Students forge regional relationships through film

The SSSFF is the only film festival of its kind in the region which caters exclusively to showcasing the stories of young people aged 12 to 17 years. Founded by Movie Towne in 2005 and under the stewardship of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC), the festival has to date facilitated the training of thousands of students in film production, film and sound editing, scriptwriting and acting among other film-making skills.

The 2012 edition of the SSSFF was officially launched on January 24 in collaboration with festival partners, the Ministry of Education, Movie-Towne and the Division of Education, Youth Affairs and Sport of the Tobago House of Assembly.

At the event, Chairman of the TTFC, Christopher Laird encouraged 2011 participants and all students and youth groups across the country to participate in 2012, referencing that over the past two years, there has been significant interest in the SSSFF model by film partners in other Caribbean islands namely Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

An invitation from FEMI — the International Cinema Festival of Guadeloupe to students of the winning schools of last year’s SSSFF to visit Guadeloupe as part of an inaugural film student exchange programme, has started the regional alliance.

Visiting FEMI for the first time from Tobago was Kyle Walcott, 18, whose school’s (Bishop’s High School, Tobago) film Reflections about a school bully won Bishop Anstey High School the Tobago Award in last year’s Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF). He observed that “Young Caribbean people are the same everywhere – we like to lime, go to the beach, work towards our dream” and noted that “interacting with other students interested in producing film has been amazing.”

Kyle took full advantage of the week-long festival that he attended along with fellow-students Nicholas Ramnath of Rio Claro East Secondary, 17, and 15-year-old Ashley Singh of Holy Name Convent, Port-of-Spain.

The three met other young film-makers from Guadeloupe and were set the task of producing a documentary about their trip to encourage entries for the 2012 Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF) and to promote film as a career in TT. “This will be our story and about youth in Guadeloupe,” says Nicholas of Rio Claro East Secondary School.

Visual Arts teacher Dominique Chung who accompanied the students noted that two high schools in Guadeloupe have film on their syllabus – a development she would love to see in TT.