Classic Carnival movies go outdoors

A scene from ‘Black Orpheus’ which will be screened at the Big Black Box in Woodbrook.

This year the focus is on classic films, with three evenings of free, outdoor film screenings beginning with Bacchanal Time at Constantine Park, Macoya, followed by Black Orpheus at Big Black Box, Woodbrook, and Horace Ov?’s King Carnival at the Nalis Amphitheatre, Port-of- Spain. King Carnival will be followed by a panel discussion.

All screenings start at 7 pm and the programme is as follows.

February 4 Bacchanal Time, 1978, by Kamalo Deen Bacchanal Time, is a hilarious comedy about an islandwide stick-fighting competition on Carnival Sunday, and two fighters who have to travel great distances through treacherous, often ridiculous circumstances to compete. Bubbling with the music of the season and Carnival weekend excitement, it stars Gregory Ballantyne (Calypsonian GB) as a stick fighter, and also features Calypso Rose, Shadow, Crazy, Trinidad Rio and the late Stork St Hill among others.

Written and directed by Kamalo Deen, the film treats the audience to a cinematic trip down memory lane and the joy of seeing the beauty of TT ’s 1970’s landscape on the big screen. Seating will be provided.

February 5 Black Orpheus, 1959, by Marcel Camus The winner of both the 1959 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, and the 1960 Academy Award for best foreign-language film, Black Orpheus brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the 20th-century madness of Carnival in a Rio de Janeiro favela. An epic tale of love, vengeance and passion accompanied by breathtaking cinematography; it was an international sensation that helped kick-off the bossa nova craze in 1960s America.

February 11 King Carnival, 1973, by Horace Ov? Made for the BBC in 1973 by legendary Trinidadian- British director, Horace Ov?, King Carnival is acclaimed as one of the best documentaries ever made about the history of TT Carnival.