By Stephen Weir When the Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF) opens in a couple weeks, the first film of the annual flickfest will have the audience thinking they have snakes on the brain when the theatre lights come back on. Rattlesnakes is a full- length feature that has rattlers not just in the personalities of […]
Kerry Washington Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress Kerry Washington was recently honoured with an ‘Artistic Achievement Award’ at Jamaica’s 57th Independence Black Tie Gala, held at the Hilton Westchester Hotel in Rye, New York. In an emotional letter read by her Jamaican-born mother, Dr Valerie Washington, the actress, who received international recognition for her role […]
By Stephen Weir Twenty-nine years on, and the annual Summer Works festival is still presenting cutting edge theatre in downtown Toronto. The environment, class discrimination, sexual orientation and yes, even the social impact of parking tickets are some of the themes of the 30 dances, plays and music that will be performed on the boards […]
– film about Jamaican running phenom CaribanaTM Arts Group, Members of the public are invited to join the CaribanaTM Arts Group, The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and writer-director Storm Saulter for an exclusive preview of Saulter’s coming-of-age drama, Sprinter — executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith — about a Jamaican track-and-field […]
By Stephen Weir Yardie, a British/Jamaican action movie directed by superstar actor Idris Elba received its Canadian debut last week at the Royal Cinema in downtown Toronto. And while the 108-minute feature film was awash with blood and murder, everybody in the sold-out theatre left on their own two feet arguing about the Jamaican to […]
TORONTO, ON – In its effort to keep diversity at the forefront of its mandate, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 842 new members from 59 countries to join the organization responsible for the Oscar nominations, and Canadian filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon is on the list of directors. She is in good company […]
By Stephen Weir Don’t tell TIFF but The Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF) has scored a big one! Thursday night – July 4th – the CTFF is showing Yardie at the downtown Royal Cinema. This is the Canadian debut for a feature length thriller that was directed by British film star Idris Elba. “We tried […]
KINGSTON, Jamaica, last Tuesday Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his Government is open to finding ways to stimulate the production of blockbuster films in Jamaica. With scenes from the 25th James Bond film being shot in Jamaica, Holness said the island’s enviable location as well as its contribution to pop culture should be leveraged and […]
Canadians ought to invest more in “domestically relevant’’ children’s television content, and TV programming in both Canada and the United States should show more characters “living in lower socioeconomic conditions’’. These recommendations are among “actionable insights’’ included in a report just released by The Center for Scholars & Storytellers. The Center, which has offices at […]
Toronto-born actor Stephan James who starred in the critically-acclaimed movie, “If Beale Street Could Talk” and co-starred with Julia Roberts in the Amazon TV series, “Homecoming,” was one of the recipients of the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards. James who hails from Scarborough, was presented on Sunday night with the inaugural Radius Award which was created […]
