Charlie's Records, Grace and Saleem TTFF People's Choice winners

MUSIC documentary Charlie's Records, romance feature Grace and Saleem and touching short Sampson's Heart have won the People's Choice Awards for the recently concluded TT Film Festival (TTFF) 2019 Carifesta edition.

The TTFF, on their Facebook page yesterday, announced Charlie's Records had won Spirit of the Caribbean, Grace and Saleem won Best Feature Film and Sampson's Heart won Best Short Film.

Charlie's Records, directed by first-time filmmaker, two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time WNBA All Star for the New York Liberty Tina Charles, is a documentary about Rawlston Charles who emigrated from Tobago to the USA in December 1967. His vision was to promote calypso and soca music and its artists to the world through his record store, Charlie’s Calypso City, and music label, Charlie’s Records.

Grace and Saleem, directed by Jian Hennings, is a story of an unlikely couple told via three distinctive chapters of their relationship together.

Sampson's Heart, by award-winning director, writer and producer Juliette McCawley, is the story of a young widower who lives in self-imposed exile deep in the country, haunted by the death of his wife. An unexpected visitor from his past forces him to confront his shattered life.

McCawley, in a Facebook post, said: "I put a piece of my heart into this film, so to get an award like this means the world to me.

Thank you my cast and crew for sharing your wonderful talent and awesome work. Thank you to my friends and family for your kind words and support. Big thank you to everyone who voted!

"Big hugs and high fives to my actors Nickolai Salcedo, Teneille Newallo, Michael Cherrie, De Michael de Souza. My awesome crew Dion Boucaud, Peter Anthony Gales, Siobhan Millette, Dominique Chung, Nicholas Meah , Wayne A. Hutchinson, Suri Boucaud, PixelPlay Media Ltd. and Jelani Serrette!"