MEDIA ADVISORY - CARIBBEAN RECEPTION TO LAUNCH BEST OF CARIBBEANTALES AT NYU

MEDIA ADVISORY

CARIBBEAN RECEPTION TO CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF THE BEST OF CARIBBEANTALES FILM FESTIVAL
AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

WHO:
Celebrated Caribbean poet, historian and cultural critic Dr. Kamau Brathwaite; and Frances-Anne Solomon, accomplished filmmaker and founder of The Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival.

WHAT:
A reception hosted by Dr. Kamau Brathwaite to celebrate the launch of a week of film screenings selected from The Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival, at New York University.

WHEN:
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Starts at 5.30 p.m.

WHERE:
The Institute of African American Affairs at New York University - 41 East 11th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003

WHY:
With a growing international awareness of the Caribbean's burgeoning media industry, The CaribbeanTales Film Festival aims to entertain and educate through screenings and talk back sessions that spotlight exciting new trends in film and television from the Caribbean and its Diaspora.

Government officials from the Caribbean and New York City in attendance.
Caribbean cultural talent to perform.

Contact:
Bevan Springer, Marketplace Excellence + 1 201 861-2056
Frances-Anne Solomon, CaribbeanTales + 1 347 594-2798

Links:
Press Release: Kamau Brathwaite Presents Best of CaribbeanTales at NYU
CaribbeanTales Comes to NYU, Cannes - Jamaica Gleaner
Region's Literary Giants Throw Weight Behind Caribbean Film - Truly Golden Media

CaribbeanTales goes to NYU, Cannes

by Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer - Jamaica

Over a year ago Frances-Anne Solomon received an e-mail from cultural icon Dr Kamau Brathwaite, congratulating and thanking her for her contribution to Caribbean film through the annual CaribbeanTales Film Festival, held in Toronto, Canada, each July.

As the festival extended back to its roots this year, with the Best of CaribbeanTales debuting in Barbados in February, Brathwaite planned to take students from New York University (NYU). That fell through, but Brathwaite was determined to make the connection and Solomon says "he began looking into the possibility of bringing the festival itself to NYU."

Frances-Anne Solomon - Contributed

"Through his persistent efforts, the plan bore fruit, and was confirmed a few days ago. The NYU festival is therefore due to the foresight and vision of Kamau Brathwaite, who is an icon of our culture, and clearly sees the cultural importance and educational significance of the development of an indigenous film industry."

She says Brathwaite chose and programmed the films himself. "He knew exactly what he wanted to show, when and how," Solomon said.

Therefore Brathwaite, who is Professor of Comparative Literature at NYU, will host selections from the Best of CaribbeanTales 2010 from April 26th to May 1. The mini-festival is part of a larger event, Marassa 10 2010: A Festival of Caribbean Film, Story and Imagination.

Best of CaribbeanTales
Six feature films and several shorts from the Best of CaribbeanTales will be screened. Among them are Stephanie's Black's Africa Unite, Calypso Dreams (Geoffrey Dunn, Michael Horne), A Winter Tale (directed by Solomon), the shorts Directions, Invisible and Mami Wata from Trinidad and Tobago, directed by Renee Polonais, Elspeth Duncan and Yao Ramesar respectively.

There are also the Maria Govan directed Rain, The Legend of Buchi Fil (German Gruber), Christopher Laird's Drummit2Summit and the closing feature Carmen and Geoffrey (Linda Atkins and Nick Doob).

"I am very excited to see giants of our literature - Brathwaite, Derek Walcott, George Lamming (who spoke at our launch in Barbados), to name a few - prepared to engage and throw their weight behind our new fledgeling film industry. It is very helpful, as it establishes a context for the work we are doing; they see its vast possibilities and their support gives our work a weight and legitimacy beyond mere 'entertainment'," Solomon said.

CaribbeanTales will also be involved in the  Festival International du Film Panafricain  from April 21 - 25 2010 in Cannes, France, Solomon receiving the personal honour of being invited as 'Presidente du Jury' (President of the Jury). Among the films slated to be screened are Roger McTair's Journey to justice, Fabulous Spaces, (which explores science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson's work), Blood Dub and the Matriarch (Judy Singh's biopic of dub artist dbi.young.anitaafrika), Jab  (Alex Deverteiul ) Gathering the Scattered Cousins  (Akin Omotoso); Frances-Anne Solomon's What My Mother Told Me and I Is A Long Memoried Woman; Celebration (Yao Ramesar); Crack House (Camille Selvon Abrahams); and Lenny Little White's Glory to Gloriana.

The inclusion has been long in the making. Solomon said "I was approached two years ago by Mr Basile Ngangue, the Artistic Director of the Festival International Pan African de Cannes. This is a festival that takes place in Cannes, France, between MipTV in April and the Cannes Film Festival in May. Mr Ngangue came to Canada a couple of times, and last year we were able to meet in Toronto. He expressed an interest in including Caribbean films in his programs and invited me to participate, so I gave him a selection of some 30 films to take back with him back to France."

Exposure
A selection committee gave the nod to 20 of the films which Solomon recommended.
The implications of the NYU and Cannes forays go beyond achievement for CaribbeanTales. Solomon says "Caribbean culture, including film, is taking its place on the world stage, alongside other major cultures. The exposure legitimises our very being, our very existence as a people and a region, with not one but many original voices. The ability to have a voice, to tell our stories, is key to a healthy society. So we are growing as a region, we are coming to voice, coming into our own."

"Wherever there are populations of Caribbean people there is a thirst to see Caribbean stories. The explosion of exciting films and festivals like ours has generated great interest. It makes sense that the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, which began as a festival of films from the Caribbean and its Diaspora - originating in Toronto - would travel the world effortlessly."

On the strictly business end, Solomon says that CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution will be launched in May, this in association with BBEC, a Barbados-based investment company led by Dr Basil Springer.

"Effective and targeted distribution of our content is very much needed, to give us a platform in the world marketplace, to find our audiences and meet audience with product. Right now a lot of content is being created but there are no outlets. The infrastructure to monetise the work of creators does not exist. We have to change that. A distribution company will be the first step to putting the production of films on a proper business footing by identifying and targeting markets and generating income for producers," Solomon said.

"It is an exciting time and I feel very privileged to be part of it."

Kamau Brathwaite presents the Best of CaribbeanTales at New York University; CaribbeanTales at Cannes, and more!

April 10th 2010
Celebrated Caribbean poet/historian/cultural critic Kamau Brathwaite will host a selection of films from the Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival 2010 (CTFF), at New York University from April 26th to May 1, 2010. The four day mini-festival is part of Marassa 10 2010 : A Festival of Caribbean Film, Story and Imagination, that will take place at the Institute of African American Affairs, 41 East 11th St., 7th Floor.

Barbados-born Dr. Brathwaite is currently Professor of Comparative Literature at NYU. Since the 1950's he has authored many outstanding ground-breaking works, including poetry and non-fiction, and awards recognising his achievements include the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and recently, the Griffin Prize for "Born to Slow Horses". He is best known for originating the concept of Nation Language to describe the indigenous Caribbean languages of peoples descended from slaves. His contributions to a discourse on contemporary Caribbean and Africentric culture are without parallel.

"I am delighted to be able to present the best of the best of our Barbados 2010 line-up at NYU. It is an honor to be hosted by Dr Kamau Brathwaite who is a Caribbean icon, having contributed so much to deepening our understanding of ourselves and our culture.”  said CTFF  founder and director, accomplished British/Canadian-Trinidadian filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon.

The complete list of films being to be screened is online here. 

The stellar collection of films to be screened include six feature films and several shorts. On Wednesday April 28 at 6pm, the Opening Film is Stephanie's Black's masterful "Africa Unite". Part concert tribute, part Marley family travelogue, this electrifying film follows the Marleys on their first-time-ever family trip to Ethiopia to commemorate Bob's 60th birthday. Stephanie Black will be in attendance to participate in a talk-back after the film. (View the trailer for Africa Unite)

This will be followed at 8pm by "Calypso Dreams" (dirs Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne). Executive produced by music legend Eddy Grant, with narrative commentary by David Rudder, this authoritative documentary captures rivetting performances and original interviews with a host of legendary Calypso performers, including the Mighty Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Lord Superior, Black Stalin, Mighty Bomber, Lord Blakie, Singing Sandra, Mighty Terror, Lord Kitchener, Lord Pretender, and Harry Belafonte. "Calypso Dreams is far and away the best film ever made about calypso…."(View trailer Calypso Dreams)

On Thursday April 29th at 6pm, Michelle Materre, curator of the"Creatively Speaking" screening series, will present Life Lessons, 4 short films by New York-based filmmakers of color. A Departure from A Love by Ishmael Islam, follows a young man's walk through his beloved Brooklyn while reciting spoken word to a lover, while, The Lesson Plan by Eddy Duran follows a

Brooklyn school teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as he constructs an unusual Lesson Plan for students, drawing on letters by 18th century slave owner William Lynch, (after whom the term "lynching" was coined). This film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, in 2009. As well, Sticks and Stones by Rehema Imani Trimiew exposes biases in the NY education system that prejudices black kids; and, Premature by Rashaad Ernesto Green tells of Tisha, a streetwise Bronx teenager from the Bronx, who gets unexpected news.

At 8pm on Thursday April 29th, Frances-Anne Solomon's multi-award-winning audience favorite A Winter Tale, set in the Caribbean community of Toronto, Canada, tells the emotional and gripping story of a group of Black men who come together at Miss G's Caribbean Restaurant, to thrash out their differences and heal their broken community, following the shooting death of a young child. The filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon will be in attendance. (View Clips/Trailer: A Winter Tale)

Friday April 30 at 6pm begins with 3 stunning shorts from the twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago : Directions by Renee Polonais, winner of the audience award at the T&T film festival 2008, is a hilarious look at the roundabout ways some Trinidadians give street directions, while Invisible by Multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan focuses on a woman called "Veronica", and her daughters, facing the bitter effects of discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago. As well, Mami Wata is an evocative film exploration of Shango ritual, by Yao Ramesar one of the most accomplished and prolific Caribbean directors, who has made dozens of films on the people, history, and culture of Trinidad.

This will be followed at 8pm by Rain, director Maria Govan’s powerful debut feature, that follows a teenager Rain who goes to Nassau to find her mother, and discovers her living in a desperately poor, AIDS-ravaged neighborhood. One of the first films to be produced indigenously in the Bahamas, Rain reflects a striking visual contrast between the idyllic tourist setting and the harsh realities of everyday Bahamian life.

On Saturday May 1st, at 4.pm, two short films: The Legend of Buchi Fil by Surinamese filmmaker German Gruber, draws on slave folklore to tell the story of the strongest of the slaves whose will was only crushed when his beloved wife was killed. And, Drummit2Summit by Christopher Laird, "one of the most important and prolific filmmakers of the English-speaking Caribbean"(Richard Fung) records the events of 18th April 2009, when a group of protesters holding a public event in Port of Spain, Trinidad, during the 5th Summit of the Americas, faced down pressure from armed riot police, using drums, song, and the power of the media.

At 6pm, The Closing Feature is Carmen and Geoffrey by filmmakers Linda Atkins and Nick Doob, a beautiful documentary about the work of two exceptional artists - dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade and Trinidadian dancer, choreographer, director and designer Geoffrey Holder -  and the fifty-four year long love affair and creative partnership that sustained their accomplishments. Linda Atkins and Nick Doob will attend the screening and and Talk back afterwards.

Also this month, CaribbeanTales partners with the Festival International du Film Panafricain in Cannes, France to bring a number of Caribbean titles to screens there, including Roger McTair's Journey to justice; Fabulous Spaces, an exploration of the work of science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson; Blood Dub and the Matriarch - Judy Singh's stark biopic of dub artist dbi.young. anitafrika; Jab by Alex Deverteiul; Gathering the Scattered Cousins by Akin Omotoso; What My Mother Told Me and I Is A Long Memoried Woman by Frances-Anne Solomon; Celebration by Yao Ramesar; Crack House by Camille Selvon Abrahams; and Glory to Gloriana by Lenny Little White, and many more. For the full festival programme, please click here.

The CaribbeanTales Film Festival is a Toronto-based event that takes place annually in July. This year the festival's dates are July 29 to August 2 2010, when for the second year running, CTFF will partner with the Harborfront Island Soul Festival to premiere selected Caribbean films to audiences seeking another kind of entertainment over the Caribana weekend.

The Best of CaribbeanTales Film Festival 2010 - an offshoot of the CTFF - took place for the first time in Barbados this year, and included a Symposium on Global Distribution, the first-ever Caribbean Film Marketplace, Workshops/Masterclasses, and Youth Screenings.


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

Available for interviews: Frances-Anne Solomon,  Kamau Brathwaite, Stephanie Black, Nick Doob and Linda Atkins, Michelle Materre, etc.
For media inquiries please contact: Pennant Media Group
Kevin Pennant :  kp@pennantmediagroup.com.
Toronto 416.596.2978
Los Angeles 818.748.7517