Crossroads tops Green Screen Film Fest

THE Green Screen Environmental Film Festival has announced its winners of the 2024 Very Short Shorts Competition held under the theme, Connect.

The festival said it received "many incredible submissions," exploring the connections between the changing climate and various aspects of human lives and livelihoods.

Submissions illustrated these important connections, and illuminated the way that art can be meaningfully harnessed to drive impactful change in the environment and the world, a media release said.

The Overall Jury Award went to Crossroads by Romario Patrice. The minute-long documentary is dedicated to examining climate change and its impact on humanity in the form of visual poetry. Patrice was presented with $12,000 from Green Screen at the awards ceremony at the Garden Theatre, Queen's Hall, St Ann's, on November 14. Freetown Collective also launched its 2025 Carnival experience, Welcome Freetown, at the event.

The Youth Juror’s Award for filmmakers aged 10-25 was presented to Connect Us produced by Joseph Carlton Francisco Brown and Johnette Ann Brown. Connect Us is a narrative comedy that follows protagonist Jane and her friends, who are the culprits of excess carbon emissions. Things begin to change when Jane experiences a peculiar interaction.. The team won $5,000 for its effort.

The People’s Choice Award went to the same team of Joseph and Johnette Brown for Connect Us. This award, presented by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB), is worth $3,000.

The Best Ttinidad and Tobago film was presented to the short experimental, Siren, created by the filmmaking duo of Jerel Ramsey and Renaldo Matamoro. Based in a forest, a lone hiker is drawn into an otherworldly experience deep within its confines. Bewildered by an inexplicable sound, he finds himself at the edge of a tranquil lake, where the appearance of a mermaid from the depths beckons him into an aquatic odyssey. As he is transported through a surreal underwater world, the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur.

Founded by Carver Bacchus, the festival now in its 14th year, was supported by lead sponsor the National Gas Company (NGC), supporting sponsor Republic Bank Ltd, patron the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB) and partners Freetown Collective and the Canadian High Commission, Port of Spain.