Funding for human rights films

CANADIAN High Commissioner Carla Hogan Rufelds presented Bruce Paddington, director of the TT Film Festival (TTFF) with $71,580 to fund the production of three human-rights short films.

These Reel Human Rights films will be screened at the 2018 TTFF in September. This venture is a further collaboration between the Canada High Commission and the TTFF.

Participants in the filmmakers’ development programme submitted scripts and three winning scripts were selected to be produced. The winners are Andrei Pierre, Siobhan Millette and Francesca Hawkins.

In February, the TTFF held a film production workshop funded by the high commission in which 14 local filmmakers and writers participated. This event was a follow-up to a filmmaker’s development programme that began in 2017. Filmmakers and writers who participated in a scriptwriting workshop with Canadian-Jamaican film professional Annmarie Morais last year were invited to put their training into practice, with each participant writing and submitting a five-minute narrative or documentary film on a human rights issue of concern to TT or the wider Caribbean.

During the workshop, Trinidadian-born producer with the National Film Board of Canada Selwyn Jacobs was on hand to show participants how to move from the scriptwriting phase to production and post-production.

Programme director of the TTFF Annabelle Alcazar said in a media release, “This programme marries our interest in developing the skills of local filmmakers and writers, with advancing the conversations on human rights in TT. We were very excited about this project and we are pleased to see how the filmmakers rose to the challenge of using their artistic knowledge and skill to bring these important issues alive.”

At the presentation on Monday, Hogan Rufelds expressed her delight at the calibre of the scripts produced. She reiterated that Canada regards human rights as universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated and said human-rights cinema plays an important role in the struggle for justice and dignity, speaking out against censorship and repression.

“This extremely powerful medium can touch and inspire audiences, challenging individuals to expand their knowledge and perspectives. It can also stimulate healthy dialogue, and ultimately, change.”

The 2018 TT film festival takes place from September 18- 25.