When it was screened at ttff/12, Doubles with Slight Pepper, was a 16-minute feature. Just before its arrival in T&T, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the world’s largest public film festival where it won the prize for Best Short Film, in 2011.
Fast forward to 2023 where the feature length film Doubles will open ttff/23, the 18th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival.
Written and directed by Ian Harnarine, Doubles tells the story of a Trinidadian street vendor who must travel to Toronto and decide if he will help save his estranged father from dying. Produced this year, and filmed in both Trinidad and Canada, Doubles will have its Caribbean premiere at this year’s trinidad+tobago film festival at the Opening Night on September 20, 2023 at Queen’s Hall.
Doubles with Slight Pepper, the short 2011 film tells the story of Dhani, a young doubles vendor who lives with his mother, Sumintra, in rural Trinidad. When Dhani’s father, Ragbir, who had migrated to Canada years before and eventually abandoned his family, returns, Dhani is resentful and wants nothing to do with him. But when Ragbir reveals he is suffering from a potentially fatal illness and needs Dhani to be a donor for a blood transfusion, both father and son are forced to confront their broken past.
Doubles is the result of Harnarine’s success at Pitch This! competition at TIFF in 2012 for using the short film in his pitch for the feature-length version of ‘Doubles’. The story of a Trinidadian street vendor, who must travel to Toronto, Canada and decide if he will help save his estranged father from dying, Doubles, draws intimate parallels to Harnarine’s own life. The feature film explores the changing relationship between a father and a son.
Click here to read more in Kitcharie’s interview with Harnarine
Ian Harnarine was born in Toronto, Canada and is the son of immigrants from Trinidad & Tobago. He attended York University earning a Bachelor’s degree in Physics & Astronomy and a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from the University of Illinois and an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Film School. Harnarine is a member of the National Board of Review, The Television Academy and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Harnarine’s film ‘Doubles With Slight Pepper’ (Executive Produced by Spike Lee), won the Best Short Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Canadian Academy Award. The short feature won the prize for Best Live Action Short Film at the Genie Awards, Canada’s version of the Oscars.
Harnarine was selected by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film, profiled in the New York Times and named one of Playback Magazine’s Ten to Watch.
‘Caroni’, another film by Harnarine, about a West Indian domestic worker in New York, premiered at TIFF and continues to screen at festivals worldwide.
Harnarine has made dozens of films for Sesame Street, one of which garnered an Emmy nomination. ‘Party Done’, Harnarine’s feature documentary about controversial crime reporter Ian Alleyne, played theatrically in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean premiere of Doubles is a momentous occasion for Harnarine “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.”
The film stars Errol Sitahal, Patti-Anne Ali and Penelope Spencer.
Doubles will be screened on Opening Night of the TTFF, at Queen’s Hall on September 20, 2023 from 6pm-11pm. Patrons will also be treated to live entertainment by Olatunji Yearwood. Tickets can be purchased in advance on Island e-Tickets.
The film will also be screened at Cinema Under the Stars on September 25, 2023. This night cinema experience, proudly sponsored by Shell (Trinidad and Tobago) will be held under the stars in the Amphitheatre of the Naparima Bowl from 6pm-9pm. Spaces are limited and patrons are encouraged to book their spaces here.
For more information on the 18th Edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival, visit ttfilmfestival.com and be sure to follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
