On Sunday, September 30, the 2012 Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival held its annual gala awards ceremony at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Port-of-Spain.
Over TT$170,000 (or about $26,000) in cash and other prizes were handed out to films and filmmakers, with Philippe Niang's Toussaint L’Ouverture, the night's big winner, taking home the People’s Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature, as well as the jury prize for Best Actor in a Caribbean Film, Jimmy Jean-Louis, who was on hand to collect his prize.
Sergio Ramírez's Distance, described as "a touching, understated drama about an elderly farmer searching for his kidnapped daughter in the aftermath of the Guatemalan civil war," won the jury award for Best Narrative Feature.
Best Documentary Feature went to the Menelik Shabazz’s musical documentary The Story of Lover’s Rock; Best Short went to Ida Does for Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, a portrait of the Surinamese writer and anti-colonial activist.
The 2012 trinidad+tobago film festival, which officially ended yesterday, October 2, was the largest edition of the Festival to date, with over 120 films screened – more than half being T&T productions.
The full list of winners follows below, courtesy of the festival. Congrats to them all!
The gala awards ceremony of the ttff/12 took place earlier this evening at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain. Here is a full list of the winners.
Jury Awards: Best Films
Best Narrative Feature
Distance, directed by Sergio Ramirez
Best Documentary Feature
The Story of Lover’s Rock, directed by Menelik Shabazz
Best Short
Peace: Memories of Anton de Kom, directed by Ida Does
Best Caribbean Film by an International Filmmaker
The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, directed by Christy Garland
Special mentions in the best film category:
Best Narrative Feature
Choco, directed by Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza
Best Documentary Feature
Broken Stones, directed by Guetty Felin
Best Short
Awa Brak, directed by Juan Francisco Pardo
Jury Awards: Best Local Films
Best Local Feature
Inward Hunger, directed by Mariel Brown
Best Local Short
Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Jury Awards: Acting
Best Actor in a Caribbean Film
Jimmy Jean-Louis, Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
Best Actor in a Local Film
Christopher Chin Choy, Where the Sun Sets, directed by Ryan Latchmansingh
Best Actress in a Local Film
Terri Lyons, No Soca, No Life, directed by Kevin Adams
People’s Choice Awards
People’s Choice Award: Narrative Feature
Toussaint L’Ouverture, directed by Philippe Niang
People’s Choice Award: Documentary Feature
La Gaita, directed by Janine Fung
People’s Choice Award: Best Short
Buck: The Man Spirit, directed by Steven Taylor
Other Awards
Film in Development Award
Cutlass, Deresha Beresford & Teneille Newallo
WorldView/Tribeca Film Film Institute Pitch Awards
Ryan Khan
Joaquin Ruano
Natalie Wei
RBC Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion Pitch Award
Michelle Serieux
Film that Best Epitomises Cultural Diversity
Stone Street, directed by Elspeth Kydd
Film Criticism Award
Barbara Jenkins, “Three’s a Crowd”, review of Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy
Film Criticism Special Mentions
Dainia Wright, Renelle White
Best Student, University of the West Indies Film Programme
Dinesh Maharaj
AfroPop/National Black Programming Consortium Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award
Mandisa Pantin
50-Second Film Competition
M Jay Gonzalez
