Green Days by the River for a new age

The beloved story will open this year’s Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (ttff). It is one of four TT features and over 34 local shorts that will premiere at the festival this year. A red carpet gala and screening of the adaptation, which carries the same name, will be held on September 19 at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA).

It is also the first local film by a TT director and producer to open the annual film festival.

The film was directed by Michael Mooleedhar and produced by Christian James.

Mooleedhar’s and James’ adaptation will feature Sudi Tafari (Shell), Nadia Kandhai (Rolasie), Anand Lawkaran (Mr Gidharrie), Che Rodriguez (Pa) and Dara Healy (Ma Lammy).

For Mooleedhar, opening the film festival is a dream come true. He said in a release, “I screened my first film at the ttff in 2008 and ever since the festival has been our first stop for premiering our movies, so it is truly an honour.

I always look forward to this event and this year promises to be even more special. The Green Days by the River team is excited to be sharing this film with Trinidad and Tobago and the world.” The festival’s founder, Bruce Paddington said, the film was one of 15 in development that participated in the festival’s 2015 Caribbean Film Mart. As two graduates of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) film school, Paddington said, it was ‘a joy’ to see the Mooleedhar and James’ film happen.

For new Caribbean generations unfamiliar with the novel, Green days by the River is, “set in the idyllic countryside of 1950s Mayaro and re-tells the story of 15 year old Shell. Newly arrived in the village, he quickly gets caught between his longing to be a man, and his child-like innocence in the face of adult cunning. “With adolescent hormones raging, amidst the beauty of the local girls and the Mayaro landscape, the quiet storm that’s brewing may prove more than Shell can handle and life as he once knew it may never be the same again.” The film will also be screened at Movie Towne, San Fernando, on September 25, at 6 pm.

Tickets for the Port of Spain premiere goes on sale from August 21 and can be purchased at the NAPA box office, or ordered on line at: ttfilmfestival.com, from that date.

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"Green Days by the River for a new age"

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