"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.
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.
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