By Stephen Weir It took four years and a worldwide Kickstarter project for the Jamaica Dance Hall documentary Bruk Out to break out in Toronto. On Friday night the movie was given its Canadian premiere to a wildly cheering audience at the downtown Royal Cinema. Bruk Out starts with men and women dancing in the […]
For Black History Month, the TDBank Group is hosting more than 100 events celebrating Black music, arts and culture across Canada with signature events in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Ottawa that feature inspiring accomplishments by Black Canadians. In Toronto, one of the major upcoming events on this month’ s entertainment calendar is the third Black […]
By David Jessop Making movies is big business. The amounts spent on a production can be substantial, running into hundreds of millions of dollars. For the Caribbean, attracting film makers from overseas not only has the benefit of bringing much needed revenue and employment, but can also spur the development of a wide range of […]
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) bills its February evening millennial bash as Shake It. But, Trinidadian Canadian actress and playwright Rhoma Spencer plans to take it up a notch, dazzling, rocking and “carnivalizing“ hipsters who will be taking in the First Thursday party on February 1. Shake It is meant to attract new (and […]
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – After a hiatus spanning several years, mas’ icon Peter Minshall is back on the Trinidad Carnival scene. Minshall, well known internationally for his spectacular and sometimes macabre presentations, is producing The Eyes of God for Trinidad Carnival 2018. It’s a sailor band that will be accompanied by the Exodus steelband. […]
By Stephen Weir Every Saturday afternoon for the past 14-years Alain Arthur has been warmly welcomed into hundreds of thousands of homes across Canada. He never gets old, never gets fat (wonder where that hair went anyway?) and he always has positive, fun stories to tell us about Caribbean Canadian culture. Not yet seen Caribbean […]
By Rachael Manley Publisher: Cormorant Books Reviewed by Jeffrey C. Cobham A love story ‘resisting the focus to aim for the heart’ The main setting for Rachel Manley’s The Black Peacock is a tiny un-Caribbean island. “ This was not an island with the promise of beach and palms. This was the menace of steep […]
By Stephen Weir The Toronto African Film and Music Festival that was scheduled to take place this weekend in downtown Toronto, has been canceled. The organizers had planned to showcase the works of filmmakers and musicians from over 50 countries in Africa, United States of America and the Caribbean, with the emphasis on film and […]
By Stephen Weir REVIEW of Other Side of the Game A play by Amanda Parris Toronto fervently wishes that the name Lester Donaldson would not be spoken and that 29 years after his death the city could return to being known as Toronto The Good. But if wishes were kittens, Amanda Parris’s debut play, Other […]
Denham Jolly’s autobiography wins Toronto Book Award By Stephen Weir The standing ovation began before City of Toronto librarian Vickery Bowles could finish announcing Denham Jolly’s name. On Thursday night in the Toronto Reference Library’s Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, Jamaican Canadian businessman, radio pioneer, and now author, received the 2017 Toronto Book Award for […]
