8th Annual Caribbean Tales Gala Reception and Film Screening: NO BOIS MAN NO FRAID @ Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON - Wed Sept 4th!

The World Premiere of No Bois Man No Fraid,a feature documentary directed by Trinidad and Tobago filmmaker Christopher Laird, will be the Red Carpet Gala Screening at the 8th Annual CaribbeanTales Toronto Film Showcase. The event opens the festival’s main film showcase, which is co-produced with the Harbourfront Centre, on September 4 .

The Gala begins at 6:30 p.m.on when guests will enjoy a Caribbean reception, followed by the screening at
9 p.m. Co-hosted with the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Toronto, the event will be held along Toronto’s waterfront at the Harbourfront Centre Lakeside Terrace.

No Bois Man No Fraid (Trinidad and Tobago, 2013, 86 mins.) tells the story of two internationally certified martial artists, who are introduced to a very different style of combat sport. Kalinda, a combination of stick-fighting, dance, and folk music, is commonly practiced during the Carnival season, and draws on traditions handed down from slavery. The film follows Keegan and Benji as they rediscover their roots by entering into the potentially lethal arena of the Gayelle.

Christopher Laird has produced and directed over 300 documentaries, dramas and other video productions. Richard Fung, award-winning Canadian/Trinidadian filmmaker and curator, calls him “one of the most important filmmakers working in the Anglophone Caribbean.” Laird is the Founder and Managing Director of Banyan Ltd., that has, over the past 30 years produced arguably the world’s largest collection of Caribbean culture on video. In 2004, he co-founded Gayelle: The Channel, the region’s first all- Caribbean free-to-air television station.

Before the screening at Harbourfront Centre’s Studio Theatre, guests will enjoy Caribbean culinary delights prepared by award-winning executive chef, Selwyn Richard of The Art of Catering, and mix and mingle with filmmakers, celebrities and other dignitaries, while enjoying live music.

Reception begins at 6:30pm in the Lakeside Terrace & Patio
Studio Theatre - York Quay Ctr, Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West , Toronto, ON

Tickets:  $35 with Advance promocode GALA35 - $45 at the door

Click here for trailer

Click here for tickets

For more info on the festival and other screenings click here

Film Screening: Toronto Reel Asian Festival presents DAL PURI DIASPORA @ The Royal, Toronto, ON & The Rum & Roti Lime @ The Monarch Festival Hub, Toronto, ON- Sat Nov 10th!

A warm bite of roti in Toronto’s Parkdale amidst mounds of snow is one step towards finding a taste of home, but neither taste nor home are easily defined or traced. In this mouth-watering documentary, the origins of dal puri, or roti as it is known locally, leads Toronto-based filmmaker Richard Fung across oceans from his native Trinidad to the Indian Subcontinent to explore the interwoven histories of peoples and palates.

In his quest for the original dal puri, Fung interviews restaurateurs, foodies, scholars and locally renowned chefs in South Asia and the Caribbean. We catch tantalizing glimpses of flour-caked hands expertly rolling, kneading and stuffing the flatbread in its multiple succulent variations. From the dal puri of Bihar to the Trinidadian specialty named after its resemblance to a “busted-up shirt,” every name for roti reveals a different history.

For centuries, dal puri has been shared, altered and blended, mirroring the mélange of regional customs and dialects that thrive throughout South Asia and have been transplanted across the Atlantic. “The rivers flow and we have not been able to stem the flow of the rivers. There is no divide in terms of palate.” says Pushpesh Pant, an Indian food historian. Uncovering histories of colonialism, trade and immigration, Dal Puri Diaspora is a fascinating survey of regional specialties and cultural specificities. From sidewalk eateries and spice factories to home kitchens, Fung explores the mutability of borders when identity is considered through cuisine and the deliciously complex world of roti.

Time: 4:30p

Location:  The Royal:  608 College St @ Clinton 

Followed by the Rum and Roti Lime @ Monarch Festival Hub, 12 Clinton Street, Toronto, ON - 6pm

SPECIAL EVENT | SAT NOV 10, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
THE MONARCH FESTIVAL HUB (12 CLINTON ST) | BUY TICKETS
Admission: $30 (includes film tickets) – ADVANCE SALES ONLY. NO TICKETS SOLD AT THE DOOR.

Visit: http://www.reelasian.com for more info

Film Screenings @ Studio Theatre, Harbourfront Centre - Fri Feb 3rd & Sat Feb 4th!

Friday, February 4th

Joebell and America @ 6:30pm

Based on the true story by Earl Lovelac, Joebell and America tells the story of Joebell, a gambler, who concocts a risky plan to escape to the promise and fantasy of America. Prepared to leave everything behind, including his newly-found romance with the village beauty, Joebell sets out for his final destination, with each step of his journey uncovering him to himself and revealing the island he had never really seen. The film received the Best International Narrative Feature Award at the Women’s International Film Festival.

Directed by Asha Lovelace.

Devotion @ 9:30p

Alice, a bi-racial 11-year-old girl, has recently lost her mother in a car accident due to her father’s drunk driving. As father and daughter begin a new life, Alice is haunted by nightmares and memories of her mother’s death and the new woman in her father’s life. Alice’s identification with her mother (who was white) and reluctant forgiveness of her father (who is black) forms the heart of this coming of age story. The film received the Best Feature Award at San Francisco Urban Kidz Film Festival, the Star! Audience Choice Award at the ReelWorld Film Festival and the 1st Annual Tony Stoltz Completion Fund Award.

Directed by Dawn Wilkinson.

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Saturday, February 4th @ 1:30p

Join us for a series of short films celebrating the richness of Jamaican and Trinidadian cinema.

The following short films will be featured:

Caribbean Skin, African Identity
The documentary examines the concept of African identity as it has evolved over the generations in Trinidad & Tobago. The director explores her own identity using the Emancipation Day parade and its rituals as a starting point for her journey. Interviews with African-Caribbean and scholars define and explain some of the complexities of race in this society. Directed by Mandisa Patin.

Directions
No one gives directions like a Trinidadian. Ask a Trini how to get to a certain place and if he doesn’t know the way, instead of admitting his ignorance, he’ll send you on a roundabout route guaranteed to get you hopelessly lost. In this short dramatization of that endearing and frustrating phenomenon, a number of persons are asked to give directions to a well-known Port of Spain landmark, with unsurprisingly hilarious results. The film received the People’s Choice Award at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival. Directed by Renee Pollonais.

Entry Denied
A young Jamaican footballer, from the ghetto of Kingston, is refused a visa to take up a scholarship at a university in the US. Dramatic events and coincidences conspire to take the story to an alternate conclusion. Directed by Christopher Browne.

Now Jimmy!
A short documentary that explores land rights issues. The film follows a riveting and unusual story about the character Jimmy, a squatter who has built his own house out of salvaged materials on prime Jamaican real estate. The film received the Outstanding Documentary from the Caribbean Award by the Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jamerican Film & Music Festival; it was screened at TIFF, it was also chosen by UNESCO to be a part of an international selection of films from around the world for the new Radio-Television Afghanistan. Directed by Mary Wells.

Lying Lips, directed by Oscar Micheaux in partnership with COMMFFEST

Saturday, Feb. 4, 5 p.m. (Studio Theatre)

Lying Lips is a 1939 drama starring Edna Mae Harris and Robert Earl Jones (the father of James Earl Jones) that follows a nightclub singer who refuses to "date" customers, so she's framed for the murder of her aunt, convicted of the killing and sent to prison. However, her friend, who is a police detective, doesn't believe she did it and sets out to prove her innocence.


Finder of Lost Children, directed by Ricardo Scipio (Trinidad & Tobago)

Saturday, Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m. (Studio Theatre)

Finder of Lost Children is the story of two half-sisters that meet for the first time after the funeral of the father neither one of them knew. These reluctant siblings make a road trip to deal with their father’s meager possessions and discover the existence of several other lost brothers and sisters who are unaware of their father’s passing. The film was screened at the Hollywood Black Film Festival and at CaribbeanTales Film Festival.

Studio Theatre
Location: York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay West, Toronto, ON

Part of the Kuumba Festival

Visit: http://www.harbourfrontcenter.com for a full list of events