TT-CANADIAN feature film Doubles has won three awards at the Canadian Film Fest, including a Best Supporting Actor award for veteran TT-born actor Errol Sitahal. The awards were announced at the festival held last month in Toronto.
Sitahal spoke with Newsday about his win during a WhatsApp audio call and said he was excited by the news.
“It is a reputable institution, the Canadian Film Fest, and to get an award from them is pretty much an honour. It means to me I am regarded by the film fraternity as a top actor in the country. Pity I am not regarded the same way in Trinidad, but still.”
A long-time veteran of the stage and screen, Sitahal has appeared in several local theatre productions, Caribbean films, Hollywood films including, The Little Princess, Tommy Boy and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and Canadian television series 11 Cameras and How to Be Indie.
In Doubles, Sitahal plays Ragbir, a Trinidadian immigrant living in Toronto who is visited by his son Dhani (played by local actor and attorney Sanjiv Boodhu), a frustrated Trini doubles vendor who comes to Canada seeking financial gain from his estranged father. The trip becomes complicated when he learns that his father has a serious illness.


Both Boodhu and Sitahal reprised their roles from Ian Harnarine’s 2011 short Doubles With Slight Pepper which the new film is based on, and which won many accolades including the Best Canadian Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and also a Genie Award.
In the new film Sitahal’s real-life wife Leela plays his estranged wife Sumintra. On his award-winning role, he said it was possible in the past he had roles equal to what he played in Doubles but they were not given any kind of attention including in Trinidad.
“I could have gotten (a similar award) a long time ago. But it was a proper part a nice part, and I related to it easily. It was a relaxed and comfortable performance.”
Sitahal said his role would have been special to the Canadian Film Fest as it was not the usual character seen in films, including those from Trinidad and the wider Caribbean.
“The area that is gradually being explored is the existence of diaspora. It is a very confusing area. People talk about multiculturalism, talk glibly about it. It is very confusing, very painful, and full of suffering and deep-down disturbances. People moved from one culture to another, specifically to (Canada).”
He said there are a lot of culturally displaced people in Canada, and it was important to recognize and engage differences without losing cultural distinctiveness. He added there are similar differences within Caribbean societies and, though there has been a longer time to engage with them, these issues were not being worked out.
Sitahal expressed hope his role and the award will lead to more films and discussions about the displaced immigrant experience and the disturbances they suffer. “I think cinema is a place to articulate these differences.”


Doubles writer and director Ian Harnarine spoke to Newsday about Sitahal’s win in a Zoom interview and said he was very happy that he was being recognized with this special jury award.
“Everyone who sees this film is immediately moved by Errol’s performance. And I knew when we were filming it, we were getting something very special out of the actors but especially Errol.”
Harnarine said he worked with Sitahal on two films and described the level of his talent as “unmatched.”
“The Trinidadian audience would know Errol Sitahal as the phenomenal actor who has been doing countless stage plays and movies in Trinidad, but I don’t think he’s received the recognition formally that he deserves. I believe he’s a national treasure. And I’m glad he’s getting the recognition for the amount of talent that he has and how much he puts into it.”
He said the team was pleased with the recognition that the awards represented. Together with the award for Sitahal, Doubles also won the Reel Canadian Indie Award and People’s Pick for Best Flick. Harnarine explained the Indie Award was a jury award and goes to the movie that encapsulates the spirit of independent film.
“It’s not a big studio movie. What we didn’t have in money in terms of budget, we made up for it in terms of heart and in terms of grit and of people really working hard to make the movie. And so, to be recognized for that, it means a lot.”
On the People’s Pick award, Harnarine said this award is voted on by the audience. He recalled Doubles had a soldout audience in Toronto which was a dream come true for him.
“The audience really loved the movie. There were people who were crying throughout their experience and that meant a lot. So you’re connecting with the audience, which is what we’re trying to do ultimately with the film. Trying to move people emotionally.”
Harnarine, a Canadian filmmaker born to Trinidadian parents, recalled the audience in Toronto included many people from Trinidad and the Caribbean diaspora but also “regular Canadian people” from Ontario’s capital city.
“Toronto is a really multicultural place. So, to tap into that audience, there’s something in there that they would know. Even if they didn’t know about doubles or anything like that, by the end of the movie they felt something about this universal truth that I think the movie is trying to get at. And if they felt something by that, then I feel that we’ve done our job.”


He said he was hoping everyone could appreciate the film whether they were aware of the culture presented in the film or not. “I’m hoping they can tap into the humanity that is involved.”
He said the film was shot during very cold conditions and they were always pressed for time and money.
“But the one thing that always kept me going was that we would screen this film for our people. We’d screen this movie in Toronto. We’d screen this movie for a packed house.”
He said that having this dream come to fruition made for a very special night.
The three awards are Harnarine’s first at the annual festival held by the Canadian Film Fest, which is a non-profit organization whose mission is to celebrate the art of cinematic storytelling by exclusively showcasing Canadian films. Harnarine explained the Canadian Film Fest was an early step in their film festival run and the awards immediately raised the stature of the film.
“We can say we’re a multiaward- winning film now with an award-winning performance by a standout actor. And hopefully, that will raise awareness for the film and get more people interested in it.”
Harnarine said he was looking forward to having a run in Trinidad after the film successfully opened the TT Film Festival 2023 back in September.
“I am hoping we can work with FILMCO to get a theatrical release of the film in Trinidad. And that would mean a lot to me. And I’m hoping the local audience would come out and support what I think is a really high-quality vision of themselves.”
On his other projects, Harnarine announced he was adapting the 2007 historical fiction novel Soucouyant by David Chariandy, a Canadian writer born to Trinidadian immigrant parents.
​(Source; Newsday, April 2, 2024)

Miss World Trinidad and Tobago, Aché Abrahams debuted her national costume during the Miss World Opening Ceremony in India on Tuesday, February 21. Abrahams proudly introduced herself as T&T’s representative, noting that the nation is famous for its steelpan, soca and Carnival.
Her costume, designed by Lost Tribe’s Solange Govia, depicted the Fancy Sailor and channelled the Golden Era of Sailor Mas portrayals, which the designer said acknowledged “the sophistication, vibrancy and power of the mas character.”
Govia explained: “I also started thinking about being a woman in the Carnival industry, and the fact that is also my duty to always honour our womanhood in these sacred traditions. I always want my costumes to remind people that there will always be a place and space for female representation in mas, and I am grateful that Val allowed me this amazing creative opportunity to challenge my design instincts, to inject this sense of femininity and grace into this design, and to just create freely.”
The designer provided some insight into the design elements of the stunning costume.
“From the embellished hat, to the towering collar, to the classic stick, I wanted to pay homage to the opulence that the Sailor Mas experience brings to the streets of Port of Spain. Of course, there had to be a design twist in this Fancy Sailor – the sand-coloured feathered skirt that replaced the bell-bottom pants, to not only represent the first visit of British, French and American naval ships in our nation’s history, but to also highlight where the Caribbean Sea meets the T&T shoreline,” she continued.
“For me, it is this simple reminder that through every storm, women have become ‘the glue’ to the Carnival experience. We bring these powerful elements together to define our legacy, and we will always be pivotal in pushing the winds of change forward,” Govia concluded.
The costume will again grace the stage for the Dances of the World segment.
The Miss World 2024 pageant takes place Saturday, March 9 from 10am - 1pm AST. (Source: The Loop, Feb 21, 2024)

As Trinidad and Tobago celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence today, the country’s future is at a critical crossroads, President Paula-Mae Weekes said in her independence address to the nation last night.

Describing the country as restless, President Weekes said the immediate landscape appears to be that of a wilderness, with increasingly brazen animosity; ugly, divisive politics; rampant unemployment, distressing reports of child abuse and troubling poverty.

President Weekes said there was a time when all Trinis could carry themselves with unbridled pride.

“There was a time, not too long ago, when as a nation, we were full of pride in ourselves, boasting an enviable literacy rate and booming industries, a place where respect for others and office was the default position and where integrity, decency and compassion were not unfamiliar— justifiably the envy of our Caribbean neighbours. Not that we were without our problems and issues; there has always been lawbreaking, corruption, societal dysfunction and ethnic division, but not to the extremes that now exist. For many years after Sniper first sang ‘Portrait of Trinidad’ in 1965, we citizens sang along lustily, without hesitation or reservation,” she said.
She lamented that the realities of Trinidad and Tobago today, however, were not what the architects of our independence intended.

“Those who have lived through all or most of this intervening period would be justified in asking —however rhetorically—how the France we get here? Mercifully, this junction also affords the nation the opportunity to look back at some of its former ways—with a view to revisiting the more salutary behaviours and practices which we may have unwisely abandoned,” the President said in her address.

“The significant and wonderful thing about a crossroads is it offers options—a choice of paths for the onward journey. The selection must be made with utmost care and caution. Trinidad and Tobago desperately needs to find where the good way lies and walk in it, and we do not have a moment to spare.”

The country’s head of state called for honest introspection by each and every citizen to return the country to some of the glories of its past.

“As a people, we have had more than enough time to put aside childish things—our laissez-faire attitude, intolerant viewpoints and perspectives, irrational conspiracy theories and appetite for the latest bacchanal; to stop the blame game, social media character assassinations, the pointless rehashing of old grudges, none of which has yielded any result other than increasing bitterness and disaffection,” President Weekes said.

“This is the point at which we must take up our precious Georgie bundle of enduring and admirable national qualities and legacies—creativity, diversity, generosity, resilience, energy and passion, among others—hoist it on our shoulders and set course for the future.

“To make Trinidad and Tobago a better place, each of us must look at ourselves and then make a change—a “Man in the Mirror” approach. Our fortunes cannot improve unless we first take ownership of our part in creating the present malaise and make the necessary adjustments to our thinking, attitudes and behaviour.”

Saying today would be a good day to set aside some time to envision and manifest our future, President Weekes added, “Just imagine what we could achieve if, on their next working day, whatever their personal circumstances, every public servant, every journalist, every police officer, every member of parliament, every CEPEP worker, began the day saying and meaning, “I am a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. I have and I take direct responsibility for its affairs.” And went to their job with purpose, with pride, with integrity, with discipline, without cynicism, without hidden agenda, without skulduggery, without partisanship.” (Source: The Guardian, Aug 30, 2022)

Reminder that the one and only showing of this film in Ottawa is April 25th at the Imagine Cinema on St. Laurent boulevard.  See home page for trailer and details.

Thou­sands of Chris­tians will be flock­ing to church­es this week­end for the an­nu­al Palm Sun­day ob­ser­vances.
Palm Sun­day or Pas­sion Sun­day is ob­served on the sixth Sun­day of Lent, the Sun­day be­fore East­er and com­mem­o­rates Je­sus’ tri­umphal en­try in­to Jerusalem, an event men­tioned in each of the four Gospels.
The Bible tells us peo­ple cut branch­es from palm trees, laid them across Je­sus’ path and waved them in the air. They greet­ed Je­sus not as the spir­i­tu­al Mes­si­ah who would take away the sins of the world, but as a po­ten­tial po­lit­i­cal leader who would over­throw the Ro­mans. They shout­ed “Hosan­na (mean­ing “save now”), blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Is­rael!”
As has be­come cus­tom­ary, Palm Sun­day ob­ser­vances in­clude the wav­ing of palm branch­es in pro­ces­sion, the bless­ing of the palms and the mak­ing of small cross­es with the palms.
The cel­e­bra­tion of Je­sus’ tri­umphal en­try in­to Jerusalem marks the start of Holy Week, which fo­cus­es on the fi­nal days of Je­sus Christ’s life.
In Trinidad, the At­talea Mari­pa or “co­corite” Palm is har­vest­ed for dis­tri­b­u­tion to the faith­ful on Palm Sun­day.
Ce­cil Toy­er, a mem­ber of the St John’s Evan­ge­lists Church who cus­tom­ar­i­ly leads the group in cut­ting the leaves, ex­plained: “You can­not get palm from the oth­er palm trees be­cause of the main fact that you have to cut the soft branch of the palm tree. The soft part of the palm tree is lo­cat­ed in the heart of the palm tree, which is in the cen­tre. Co­corite is the on­ly palm tree you could cut over and over and the tree will not die.”
Toy­er ex­plained that the trees are in­dige­nous to sev­er­al trop­i­cal South Amer­i­can coun­tries as well as T&T. They typ­i­cal­ly grow in low­land forests and undis­turbed ar­eas, on soils that are not usu­al­ly flood­ed.
As the re­porter as­signed to the sto­ry I ac­com­pa­nied the team.
The palms we went to reap grew on the side of a cliff on the North­ern Range in the vicin­i­ty of the North Post Road, Diego Mar­tin. This meant we had to ven­ture over 160 feet down the un­du­lat­ing and dan­ger­ous ter­rain to reap the leaves.
Af­ter they were cut, the palms were man­u­al­ly dragged back up the steep in­cline to the North Post Road where they were stripped.
But be­fore the strip­ping is done, they first press the young palms to the ground and bent it back and forth to “crack” it. This un­seals the shoot so the in­di­vid­ual palm leaves could be ex­tract­ed for use.
When the palms are dis­trib­uted in church­es from this af­ter­noon, many faith­ful will fold them in­to the shape of a cross, which are used in the pro­ces­sion at the church on this Palm Sun­day in a re-en­act­ment of Christ’s ar­rival in­to Jerusalem and then tak­en home where they are dis­played in cars and homes.
Some of the blessed palms which have been cut are kept. These are burnt the fol­low­ing year to be used as ash­es for the Ash Wednes­day ob­ser­vance.
Source: The Guardian, April 12, 2019.

He had just come off one of the most successful weekends at the box office — ever. Director Jordan Peele was speaking at the Hollywood Improv Theatre after his horror flick scared up US$88 million in its opening. It has since raked in more than US$200 million.
With the success of "Get Out" (US$174M) and now "Us," Peele can literally write his ticket with the studios when it comes to what he wants in a movie, and he said as much to an audience of aspiring actors and fans: "I get to cast black people in my movies. I feel fortunate to be in this position where I can say to Universal, 'I want to make a $20-million horror movie with a black family.' And they say yes."
Now that's power.
But it wasn't this bit of pride and, yes, boastfulness that got the Twittersphere and others in a tizzy. It was his next statement that got the debate rolling: "I don't see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie. Not that I don't like white dudes," he said. "But I've seen that movie."
Cue the outrage, the false equivalencies — "What if a white director had said that about casting black actors?" — and the debate about why a black director (or any creative of colour) should choose to tell stories that reflect their own perspective and experiences.
Lost in all the unfounded indignation was the rest of his statement: "It really is one of the best, greatest pieces of this story, is feeling like we are in this time — a renaissance has happened and proved the myths about representation in the industry are false."
Finally.
And this is a "finally" that has been said before. Consider last year's smash "Black Panther" ($1.34B) and a long list of black films dating back to the early 1990s: "New Jack City" ($100M), "Malcolm X" ($102M), "The Book of Eli" ($105M), "The Equalizer" ($108M), "Barbershop" ($115M), "Boyz In Da Hood" ($120M), "The Butler" ($130M), "Boomerang" ($149M), "Waiting To Exhale" ($134M), "Ride Along" ($149M) and "Straight Outta Compton" ($172M). Let's not forget the Tyler Perry/Madea franchise.
Black films have proven Peele's point over and over again. Yet, telling stories through the lens of a community that is not "mainstream" (read: white) continues to be a hard sell for financial backing.
White narratives dominate mediaI've fought the good fight for many years to tell stories that reflect the fabric of our multicultural reality. As a drama producer at BBC Television in England, where I began my career, I fought to represent the authentic voices of Britain's diverse communities on screen.
My ambition was met with resistance. I arrived during the mid-1980s, hired to work on one of the first black TV magazine programs, "Ebony." It was a time of marked political and racial division. London burned — as did Handsworth, Birmingham and Manchester — amid black communities protesting decades of racial oppression.
The first news story that I covered was in the aftermath of what was called the "Black Riots" -- a policeman had been murdered. In retaliation, hundreds of black youth were arrested, tried without evidence and deprived of their rights. I remember black people being described as "black monkeys" in the media and people making monkey noises in reference to them.
I covered not just the trials but also the community's response. After we cut our program together, I was shocked and disappointed when the program was pulled minutes before it was to be broadcast. I recall being told that it was because of a "lack of balance."
Thirty years later, the real reasons for the frustrations of Britain's black communities are now coming to light in what has become known as the Windrush Scandal. This political scandal rocked Britain last year when British-born subjects (from the Commonwealth) who arrived in the U.K. before 1973 were wrongly detained, denied legal rights and threatened with deportation. Many were from Caribbean countries and the name "Windrush" was given after the 'Empire Windrush' — a ship that brought one of the first groups of West Indian migrants to the U.K. in 1948.
Our voices are finally being heard.
In 2000, I returned to Canada, where I went to university. As a producer of colour, working in media here has been heartbreaking. Year after year, the same folks receive funding for the same recycled stories. White-centred or European narratives overshadow the authentic stories of people of colour — telling our struggles, but forgetting to speak of our joys and triumphs.
We will no longer seek approval or permissionThe reality is that the Canadian immigrant story is changing. Beyond the refugee camps we see on the news; scenes of war and poverty; two-dimensional images of victims and criminals; and the cookie-cutter, paint-by-numbers approaches of Hollywood, the lives of people of colour are so much more interesting, more nuanced and compelling. But we have yet to see this extraordinary transformation documented on television and film screens.
Our authentic stories matter. It is our birthright, as important as breathing and eating, to express the truths of our experiences and pass these on from generation to generation so that those coming after learn from and about us, and survive, thrive and grow.
We deserve three-dimensional characters who look like us, in every genre; stories in which we are the heroes, the protagonists of our own destinies. Not all of these will be multi-million-dollar box office films — they shouldn't have to be.
It is important that the few of us who do arrive in positions of power or decision-making feel comfortable and confident telling stories the way we want to. Arriving doesn't mean that we now tell the mainstream stories that solely focus on white characters and their experiences or ones developed out of the minds of powerful white male producers.
In an interview with The Guardian, acclaimed author Toni Morrison explains unapologetically, "I'm writing for black people in the same way that Tolstoy was not writing for me, a 14-year-old coloured girl from Lorain, Ohio. I don't have to apologize or consider myself limited because I don't [write about white people] .... The point is not having the white critic sit on your shoulder and approve it."
We will no longer seek approval or permission to tell our stories. As Jordan Peele pointed out, we are in a renaissance, and myths have been shattered. And at the end of the day, let's be real — the colour that truly speaks volumes is the colour of money.
Source: Huffington Post Canadda, April 16, 2019.

​This February, the artist of the month at the Main Branch is none other than a son of the Trinbagonian soil, Winton Bascombe. 
Winton is a talented artist who works in water-colour and acrylics.  His artistic talent began early in life and continued into adulthood blossoming while he studied at Memorial University, Newfoundland.  He now lives here in Ottawa. 
Prints of Winton’s artwork are up for purchase and the exhibition can be seen until the end of February. 
Feel free to drop into the Library to enjoy his work on the 3rd floor balcony, Main Branch, at the corner of Metcalfe and Laurier Ave. 

NEW Fire Festival founder Gerry Anthony said the festival is unlike anything offered in the Caribbean and is said to have resulted in patrons leaving the event feeling renewed while experiencing a new way of seeing the world around them. This he said is the intention behind the one-of-a-kind festival in the Caribbean.
The weekend-long event, which is tied to an ethos of promoting living with intention – consciously seeking to protect mind, body, spirit and the ecosystem, will take place in St Joseph.
“It evolved out of something that unfolded naturally from being the new fire concert series. In January 2014, we started the concert series which was about putting local artists who were not mainstream, in a mini-concert at the old mas camp pub.”
Festival director Elize Rostant said the venue for the series had great meaning. She said the former home of Peter Minshall’s mas camp meant it had profound meaning for the creative industry in TT. “For over two decades there were stalwarts of music, Carnival and art in the space. So we were elated to start the series there, because of the legacy of the space.”
Anthony said the series was organised with the intention of setting new fire to the old camp, using music as a medium for promoting and sharing messages of social change. He said coming from a community of underground musicians, there were always messages of empowerment, but it was not given the same platform as other local feel-good genres – thus lessening the reach and impact.
“The series was therefore created to help develop the underground music community by getting their work out there, while sharing empowering messages to the people.”
In response to a lack of understanding for the significance of the space occupied by the events, coupled with not seeing the growth anticipated, the team went back to the drawing board to create something still aligned with their intentions, but more attractive for the people of TT.
“TT is a place that loves hype and big events, so we decided, let’s do a festival.” In conceptualising the festival, Anthony said they had to involve progressive movements. These, he said, included ecology and ecological sustainability, mindfulness – caring for mind, body and spirit.
Rostant said, “The festival really is a festival of festivals. People try to wrap their heads around what it is. Because we are trying to inspire people by hitting them with important questions, we had to package it in an attractive way.”
She said the central pillar of zero-waste, lessening negative impacts on the environment during the whole weekend, over-night camping to fuel engagement and promoting the importance of community. This promotion of community extends to the community in which the event is held, where residents of Acono benefit by being part of the patronage, as well as being part of the event management team. The team which is completely made up of volunteers also incorporates young professionals seeking practical experience in events planning, art and design, and marine biology, working in collaboration with established professionals.
The event also includes an artisans market, and a variety of workshops including yoga, mindfulness, meditation and healing of the body through food.
Rostant said for 2019, there will be a green business expo, which focuses on small and medium enterprises which offer green/ eco-friendly products. “We see this as an amazing opportunity for business cross-pollination of business engagements, and for consumers who are seeking products that are in line with their attitudes toward preserving the environment. The event will also see a broadening of the facilities in place for children, which will include the introduction of farming, wildlife rehabilitation by the team from Asa Wright Nature Centre, honey farmers and other out-of-the-box local endeavours all coming together at one empowering event.
Anthony defines New Fire Festival as a transformational event, which he said is “geared toward moving from where we are, to where we can be, by immersing the attendees in an experience.”
The fourth year of the festival, which is an initiative of the non-profit organisation, TT Bridge Initiative had the official launch on December 1 at Green Yard, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.
New Fire Festival 2019 is slated for April 12 to 14 at Ortinola Estate, St Joseph. Anthony said patrons can look forward to a weekend of live and recorded music, art, yoga, education, great food and fun by the river, while creating bonds that last a lifetime