TTFF celebrates 20 years of shaping Caribbean cinema

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago—For two decades, the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) has done more than bring films to the big screen. It has helped build an ecosystem in which Trinidad and Tobago and Caribbean filmmakers can make films, find audiences, forge industry connections and see themselves as part of a wider global film community. Founded in 2005 by Dr Bruce Paddington, the festival emerged at a time when theatrical filmmaking in Trinidad and Tobago was still relatively uncommon.

According to Festival Director Mariel Brown, the challenge was not a lack of talent or ambition but the absence of a clear pathway for filmmakers to get their work in front of audiences. "When there is nowhere for your work to be seen, no cinema, no TV station, no audience, no occasion, then there is little impetus to make a film in the first place," she explained. Creating that pathway became central to the festival's mission.

Twenty years later, TTFF has screened more than 2,000 films and introduced more than 1,500 filmmakers to audiences, helping to transform the local filmmaking landscape from one where theatrical production was rare into a growing community of filmmakers. "The Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival did an essential thing; it gave filmmaking here a reason to exist, and everything else has grown from that," Brown said. She observed that the festival's influence has extended beyond the cinema.

"From its inception, TTFF has maintained a pan-Caribbean outlook, creating opportunities for filmmakers from Trinidad and Tobago and across the region to connect with each other and with the international film industry," she pointed out. The festival director noted that its annual industry programme has provided talks, workshops, panel discussions and presentations aimed at people at different stages of their careers. The festival has also opened doors to international development and networking opportunities, including the European Film Market Toolbox programmes, Cannes Marché, Rotterdam Producers Lab, Ventana Sur and EAVE.

For filmmakers whose careers are taking shape, those connections can be as significant as the screening itself. Award-winning Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer credits TTFF with playing an important role in launching his career. His first feature film, Children of God, was embraced by the festival at an early stage.