Still from "Cristo Rey," directed by Leticia Tonos Paniagua,CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) will present five nights of bold, original film programming that engages the ongoing conversations spotlighted by the #AllBlackLivesMatter movement, expanding and focusing the discussion through a modern Caribbean lens. 

The curated program under the CTFF -#ALLBLACKLIVESMMATER banner includes Leticia Tonos’ prescient and timely 2013 film "Christo Rey" that explores the systemic oppression of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic through a Romeo and Juliet-like love story; Karen Mafundikwa’s "The Price of Memory, that traces the movement for slavery reparations from Europe, and unflinchingly presents the arguments for and against; and Stacey Buchanan’s "The Blind Stigma," that throws into relief the prejudices surrounding mental illness in the Black and Afro-Caribbean communities. The series also includes several provocative and timely short films. 

Co-presenters include The Consulate General’s for Haiti and Jamaica, The Hot Docs International Film FestivalThe Watah SchoolThe Department of Caribbean Studies at UofT, and Community Arts and Environmental Arts at York University.

There will be engaging talk-backs, after-parties and themed networking events celebrating the films, with panelists and performers including poet and activist Honor Ford Smith, artist and performer D’bi Young Anitafrika, and blogger Bee Quammie.

“CaribbeanTales continues to have its finger on the pulse of a dynamic movement of evolving film expression across the region and its Diaspora,” says founder and filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon.  “In just ten years, a very short period of time, our film stories have matured to become stunningly assured, explosive, transgressive, probing, beautiful and urgent. And this is what we see represented on screen in this year’s selections.”

CTFF 2015 kicks off its 10th Anniversary with a Gala Caribbean Reception and Celebration on Wednesday September 9, in association with the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago in Toronto, at the Royal Cinema, 608 College Street in Toronto.

Festival screenings will continue at The Royal Cinema, Sunday – Friday, September 13 – 18 at 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. daily. On Closing Night, Saturday September 193:50 p.m.6:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.