The Caribbean Film Mart and Caribbean Film Database will be launched this September during the 10th annual trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff), which takes place from the 15-29 September 2015.

The project is co-financed by the ACP Cultures+ Programme, funded by the European Union (European Development Fund) and implemented by the ACP Group of States.

According to Emilie Upczak, ttff’s Creative Director: “The Mart is poised to introduce the unique voices and aesthetic of Caribbean film and filmmakers to the international film industry, through four days of meetings, presentations, and networking events. International producers, sales agents and film funds will meet one-on-one with filmmakers who will have opportunities to forge partnerships that could lead to the successful funding and distribution of their films.”

The Caribbean Film Mart’s call for projects will open on 23 March and close on 04 May 2015. Project applicants(producers or directors), must be Caribbean citizens/residents or international filmmakers living and working in the Caribbean, and the projects must be narrative features or creative documentaries that will be made in the Caribbean.

In addition to the Caribbean Film Mart, the ttff will also unveil the Caribbean Film Database—a website of feature-length independent Caribbean Narrative, Documentary and Experimental feature films from 2000 to the present. The Database will also include a select number of Caribbean classics, contain a bibliography of film resources, a Caribbean Women in Film page and links to other film festivals, film commissions and schools in the region.

“We wanted to create an online resource that was easily accessible, well organised and reflected the visual palette of the Caribbean film movement. This resource will allow filmmakers in the region to more easily collaborate, will give audiences greater ability to access films and filmmakers from the region, and provide the international industry with a one-stop shop for Caribbean film,” said the ttff’s Art Director, Melanie Archer, who is coordinating the Caribbean Film Database.

In an effort to spread the word about the two initiatives and to select the 30 participating industry guests, the ttff team has been travelling to key international film festivals and markets, including Sundance and Slamdance in the US, Rotterdam and Berlin in Europe, and Guadalajara in Mexico. In the next few weeks, the ttff will attend two regional festivals—Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe (FEMI), an associate partner on the project, and the Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam (CIFFR). These interventions are intended to engage the regional industry and to usean inclusive approach to the development of the two projects.

The ttff’s External Relations Director Nneka Luke will attend FEMI to participate on a panel in the Film Market on 14 March, and give a presentation to FEMI’s industry guests on 16 March; she will also promote the Caribbean Film Mart call. The films Art Connect, Dubois and Pan: Our Music Odyssey, which all premiered at the ttff 2014, are also official selections at FEMI this year.The ttff’s Programme Director, Annabelle Alcazar, will attend CIFFR to work with the Curaçao team to finalise the Dutch-language films that will be included in the Caribbean Film Database, and to promote the Caribbean Film Mart call.

The Caribbean Film Mart and Caribbean Film Database are being implemented in association with the Fundación Global Democracia y Dessarollo from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice in Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema from Cuba, and the Festival Régional et International du Cinéma de Guadeloupe.

For more information on the Caribbean Film Mart, send an email to rhian@ttfilmfestival.com; for the Caribbean Film Database, contact database@caribbean- film.com.