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The T&T Grassroots Film Festival (TTGFF) provides an opportunity for local film-makers and the public to be exposed to each other.

Garland Holder, co-founder of the Digital Film Institute, the organizer of the Festival, said it is targeted at young and emerging film-makers who have made a film with little to no budget and don’t have a platform to show it.

He said the TTGFF was formed to complement the other Film Festivals already in existence in T&T, as they are either limited in scope, or in the case of the T&T Film Festival, not all films are at the standard and level they want to show.
Holder said the Festival takes the approach that all are welcome. “We don’t care what level of film you have, we want to appreciate you and give you a platform for the fact that you went out there and made a film, that you had a story to tell and you have a voice that needs to be heard. We just want to create that platform where you can come and interact with the public and get feedback, support and recognition for the accomplishment of making a film. The way we structure it is for the film-maker to come and show their films and then have a five minute question and answer session with the audience.”
He urged members of the public to come out and encourage the film-makers, as it’s a free opportunity to see local films. “It doesn’t really hurt anybody to come out and watch what is being shown on the screen. We want to create a space and platform where people know they could take their families on a Saturday evening and be entertained for nothing. It really just costs you time to come here for an hour or two and watch some emerging film-makers try and make their mark, and who knows, we might discover some amazing talent in the process.”
Holder said DFI is putting on the Film Festival because “we’re just trying to do our part in the whole landscape of film development, as very little is being done right now in film in T&T. Films are being made and you really don’t know where to see them, they’re not online, they’re nowhere and people want to be able to see our local films. There are a few films that might get onto the local television, they may have one or two runs and then they disappear.”
He said DFI hopes one day to make this initiative a full festival, with sponsorship, etc. “We’re just doing this out of the passion and desire to see film in Trinidad grow. I think that’s the key thing that I want people to understand, we’re doing it in spite of a lack of funds.”
About 20 persons turned out to the first screening on August 13, where three films were shown. The next screening will be on August 27 and will feature “Inside Out the Mad House,” written and directed by Azard Daniel; “The Misadventures of Brian and Sachin” written and directed by Nicholas Clarke; and “Stonerz,” written and directed by Lyder Obiora Smith
Holder commended the people who are working to put on the TTGFF. “They really are troupers, you call on them and they come out and give of themselves wholeheartedly.” He also thanked Albert Laveau of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, where the Festival is being held, for donating the space.
The Festival began on August 13 and continues every other Saturday until December 3. Holder is calling on local and regional film-makers to submit their films for screening, and emphasized that no-one will be excluded. “We welcome any quality, any length, any topic. We don’t care where the film-maker come from, and we welcome all the films we can get to have this ongoing annually. There are a lot of people curious about local films and don’t even believe that we can make good films in T&T, so I’m saying give it a try, come and see what is out here.”
For more information, find Trinidad and Tobago Grassroots Film Festival on Facebook.