"Doubles" filmmaker looks forward to Trinidad screening

Trinidadian-Canadian director Ian Harnarine says he is looking forward to screening his film "Doubles" at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) in September.
The feature film is based on Harnarine's short film "Double with Slight Pepper" which won the Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama.
The original short film, "Doubles with Slight Pepper," was executive produced by famed US director and producer Spike Lee.
The feature film, which explores the changing relationship between a father and a son, is set to open at the 18th TTFF at Queen's Hall on 20 September at 6:30 pm.
“It has been my dream to screen this film for a Trinidadian audience where we filmed, but also where the heart of this project lies. I hope that this will spotlight the talent of everyone involved in this production, especially the actors," Harnarine stated in a media release.
Harnarine, who was born in Canada to parents from Trinidad, said that the film was conceived during the experience of his father's terminal illness.
"In the latter days of his life, he became a person that was completely different from the man that I knew. It was like meeting a stranger for the first time. I began to wonder what it would have been like to have never known a Father until his final days," the director stated.
The film is set in Trinidad and in Harnarine's hometown of Toronto, with the story set around a Trinidadian street vendor who must travel to Toronto to visit his estranged, dying father.
"I also wanted to challenge the clichés of the standard immigrant story, by having a character that has failed in his new country and returned home," Harnarine said.
"Even though our culture boasts a distinctive food, language, and music, it is my hope that the emotions of the film resonate with a universal audience. Above all, the movie is a tribute to my Father, who passed away before he could see it," he added.
The feature film "Doubles" features Trinidad actors Errol Sitahal as well as Patti-Anne Ali Penelope Spencer and Sanjiv Boodhu in the lead role.
Boodhu, a Trinidad-based attorney-at-law became an actor at age six, tutored by his father, the vertebral actor Kenneth Boodhu, and the Strolling Players Theatre Company.
He played a supporting role in the short film and plays the lead role in the feature "Doubles."
Boodhu said that the feature places Trinidad and Tobago on the global stage for theatre, cinema, and the arts.
He added that he feels privileged to have represented the country in the project.
The actors and filmmakers will walk the red carpet at the 18th T&T Film Festival at Queen's Hall in Port-of-Spain on 20 September.
The event will include a performance by Olatunji Yearwood and features a gourmet movie menu.
The film was financed through Telefilm Canada's Talent to Watch program and received grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.
Harnarine worked alongside Trinidadian-Canadian producer Mark Sirju.
(Source: The Loop, September 7, 2023)