Telling Our Stories by Any Means Necessary

Event Details:

Date - May 3rd 3pm.

Venue - Nalis, 1st Floor, National Library Bldg,Hart & Abercromby St.,POS

RSVP - 773 5061

WHO IS ULRIC CROSS?
 
He is probably the most decorated West Indian Squadron Leader of World War Two. Ulric was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for meritorious service by an Officer of the Armed Forces during wartime in actual combat. He was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flights
.
From a humble and orphaned Belmont childhood in colonial Trinidad, Ulric faced down barriers of colour, race and class to realize his extraordinary destiny.
 
He first joined the Royal Air Force in 1941 as a navigator in Bomber Command. Ulric did eighty operational flights over Germany with twenty-one into Berlin; and was a member of the elite Pathfinders Force that perfected techniques for precision main force bombing.
 
Ulric returned to civilian life where he went on to star in key post-colonial jurisprudence roles – as a trusted advisor to Nkrumah in Ghana, as Attorney General in Cameroon and as a close colleague of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania.

He then came home to serve his country as judge, diplomat, and arbitrator. He returned to Britain as our High Commissioner in the 90’s. Now aged ninety-five, Ulric’s life is an inspiration to all, especially to our young people now and for generations to come.

 
About HERO FILM Ltd.
 
This project was conceived and commissioned by the late Desmond Allum, SC, whose passionate wish it was to see a documentary made in honour of Ulric Cross. It is being carried forward by a group of individuals committed to seeing Desmond’s dream become a reality.
 
Executive Producers: Anne Marie Stewart, Cathy Allum, Tara Allum.
 
Partnerships to date:
•The Trinidad & Tobago Film Company
•Animae Caribe Animation and New Media Festival,
•CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD)
 
A Frances-Anne Solomon Film

Telling Our Stories by Any Means Necessary - An Open Call to Animators in T&T

This year sees another fantastic groundbreaking collaboration between CaribbeanTales and the Animae Caribe Animation and New Media Festival.

LETS TELL OUR STORIES BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
BRING EVERYTHING……… LETS EXPERIMENT 

Animation Documentary is a relatively new genre that has a very challenging premise.  How can you document reality using animation, and mix media without compromising the authenticity and truth of the message?

‘Ulric Cross: A Hero for All Time’ is a production of Hero Film, directed by Frances Anne Solomon in collaboration with Caribbean Tales and Animae Caribe Animation Festival. The film tells the story of Trinidadian icon Ulric Cross through live action, archive, recreation and animation, a contemporary pulling together of different forms of expression old and new to tell a timeless story of one man's heroism.  

Frances-Anne describes the concept of the film: “Ulric Cross is ‘a hero for all time’ because he participated in key moments of history, like the second world war; the independence movements in Africa and the Caribbean; the rise of a new kind of black leadership post the Black Power Revolution in seventies' Trinidad; the coming of age of Caribbean societies in the eighties and nineties – incidents and shifts that have defined our present reality as Caribbean people." 

Co-producer Camille Selvon Abrahams explains: “To get the ball rolling we are inviting animators, artists illustrators and new media artists to an innovative interactive experimental FREE one day workshop to begin the process of experimentation.” 

Walk with everything: cameras, clay, models, foil, fabric, crayons, laptops...BRING EVERYTHING!  

This event will take place on Thursday 3rd of May at 4pm.  For more info email Frances-Anne or  Camille at CaribbeanTales@gmail.com or call  1 868 773 6051

RESTLESS CITY opens in the US | AFFRM

CaribbeanTales is a proud supporter of AFFRM, the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, whose 3rd theatrical release, the extraordinary RESTLESS CITY by Nigerian filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu opens in cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on Apr 27. Join me at the box office. SUPPORT CINEMA OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA. 

New York Salutes Legendary Caribbean Actress

LEONIE FORBES FILM RETROSPECTIVE FOUR FILMS!

THREE DIRECTORS! ONE STAR! NEW YORK:

The vision of some of the Caribbean's most prolific filmmakers join in a New York City celebration of the illustrious career of legendary Jamaican actress, Leonie Forbes. Caribbean Classics - Leonie Forbes Film Fest features work from Lennie Little-White (Jamaica), Andrew Millington (Barbados), and Frances-Anne Solomon (Trinidad & Tobago), and takes place at Medgar Evers College on Saturday, May 5.

An officially endorsed Jamaica 50th Independence Anniversary program, the day-long festival is presented by a tripartite collation of Caribbean diaspora cultural organizations, the Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Caribbean Research Center, and CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution.

The series of four films and discussions culminates with the iconic actress of Caribbean stage and screen in conversation with Jamaican born journalist, reggae impresario, and program director of Sirius XM Radio, Pat McKay.

Hosted in the heart of the teeming Caribbean-American community of Central Brooklyn, NY at the campus of Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Avenue, the diverse program will not only afford an occasion to celebrate the talent of one of the region's most acclaimed thespians, but will also examine the challenges and opportunities of an emerging Caribbean cinema.

The schedule for the Saturday, May 5, 2012 program is:

2:00 'What My Mother Told Me'. A journey towards self-discovery forces a young woman to meet her mother, whom she thought had abandoned her as a child. Frances-Anne Solomon, director (Trinidad & Tobago) View Film Clip Here.

3:00 'Children of Babylon' Love, lust, race, and class collide on a hedonistic pleasure dome as life on an old plantation is confronted by a changing society. Lennie Little-White, director. (Jamaica). Featuring Bob Andy

5:15 'Guttaperc' A storied past and the yearning for development creates conflicts for the feature of a village and family. Andrew Millington, director (Barbados).

7:00 Tellin We Own Story - In Conversation with Leonie Forbes Journalist Pat McKay interviews the iconic actress on life, art, and life imitating art.

8:45 'A Winter Tale'  Families struggle to reconcile their immigrant dreams after a bullet meant for a drug dealer kills a ten-year-old boy. Frances-Anne Solomon, director (Canada).Featuring Dennis "Spragalang" Hall. View Film Clip here.

Tickets for the Caribbean Classics - Leonie Forbes Film Fest range from $10 for general admission per screening to $5 for students and seniors at the early afternoon screenings. A special $25 'Festival Passport' provides access to all screenings and the tribute session to Ms. Forbes.

Leonie Forbes has garnered an impressive list of international theatre, television and film credits in Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, India and the United States, and has consistently enthralled audiences in her native Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. Her film and television credits include 'A Winter Tale', 'Shattered Image', 'Milk and Honey', 'The Orchid House', 'Passion and Paradise', 'Club Paradise', 'Children of Babylon' 'Going to Extremes' which aired on ABC, 'Lord Have Mercy' on Toronto One, and 'Small Island' on PBS. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, her accolades include a Gemini Award® nomination in Canada, a life time achievement medal from El Centro Mexicano de Teatro, the Institute of Jamaica Gold Musgrave Medal and the Order of Distinction (Officer) from the Government of Jamaica.

The program presenters are the Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Caribbean Research Center, and CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution.

For additional information: 718-783-8345 / 718-270-6218 / 917-202-0696 or via info@caribbeantheatre.org

About Caribbean Cultural Theatre

Caribbean Cultural Theatre is a theatrical immersion experience presenting the work of Caribbean based and/or influenced writers, performers and other practitioners that both entertains and enlightens and honours a balanced rendering of Caribbean culture and the Caribbean-American experience. A project of the Brooklyn, NY based Caribbean Cultural Theatre, the Caribbean Classics Stage & Screen Series highlights the work some of the region's most illustrious pioneering practitioners of stage and screen and celebrates their role as social commentators, their struggles with cultural identity and in fashioning a Caribbean voice. The series has previously featured the work of Jamaican dramatist and filmmaker, Trevor Rhone, 'The Harder They Come', 'Smile Orange'. 'One Love'; Guyanese novelist E. R. Braithwaite, To Sir With Love, and Jamaican novelist and screenwriter, Anthony Winkler, The Annihilation of Fish and The Lunatic.

About the Caribbean Research Center

Caribbean Research Center, an academic component of Medgar Evers College, provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the New York social environment, the diverse social, cultural and economic characteristics of the Caribbean-American community.

About CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution.

CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD) is the first full-service film distribution company in the English-speaking Caribbean, and a reference for buyers of Caribbean-themed content.

CaribbeanTales is a group of companies that produces, markets and exhibits Caribbean-themed films for regional and international distribution, including: CTWD; the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group that produces annual events in Toronto, Barbados and New York; the Caribbean Incubator Program for Audio Visual Entrepreneurs that delivers training for filmmakers, and CaribbeanTales.ca, a non profit that promotes citizen participation through the medium of film.

Harry Belafonte film is a call to action.

The third in a 3-part series in which documentarist and screenwriter Wenty Bowen, explains why SING YOUR SONG is a must see for Caribbean and especially for Barbadian, audiences. Read Parts 1 and 2 here.

SING YOUR SONG will have its  Barbados premiere as the Opening Night Film at the CaribbeanTales 2012 Film Festival at Frank Collymore Hall on April 11th at 6pm.

Advance Tickets are on sale at http://CaribbeanTales-events.com for $35 ($40 at the door)

VIEW TRAILER

SING_YOUR_SONG_web.mov Watch on Posterous

POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Belafonte’s compassion and ardor also drew him to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was only 28 during the Civil Rights movement and Martin Luther King was only 26, and the story is that Martin Luther King Jr. called to him first. So did Eleanor Roosevelt. He did organize a major effort by black leaders to reach out to Bobby Kennedy.

Though recognized with Grammy, Tony and Emmy® awards, Belafonte was blacklisted, harassed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), spied on by the CIA and FBI, and threatened by the Klan, state troopers and Las Vegas mafia bosses.

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]After the assassination of Dr. King, Mr. Belafonte’s activism expanded far beyond civil rights for blacks, taking up the cause of Native Americans in the ‘70s. In the ‘80s, his activism increasingly shifted to Africa, where he campaigned against hunger and inspired the making of the album and the video of “We Are the World”. In the ‘90s, he goes to Haiti, in the 2000s, Iraq. He slowed down, but he kept plugging away at his causes. He took action to counter gang violence, prisons, and the incarceration of youth.

An HBO interviewer asked director Rostock why she ends the film with Mr. Belafonte, asking, "What do you do now?" Why end the film with a direct address to the audience? she was asked.
She replied: “I start and end the film with that message. The first few minutes are a rapid fire of where we are today and Harry talking about how he feels about that. And everything in his soul and every fiber of his being says: What do we do now? The idea was that you figure out for yourself what to do now, after seeing what had been figured out for you in the past. As Ruby Dee recalls in the film, Harry told her You need to find an assignment – I'm not going to give you an assignment. The film is designed to inspire young people to find their assignment.”

“Harry actually came to me with the film and we spoke for many, many hours. At one point, he took my hand, his eyes filled with tears, and he said, "I'm so worried that I'm not going to be passing the baton." At that moment I was reminded that when I was 15, I wanted to march with Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery. Now I have a 15-year-old daughter who is filled with the same passion and desire to change the world as I was, but with no leaders or organized movements to turn to. I thought that making this film would help to pass the baton and provide my daughter's generation with a roadmap.”

Perhaps the film might arouse similar emotions here.

“Sing Your Song” premieres at the Frank Collymore Hall on Wednesday April 11 at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are Bds $35 obtainable and can be bought online at http://CaribbeanTale

EVENT DETAILS

Name: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn - FIlm Festival, Symposium, Incubator

Date: April 10 - 15, 2012

Venue: Venues around Barbados: Island Inn, Aquatic Gap; Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown; George Washington House; Olympus Cinemas, Sheraton Mall;

Tickets: CaribbeanTales-events.com

Media and Information : Frances-Anne Solomon, Director 266-7779; Nancii Yearwood, CaribbeanTales@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Wenty Bowen is a documentary filmmaker and screenwriter. A former Fulbright Scholar, he was a Senior Lecturer at UWI Mona, where he taught Sociology, Journalism and Television Production at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication. He was also Publications Editor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (now SALISAS) at UWI Mona. His feature articles have been published in newspapers in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, and his television play about Jamaican National Hero Sam Sharpe as well as his cultural and news documentaries were broadcast by the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation.

 

 

CARIBBEANTALES 2012 in the NEWZ

President's Film Endowment Bearing Fruits
NCN Guyana
“Tradition”, one of the eight short films Produced under the President's film endowment 2011 will be shown at the Caribbean tales film festival in Barbados.

CARIBBEANTALES 2012 FILM Festival 10-15 April 2012 and Caribbean Young Film Professionals In Science
CTA is collaborating with CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution and CCST to showcase the winning videos of the CTA/CCST/CARDI/UWI Caribbean-wide ...

BEST YOUTH FILMS ON AGRICULTURE AT #CaribbeanTales ...
Caribbean youth and agriculture will be the focus of attention on the first evening of CaribbeanTales Film Festival 2012 with a screening of the winning short ...

CaribbeanTales Film Festival @ Island Inn, Barbados Releases ...
BRIDGETOWN - CaribbeanTales 2012 Film Festival has released its screening programme ...
news.caribseek.com/.../8676-caribbeantales-film-festival-island...

Barbados FIlm Commission in Focus at CaribbeanTales FIlm Commission

For Immediate Release

OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS THROUGH FILM COMMISSION TO BE IN FOCUS AT CARIBBEANTALES SYMPOSIUM

Business people, government officials and visiting film commissioners will explore opportunities that the proposed Barbados Film Commission will offer when the third CaribbeanTales Symposium convenes at the Island Inn Resort, on April 13. The event entitled Caribbean Film Commissions: Best Practices and Business Opportunities” is presented by the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Steering Committee and the Barbados Film and Video Association (BFVA) as part of the 2012 Festival which runs from April 10 to 15.

Co-Chairs of the Symposium are Ben Arrindell, former Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association and tax expert and Alison Saunders, communications consultant and filmmaker who is the Chair of the Advocacy Committee of the BFVA.

Arrindell noted that he would be presenting an analysis of the tax incentives that would be offered by the Cultural Industries Bill for the audio-visual sector.

“I am pleased that some members of our business community have already indicated their interest in attending the Symposium since it is vital for our local business persons to learn how they can position their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that tax incentives and a Barbados Film Commission will offer.” Arrindell said.

“ Moreover, this initiative will provide tremendous opportunities for not just the audio-visual sector of our economy but tourism and business in general, r and business persons must play a role in shaping this new institution and the coming legislation” the former managing partner of Ernst and Young added.

Film Commissioners from the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Guadeloupe will present their best practices and lessons learnt from the establishment of their commissions for the benefit of those assembled.  

Symposium Co-Chair, Alison Saunders notes that Film Commissions are critical to promoting a destination as a prime location for film production and stimulating the development of the local industry and service providers.

Apart from audio-visual services, beneficiaries of increased film production include hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, food manufacturers, accountants, legal practitioners along with the other creative sectors such as musicians, actors, dancers, costume designers and set builders.” Saunders said.

The Ministry of Culture, who is spearheading the development of a Film Commission will share its vision for a Commission and also outline plans for the proposed Cultural Industries Fund. There will be round table discussions for business persons and audio-visual practitioners to interface as well as for government entities and audio-visual practitioners to explore how incentives and a commission can move smoothly to reality.

Photos: Ben Arrindell and Alison Saunders - Co-chairs of the CaribbeanTales Synposium.

For further iformation contact:

Alison Saunders, 246-4353423/ 246-2300678 alisonsaunders@sfacommunications.com

View the festival Trailer:

 

EVENT DETAILS

Name: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn - FIlm Festival, Symposium, Incubator
 
Date: April 10 - 15, 2012
 
Venue: Venues around Barbados: Island Inn, Aquatic Gap; Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown; George Washington House; Olympus Cinemas, Sheraton Mall;
 
Tickets: CaribbeanTales-events.com, and at selected venues around Bridgetown:
Pro Photo (Sheraton Centre)
Mpowered (Mall Internationale)
Big B Supermarket
Super Centre Sunset Crest
 
Media and Information : Frances-Anne Solomon, Director 266-7779; Nancii Yearwood, CaribbeanTales@gmail.com.
 
CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn, Barbados is sponsored by: André Woodvine, Bajan Reporter, Barbados Film and Video Association, Barbados Today, Barbados Tourism Association, Benjamin Drakes Photography, Blue Waters Productions, Bridgetown Film Academy, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Media Corporation, Creative Junction, Curtis Padmore, France-Caraïbe Broadcast, Frank Collymore Hall,iRebel Films, Island Inn, Jo Spalberg, National Cultural Foundation, Olympus Cinemas, Rose Rapley, Sea Weaver Productions Inc., SFa Communications,  St Nicholas Abbey Rum, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), Wenty Bowen, wonland design.
 

 

BAJAN FILM MAKERS IN CARIBBEANTALES 2012 GALA

Two Barbadian film makers – Penny Hynam and Alison Saunders – will share the spotlight during the Opening Gala of CaribbeanTales Film Festival 2012.

Hynam is the producer of a ten-part series entitled, “A Day in a Bajan Life”, which features short films on the lives of “interesting but not necessarily famous Bajans”. One of those segments will be shown at next Wednesday’s screening at Frank Collymore Hall.

Film director Saunders will be offering a ten-minute teaser, “Panama Fever”, which is a sneak peek of the documentary “Panama Fever: A Caribbean Journey” which she has been working on for some time, having already shot footage in Barbados, Cuba and Panama.

Saunders – the great-great niece of a Barbadian Panama Canal worker – traces her journey of discovery of the sacrifices, challenges and achievements of her ancestor and other West Indian workers on the Panama Canal and their descendants.

“I’m honoured to be showcased at the gala. I’m telling a story for everybody because most Bajans – and other West Indians – have a relative who went to Panama to work on the construction of the (Panama) Canal. It’s something we should be proud of because they made one the seven wonders of the modern world.

“A lot of work has gone into this project already and we’re now trying to raise funds to complete it,” said Saunders, thanking her editor and local camera person, Rachelle Mayers, for her diligent work on the teaser.

 Meanwhile, “A Day in a Bajan Life” enters the world of talented Rastafarian artist, Izebo, who paints wall murals. The 17-minute piece will not only show patrons this colourful aspect of his life but also the trials and tribulations he faces as a homeless person who sleeps in Queen’s Park.

“This is a slice of life in Barbados. If you put all ten segments together, you would have a real mosaic of Bajan life,” observed Hynam, adding that another piece will be shown later in the Festival.

The April 10-15 Caribbean film extravaganza, she noted, is an opportunity to show the local audience “quality Barbadian work being produced”.

“We don’t get much chance to see ourselves on the big screen and this is priceless.”

Several other Bajan filmmakers will be profiled during the festival. The festival line-up includes new films by up and coming as well as established Bajan filmmakers including Menelik Shabazz, Andrew Jemmot, Nicholas King Douglas Newton, and Liesje Cole Pragnell.
 
Photos - A still from "A Day in A Bajan Life" produced by Penelope Hynam, and Alison Saunders, producer and director of "Panama Fever"

EVENT DETAILS

Name: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn - FIlm Festival, Symposium, Incubator

Date: April 10 - 15, 2012

Venue: Venues around Barbados: Island Inn, Aquatic Gap; Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown; George Washington House; Olympus Cinemas, Sheraton Mall;

Tickets: CaribbeanTales-events.com, and at selected venues:

Pro Photo (Sheraton Centre)
Mpowered (Mall Internationale)
Big B Supermarket
Super Centre Sunset Crest

Media and Information : Frances-Anne Solomon, Director 266-7779; Nancii Yearwood, CaribbeanTales@gmail.com.

CaribbeanTales@Island Inn Barbados is sponsored by: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn, Barbados is sponsored by: André Woodvine, Bajan Reporter, Barbados Film and Video Association, Barbados Today, Barbados Tourism Association, Benjamin Drakes Photography, Blue Waters Productions, Bridgetown Film Academy, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Media Corporation, Creative Junction, Curtis Padmore, France-Caraïbe Broadcast, Frank Collymore Hall,iRebel Films, Island Inn, Jo Spalberg, National Cultural Foundation, Olympus Cinemas, Rose Rapley, Sea Weaver Productions Inc., SFa Communications,  St Nicholas Abbey Rum, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), Wenty Bowen, wonland design.

 

Homemakers: Passionate about film-making

"We are building a film industry. There is much work to be done. We believe it is possible. But it will take all of us, working together to make it so. All our good thinking, pooled, a coordinated exchange of skills, perspectives and resources, - a modern day Circle of Souls - to create a model that is right for our Region. And then, it will take all of our united efforts to implement it, so that it bears fruit, over time. "

Reprinted from the Barbados Advocate

4/1/2012

By Patricia Thangaraj

FRANCES-ANNE Solomon has always had a passion for film-making as well as ensuring that the stories of West Indians are told, so it would come as no surprise that she decided to combine both of these things in her career.

Born and raised in Trinidad, she left her homeland when she was 18 to go to Canada to study theatre. After completing her studies, she went to England to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1986, working her way up the ladder up to Executive Producer, Drama when she left in 1999 and returned to Canada.

Then in 2001, she decided to form a company that would focus on telling the stories of Caribbean people, their land and their culture and in 2005, she held the first Caribbean Tales Film Festival where she showcased her own films in Trinidad.

A year later, she partnered with an up-and-coming Trinidadian film group and held the second Festival, where 35 films of Trinidadian filmmakers living at home or overseas in the USA, Canada and the UK were showcased.
In 2008, she worked with the Jamaican Government to showcase 35 Jamaican films and a year later, she held an open call in Canada for proposals. She received 200 submissions – 75 of which were chosen, none of which was seen before – and the opening ceremony was held at the University of Toronto (U of T).

Later that year, she was invited to show her film, “Winter Tale” at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) and then to come Barbados and teach. It was then that she got the idea that she could hold the Festival here as well, and she joined with Keith Nurse and Dr. Terrance Farrell to organise and host this event.

Solomon said that in discussions they had, it was decided that the Festival must involve more than just showcasing local filmmakers and their work. It must also include how the region can build an “infrastructure for this industry based on a first-world model that would make it self-sustainable.”

Accordingly, in 2010 when the first Festival was held in Barbados, it was not just about film screenings, but also included holding symposiums where professionals from across the globe came to Barbados to talk to local filmmakers about how they can build a film industry here in this island and the region. Someone even came from South Africa to talk about how they reclaimed the film industry from the white people after Apartheid to make films relevant to the 95 per cent Black population, explained Solomon.

She stated that she also recognised that “the monetisation of content is key, as you couldn’t just make products that had no way of being distributed and sold”. This was how Caribbean Tales Worldwide Distribution (CTWD) was formed in May, 2010.

Four months later, this organisation took 45 film producers and stakeholders from the region to Canada to “launch Caribbean films on the international stage. We had a brand and we wanted to be known for that brand.”

This brand included, but was not limited to, transferring the stories of musical icons such as Bob Marley, literary icons such as George Lamming and cultural icons such as Carnival, into films.

In 2011, they took the Festival held in Barbados a step further and this year, it promises to be even bigger and better with local and international experts such as Chris Cooke-Johnson, Susanne Rostock and John Welsman conducting various training workshops.

CTW_WEB.mov Watch on Posterous

EVENT DETAILS

Name: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn - FIlm Festival, Symposium, Incubator

Date: April 10 - 15, 2012

Venue: Venues around Barbados: Island Inn, Aquatic Gap; Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown; George Washington House; Olympus Cinemas, Sheraton Mall;

Tickets: CaribbeanTales-events.com

and at selected venues around Barbados:

Pro Photo (Sheraton Centre)
Mpowered (Mall Internationale)
Big B Supermarket
Super Centre Sunset Crest

Media and Information : Frances-Anne Solomon, Director 266-7779; Nancii Yearwood, CaribbeanTales@gmail.com.

ABOUT CARIBBEANTALES

The CaribbeanTales Film Festival @ Island Inn is an important annual film event in Barbados, and a highlight of the regional cultural callendar ever since it was created in 2010; a multi-facetted forum that is focused not only on screening the best Caribbean films, but also on developing industry practitioners, creating networking opportunities, and on seeking solutions to challenges facing the sector as well as facilitating the marketing and distribution of indigenous film products.

CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn, Barbados is sponsored by: Andre Woodvine, Bajan Reporter, Barbados Film and Video Association, Barbados Today, Barbados Tourism Association, Benjamin Drakes Photography, Blue Waters Productions, Bridgetown Film Academy, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Media Corporation, Creative Junction, Curtis Padmore, France-Caraïbe Broadcast, Frank Collymore Hall, iRebel Films, Island Inn, Jo Spalberg, National Cultural Foundation, Olympus Cinemas, Rose Rapley, Sea Weaver Productions Inc., SFa Communications, St Nicholas Abbey Rum, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), Wenty Bowen,  and wonland design.

CaribbeanTales is a group of companies that produces, markets and exhibits Caribbean-themed films for regional and international distribution, including:  CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, that links producers and buyers of quality entertainment; the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group that produces annual events in Toronto, Barbados and New York;  the Caribbean Incubator Program for Audio Visual Entrepreneurs that delivers training for filmmakers, and CaribbeanTales.ca, a non profit based on Toronto, Canada, that promotes citizen participation through the medium of film.

 

SINGER/ACTIVIST HARRY BELAFONTE’S DAUGHTER COMING FOR BARBADIAN FILM FESTIVAL

Gina Belafonte – the youngest daughter of world-famous American singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte – and the Producer of the highly regarded bio-documentary of her father's life, will attend next week’s premiere of “Sing Your Song” in Barbados.

The film is the highlight of the Opening Gala of CaribbeanTales Film Festival 2012 which is the third annual edition of the foremost gathering of regional film professionals, including directors and producers. The 7 p.m. screening follows an Opening reception and takes place on Wednesday April 11 at Frank Collymore Hall. The public is invited to attend. Tickets are available online (www.caribbeantales-events.com) and at select locations for Bds for $35 and Bds $40 at the door.

Gina Belafonte is an TV and film actress in her own right. She has worked with her father as coach on several movies, and produced more than six films. She helped found “The Gathering For Justice”, an inter-generational, intercultural non-profit organisation working to reintroduce non-violence to stop child incarceration.

Also attending the premiere will be Susanne Rostock who enjoyed her directorial debut on “Sing Your Song”.

“I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to help tell this remarkable story. I felt the role Harry Belafonte played in the many struggles for human rights throughout 20th/21st century history could have a profound, inspiring effect on the viewer – especially the young,” said Rostock, urging the public to come and see this feature on one of the Caribbean’s legendary sons.

“Sing Your Song,” opened the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and according to www.hollywoodreporter.com, was launched with the emotional charge of a political rally combined with the enthusiasm of a revival meeting.” Subsequently HBO picked up the US television rights. Speaking about the film recently, Harry Belafonte, credited the team that worked on it for their sterling contributions.

“I’ve had the extreme fortune to have a man, ("Sing Your Song" producer) Michael Cohl…who gave us the money to make "Sing Your Song".

“Then there were 800 hours of footage. That’s a lot of story... If it hadn’t been for ("Sing Your Song" writer/director/editor) Susanne Rostock, who has a remarkable gift as a cinema artist, her vision, her sense of where one moment touched another, and you could make the linkage of this way … if we had not been walked through the labyrinth by a genius…Life hands you a lot of things. It’s how you make fruit salad with the ingredients at your disposal.”                                         

Asked about his expression of guilt or anxiety in the film over the worsening of some of society’s problems which he fought as an activist, Belafonte – who is of Jamaican and Martinican descent – conceded that both his generation and their offspring are to blame.

“When I spoke with Nelson (Mandela) on this very subject, his response was that it would behoove us not to become complacent, not to begin to find justification that absolves us of a sense of responsibility for the consequences we are experiencing. Somewhere, we made a mistake. Somewhere, we were not endowed with enough vision and foresight to do things. Somewhere in the pass-off (to our children), we didn’t sacrifice enough to make sure that those who were receiving the baton received it properly,” he reasoned.

“That, however, does not dismiss the glory of turning around, picking it up, and going on with the race...There is more race to be run. There are more people to be engaged.”

WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THIS WONDERFUL FILM!

SING_YOUR_SONG_web.mov Watch on Posterous

 

EVENT DETAILS

Name: CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn - FIlm Festival, Symposium, Incubator

Date: April 10 - 15, 2012

Venue: Venues around Barbados: Island Inn, Aquatic Gap; Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown; George Washington House; Olympus Cinemas, Sheraton Mall;

Tickets: CaribbeanTales-events.com

and at selected venues around Barbados:

Pro Photo (Sheraton Centre)
Mpowered (Mall Internationale)
Big B Supermarket
Super Centre Sunset Crest

Media and Information : Frances-Anne Solomon, Director 266-7779; Nancii Yearwood, CaribbeanTales@gmail.com.

ABOUT CARIBBEANTALES

The CaribbeanTales Film Festival @ Island Inn is an important annual film event in Barbados, and a highlight of the regional cultural callendar ever since it was created in 2010; a multi-facetted forum that is focused not only on screening the best Caribbean films, but also on developing industry practitioners, creating networking opportunities, and on seeking solutions to challenges facing the sector as well as facilitating the marketing and distribution of indigenous film products.

CaribbeanTales 2012 @ Island Inn, Barbados is sponsored by: Andre Woodvine, Bajan Reporter, Barbados Film and Video Association, Barbados Today, Barbados Tourism Association, Benjamin Drakes Photography, Blue Waters Productions, Bridgetown Film Academy, Caribbean Broadcasting Union, Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Media Corporation, Creative Junction, Curtis Padmore, France-Caraïbe Broadcast, Frank Collymore Hall, iRebel Films, Island Inn, Jo Spalberg, National Cultural Foundation, Olympus Cinemas, Rose Rapley, Sea Weaver Productions Inc., SFa Communications, St Nicholas Abbey Rum, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU (CTA), Wenty Bowen,  and wonland design.

CaribbeanTales is a group of companies that produces, markets and exhibits Caribbean-themed films for regional and international distribution, including:  CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution, that links producers and buyers of quality entertainment; the CaribbeanTales Film Festival Group that produces annual events in Toronto, Barbados and New York;  the Caribbean Incubator Program for Audio Visual Entrepreneurs that delivers training for filmmakers, and CaribbeanTales.ca, a non profit based on Toronto, Canada, that promotes citizen participation through the medium of film.