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
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