By Stephen Weir

Photos by: Anthony Berot

Ms Jean Augustine, Ms Everything, is about to be crowned Canada’s Movie Queen.

Earlier this week the annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF) held it’s 2022 Media Launch to roll out the movies that will be screened in theatres this September, and the show stopper is none other than Steadfast – The Messenger And the Message, a documentary about the life of Canada’s first Black Canadian woman to serve as a Federal Minister of the Crown – Jean Augustine of course.

The hour-long film tells the amazing life story of this Grenadian Canadian Liberal politician who spent a dozen years in parliament and then became a non-stop community activist here in Toronto. The film was recently completed by Canadian director Fahim Hamid and has an amazing three-person castlist which actually includes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau!

The film will be shown the evening of Friday September 9th, (Augustine’s 85th birthday) at the HarbourFront Theatre. Both the star of the film and the director will attend the screening.

Steadfast is one of more than 50 films that will be shown at this year’s film festival. The annual festival is now in its 17th year and runs September 7th to September 23rd

“Yes we are heading back into the theatre (after being on line during the Pandemic shut down); this is the first time in a while there will be people sitting in a theatre,” said festival marketing manager Najah Dowdie. “For this year, the best option for the Festival is to screen the films at the Carlton Cinema (in their 130 seat Theatre Nine).”

This is a new venue for the CTFF. The Carlton Cinema is a multiplex movie theatre on Carlton Street just east of Yonge St. It is steps from the Yonge St subway line. Prior to the Pandemic shutdown the CTFF was headquartered in Little Italy at the 400 seat Royal Theatre.

In 2022 most of the films being shown are considered “shorts” and will be screened on a thematic basis. For example, one evening is all about family life. All Ah We Is One Family is a collection of short films that reveal different issues that arise in families through their films.

Trinidad. Jamaica. Martinique. Puerto Rico. Cuba. The organisers travelled far and wide to bring movies to Canada for viewing, many of them will be shown for the first time in Toronto.

The first Canadian film that will be shown on September 7th Opening Night’s is filmmaker Irina Volkova’s hour long celebration of carnival. Made in 2020, Toronto Caribbean Carnival: Fun and Free will give the Toronto audience one last chance to go down Lakeshore this year, albeit along a celluloid road.

The next evening, September 8th, it is all things T&T.  Five films from Trinidad and Tobago including Lavway, Our Story will be screened to mark the 60th anniversary of the two island nation. Presented in part by Film TT (T&T’s film agency), Lavway is a must see for anyone who has played mas. The Trinidad festival is shown from the point of view of key costumed characters of an award winning Mas Band. 

With the return to the cinema and people once again watching movies together, the festival has adopted the theme of Ah-Wakening, Our Identity “in a new world and an understanding of worlds before,” explains the festival. We will be “exploring mental health, celebration of freedom & independence, and an examination of the Caribbean spirit through film.

Passes for the festival are now on sale. To help you learn about what is in store for 2022, the Caribbean Camera will be previewing some of the films in the lineup beginning with next week’s paper.

Photos by: Anthony Berot