Caribbean news. Bridgetown, Barbados – March 8th 2015. The dates are set for the highly anticipated 10th anniversary celebrations of the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF). To the delight of fans, film aficionados and cultural connoisseurs, the famed festival returns to the exciting downtown Toronto core from Sept. 9th 2015.
Madisa Pantin. Photo courtesy sallyswayfilm.com
To kick off this milestone celebration, organisers have announced the 2015 theme: CARIBBEAN SPIRIT explores the extraordinary dynamism and diversity of Caribbean heritages, in all their myriad incarnations. The Program will also include a retrospective of the best Caribbean-themed films of past years.
This year’s festival is headed by an impressive Steering Group of new and veteran CTFF associates including Trinidad and Tobago filmmaker Mandisa Pantin (Programming Co-ordinator), and Toronto-based digital storyteller Emmanuelle Pantin (Community Partnerships and Screenings Coordinator).
Timmia Hearn. Photo courtesy tedxportofspain.com
It brings together noted arts and media practitioners like (among others) industry programmer, Chloe Sosa Simms; producer, Lea Marin; filmmaker and writer, Elizabeth Topp; fundraising and grants specialist, Lauren Mohammed; cultural communicator, Stephen Weir; marketer, Louise Noel Ambrose; gender equality activist, Stephanie Leitch; and cultural entrepreneur, Frank Francis. The full Who’s Who of CTFF 2015 is on the festival’s newly revamped website.
The renowned CT Incubator (CTI), now in its 6th year, that supports filmmakers to develop strong original indigenous content for the international market, will once again run concurrently with the festival, led by Manager Nicole Brooks and coordinated by Timmia Hearn Feldman.
This year the festival is supported by CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution’s “3D Distribution Project”. Financed by the ACP Cultures+ Programme of the European Union, “3D” aims to strengthen and promote regional audiovisual content, and build sustainable distribution networks for Caribbean film and television.
Chloe Sosa Simms. Photo courtesy wcsfp.com
Running alongside the mammoth and prestigious Toronto International Film Festival, CTFF’s longevity and ongoing success is a testament to the strength of Caribbean film stories and their ability to stand tall in the international marketplace.
In 2015, CTFF continues to promote the talents of established and emerging filmmakers of Caribbean heritage who practice their art across the Region and worldwide Diaspora, and to provide a global platform for them to share their distinctive and original stories.
