Nicola Cross wins best film for Becky in Trinidad and Tobago festival

Film director Nicola Cross captured the title for the best overall film in the 2021 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. Cross’s 13-minute documentary Becky wowed the jury for its “daring vision” and “unique and compelling story structure, direction and performances."

Cross is a creative producer, consultant filmmaker and filmmaking workshop co-ordinator and facilitator.

Owing to covid19 restrictions, the festival was hosted virtually from September 22-28.

The festival saw six days of virtual activities which included screening, a panel discussion, Q&A segments and viewing of the entries.

The curtains for the second virtual festival came down on Monday night in an award ceremony on a live feed through Zoom.

Though the ceremony experienced several technical issues, stemming from poor connectivity to audio difficulties, these obstacles didn’t take away from the celebration of the winners of each category.

Cross said the announcement came as a surprise to her. She thanked the main character for their close friendship over the years.

“Becky is just one of 200 million women and girls who’ve been caught. She is just one story, there are many more out there.”

Becky tells a story of a woman who endured genital mutilation as a child and now explores clitoral reconstructive surgery, hoping it would make her feel complete.

The jury also applauded other winners for their ability to capture the "urgency and importance of the film message and the quality of the film making strong performances stand out."

Filmmakers Collaborative of TT (Filmco) executive director Derwin Howell applauded all participants for the creativity and innovation shown in each production.

“We want to encourage people and other stakeholders to come on board, let’s create that dialogue on how things can improve and it’s also a learning experience.”

Filmco’s interim executive director Mariel Brown said despite the technical difficulties she was inspired by the quality of films presented at this year’s festival.

“I know I will learn from this as a filmmaker and I know others will also.”

2021 TT Film Festival winners

Youth Jury: Lovena, directed by Olivier Sagne

Best Student Film: Juana, directed by Jose Antonio Martinez

Best New Media Work: Rhythms of Trinidad, directed by Andreas Antonopoulos

Best Documentary Film, Short: Ecoutez Le Battement de nos Images (Listen to the Beat of our Images), directed by Audrey Jean-Baptiste

Best Narrative Film, Short: Ramfameia (Riff-Faff), directed by Mariah Teixeira and Nanda Felix

Best Documentary, Feature length: Option Zero, directed by Marcel Beltran

Best Narrative length: Perfume de Gardenias, directed by Macha Colon

Best TT Film: Becky, directed by Nicola Cross