created: Leda Serene Films and CaribbeanTales. Selected recent projects include HeartBeat – a documentary series profiling Caribbean musical creators; Literature Alive, a many facetted multimedia project profiling Caribbean authors; and the Gemini-nominated Lord Have Mercy!, Canada’s landmark multicultural sitcom, for Vision TV, Toronto1, APTN and Showcase.

CaribbeanTales is Canada’s premier multimedia company that creates, markets and distributes educational films, videos, radio programs, audio books, theatre plays, websites and events, to showcase the rich heritage of Caribbean Diaspora worldwide.

CaribbeanTales’ mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and citizen participation through the medium of film, contributing to an inclusive Canadian society.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Invitation to the Launch of CaribbeanTales' 4th Annual Film Festival

My Dear Friends,

It is my pleasure to invite you to join me for the Opening Night of the 4th Annual CaribbeanTales Film Festival!

Where: William Doo Auditorium, 45 Willcocks Avenue, Toronto

When: 7pm

What: We will be screening 3 wonderful Caribbean films:

"Delroy Kincaid..." by Powys Dewhurst,
"Gathering The Scattered Cousins" by Akin Omotoso,

& our feature presentation is the beautiful film "Carmen and Geoffrey" by Nick Doob and Linda Atkinson.

Tickets are now available through the University of Toronto Box Office at
UofTtix Box Office,
(416) 978-8849 http://uofttix.ca
or University of Toronto's Central Box Office,
Open Mon-Fri 11am-5pm in Hart House, University of Toronto

OUR PROGRAM IS NOW ONLINE HERE: We are still updating content - so please bear with us - but all the films are listed.

Look forward to seeing you all at the festival on Thursday.

Much love,
Frances-Anne
___________________________________________________________________

"CARMEN AND GEOFFREY"
CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival
Opening Night: July 9th 7pm.


We are proud to announce that our Opening Night Feature is this beautiful documentary about the work of two exceptional artists, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, who stepped forward in the 1950's to play a vital part in the newly energized world of American modern dance. It is also about a forty-seven year long love affair and the creative partnership that sustained their accomplishments.

“I walk through doors,” Geoffrey Holder thunders in the documentary “Carmen & Geoffrey.” “If I’m not wanted in a place, there’s something wrong with the place, not with me.” And when this 6-foot-6-inch choreographer and painter, with a big toothy grin and the oratorical style of a Caribbean James Earl Jones, thunders, the earth moves.

Mr. Holder has been a fixture in the theater and dance worlds in New York City beginning with the 1954 musical “House of Flowers.” The Carmen of the title is Carmen de Lavallade, Mr. Holder’s wife and creative partner for more than 50 years. Now in her 70s, she is still a beauty.

As the film, directed by Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob, follows Mr. Holder, he radiates the energy of a sun king. By his side is Ms. de Lavallade, the New Orleans-born dancer and choreographer who grew up in Los Angeles and met him when they appeared together in “House of Flowers”. They married in 1955.

Ms. de Lavallade, we learn, was the best friend and dancing partner of Alvin Ailey, who was brokenhearted when she married Mr. Holder. Carmen is also a gifted choreographer and actor but her solo dance career is legendary, both with Ailey as well as John Butler, Jose Limon, Donald McKayle and others.

Geoffrey Holder came from Trinidad to debut in House of Flowers, which he also co-choreographed with Herbert Ross. Later he directed and designed the costumes for The Wiz winning two Tonys in the process. Geoffrey’s world-class talent as a painter has been recognized with a Guggenheim fellowship and he is a prize-winning author and photographer. His ballet, Dougla is a permanent part of the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s repertoire, as is his work Prodigal Prince for the Ailey Company.



Mr. Holder recalls that from early childhood he knew he wanted to dance and to paint. He was 7 when he made his performing debut with the Holder Dance Company, a troupe founded by his older brother, Boscoe. By the time he was "discovered" in 1952, Geoffrey Holder was already an accomplished painter, and the canvases shown in the movie suggest the sensibility of an extroverted Gauguin steeped in Caribbean folklore.

After “House of Flowers” he formed his own dance company and was also a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. He reached a pinnacle of acclaim in the mid-1970s with Tony Awards for best director and costume design for “The Wiz.” The fantastic outfits bore his artistic signatures: a brilliant palette and wildly playful and inventive imagery. His later choreography on “Timbuktu!” (a 1978 Caribbean version of “Kismet”) and “The Prodigal Prince,” a dance biography of Haitian artist and voodoo priest Hector Hyppolite, reveal work that was even bolder.

The film’s style is spontaneous, intimate and revealing, showing Carmen and Geoffrey’s natural penchant for uncommon good humor.

Above all, it provides us with models of lives boldly lived, and offers a paradigm for survival and accomplishment in one of the toughest professions to which anyone can aspire.

From:
Creatively Connected Through Dance and Life By STEPHEN HOLDEN Published: March 13, 2009
This movie has been designated a Critic's Pick by the film reviewers of The Times.

LOCKDOWN gets Toronto Stars "Best Bets of the Fringe Fest"


Thanks for coming out! Our opening night was fantastic.

We had an almost sold out house, and, despite nerves and other forgiveable birthing hiccups - we got a fantastic response from our audience!

Today we are featured among the 10 Best Bets of the Festival in the Toronto Star, AND in the "Emminently Watchable Preview of Fringe Highlights" in Scene Changes.

Check out the links below:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/WhatsOn/article/659522

http://www.scenechanges.com/theatreworld.html#top

If you missed the first show - don't despair! You can still support us by coming on out to the remaining shows!

Lockdown will be performed at the George Ignatieff Theatre (15 Devonshire Place, just south of Bloor) on the following dates:

Wednesday, July 1: 6:30-8:00 pm
Thursday, July 2: 8:15-9:45 pm
Friday, July 3: 1:15-2:45 pm
Monday, July 6: 10:45pm-12:15 am
Tuesday, July 7: 1-2:30 pm
Friday, July 10: 4-5:30 pm
Sunday, July 12: 8:30pm

To buy tickets for the show, there are three convenient ways to get them in advance:

On-Line @ www.fringetoronto.com
By Phone: 416-966-1062
In Person at the Advance Ticket Box Office: July 1-July 12, noon - 6pm at 292 Brunswick Avenue (The Fringe Club)
Tickets are $10 with special group rates available for those coming with a large party (see the Fringe website for more details).

Advance tickets can be purchased up to 3 hours prior to the start of a performance online, by phone or in person. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased at the door. Ticket orders are available for pickup at the performance venue one hour before showtime. There is a $2 service charge per order for online and phone orders.

Thank you again to all of those who made it out to our Opening Night. We look forward to seeing everyone at the remaining performances! See you at the Fringe!

See you there!