CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

THE 2009 CaribbeanTales 4th ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL

Canada's One and Only Forum Showcasing The Best of Caribbean Cinema, At Home and Abroad, Classical and Creole, Digital and Celluloid, This Year Puts The Spotlight on "Caribbean Film - A Tool For Education and Social Change"

North America's premier stand-alone Caribbean Film Festival is accepting submissions for the CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival. The upcoming festival takes place from July 8th to the 12th, 2009 in Toronto, Canada, and is produced by CaribbeanTales in association with New College, University of Toronto, and the Caribbean Studies Program at U of T.

This year's focus will be "Caribbean Film - A Tool for Education and Social Change".

Artistic Director and Festival Founder Frances-Anne Solomon says: "We are delighted to be partnering with U of T to produce the 2009 festival which aims to bring together like-minded filmmakers and cultural activists around the important theme of art for social change."

The festival will feature an Academic Conference and a Youth Day, alongside 4 days of entertaining film screenings and thought-provoking talk-back sessions.

With a growing international awareness of the Caribbean's burgeoning media industry, the CaribbeanTales Film Festival aims to entertain and educate through a series of industry panels, filmmakers' discussions and presentations on both historical and contemporary filmmaking throughout the Diaspora.

The CaribbeanTales mandate is to foster and encourage intercultural understanding and citizen participation through the creation, distribution and presentation of educational films, videos, new media and resource materials that reflect the diversity and creativity of Caribbean-Canadian and Caribbean-Diasporic heritage and culture. Our vision is to contribute to an inclusive Canadian society by celebrating the rich traditions of Caribbean heritage storytelling.

The 2008 CaribbeanTales Film Festival: Fokus Jamaica was a huge success with over 20 filmmakers featuring films and videos made in Jamaica, about Jamaica or by Jamaicans. With participants like filmmaker Stephanie Black (Africa Unite, Life & Debt), cinematographer Franklyn "Chappie" St. Juste (The Harder The Come), music video director Ras Kassa (Welcome To Jamrock), Jamaican-Canadian actor Peter Williams (Stargate SG1 and A Winter Tale), award-winning Canadian director Clement Virgo (Poor Boy's Game), producer Gloria Minto (Glory to Gloriana), and Jamaican icon, actress, writer and producer Leonie Forbes, the Fokus Jamaica festival brought CaribbeanTales to the mainstage in the Canadian media and film communities. We plan to build on this momentum with the CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival, as we continue our work to create a more inclusive awareness of Caribbean culture and the Diasporic communities.

We invite filmmakers of Caribbean heritage, or who have a film with a focus on the Caribbean to participate in this monumental festival, North America's only stand alone Caribbean Film Festival. Please *submit by March 31st 2009 to be considered for the CaribbeanTales 4th Annual Film Festival.

We look forward to seeing your work!

Submissions can be sent to:
Jamaias DaCosta,
Partnerships Coordinator
CaribbeanTales
99 Gore Vale Avenue
Toronto ON M6J 2R5
www.caribbeantales.ca
caribbeantales2009@gmail.com
416-598-1410

*Submission Deadline: March 31st 2009

*Please note that submissions will not be returned