How two festivals are pioneering a programming model that holds the Caribbean region and diaspora in the same frame — and why it changes everything for the industry.
Toronto, May 14th.
For decades, Caribbean cinema has told its stories from two distinct positions: from within the region, looking out at the world; and from the diaspora, looking back at home. Screen Share, the landmark joint festival presented by the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) and the Caribbean Film Festival (CFF) in Toronto this September, is the first time a major festival programme has been built deliberately from both positions at once.
This is not a co-presentation, but a new methodology — a curatorial model that treats region and diaspora not as separate orbits of Caribbean filmmaking, but as two lenses that, held together, produce a fuller picture than either can alone.
A Curatorial Shift, Not Just a Calendar Event
What distinguishes Screen Share from previous collaborations is the nature of the programming process itself. CTFF brings 21 years of relationship with Caribbean diaspora filmmakers across Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. CFF brings deep roots inside the region — Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and beyond — built through the lived experience of producing and platforming films where they are made.
The films selected for Screen Share’s joint edition will emerge from the intersection of those two curatorial intelligences. The result is a lineup that speaks in multiple accents, from multiple vantage points — held together not by geography, but by the shared substance of Caribbean storytelling: belonging, memory, resistance, and joy. Each film has been chosen not only for its craft, but for the particular contribution it makes to a conversation that is, finally, large enough to hold the whole of Caribbean cinema.
The Architecture of a New Ecosystem
The significance of Screen Share extends beyond any single screening or season. What CTFF and CFF are building together is an infrastructure — a model for how Caribbean films can be imagined in the region, developed across the diaspora, and distributed through networks that reach both.
“I have always had one foot in and one foot out of the region — and that duality never made sense to me. Caribbean culture is as global as it is local. Screen Share is us finally saying that out loud, structurally.”
— Frances-Anne Solomon, Founder CTFF.
The Caribbean Film Festival was founded by filmmaker and cultural leader Asha Lovelace, who built and ran the Africa Film Trinidad & Tobago festival for a decade before launching CFF in 2025. For Lovelace, the partnership represents a structural answer to a structural problem.
“Film in the Caribbean must move beyond isolated efforts. We need connection and continuity. Screen Share is not just a festival — it is a model for how our stories can be seen, supported and travel further. When you have the right partners, you stop working around the gaps in the ecosystem and start building something that fills them.”
— Asha Lovelace, Founder CFF
Solomon, who marks 21 years of CTFF with this edition, sees the collaboration as both personal and industry-defining:
“This collaboration is about the collective power of partnership — built on respect, which is always a work in progress. We are all heartbroken by collaborations too often shattered in a business not built for us to win together. But if we keep listening and taking one another seriously, collaboration may become not a dream, but a discipline.”
Screen Share: Caribbean Stories, Collective Power takes place in Toronto this September. Full programme and industry event details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Media Enquiries
Nathalia Campos
media@caribbeantales.org
About the Festivals
CaribbeanTales International Film Festival
CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF) is an annual event that celebrates the talents of established and emerging filmmakers of Caribbean and African heritage who practice their art across the Caribbean Diaspora worldwide. The event takes place each year in September.
2026 will mark the 21st edition of the CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, and we can’t wait to welcome our audiences back in person across the Greater Toronto Area!
Caribbean Film Fest
The Caribbean Film Festival (CFF) is a pioneering initiative dedicated to advancing the Caribbean film industry and positioning the region as a vital centre for cinematic expression. CFF brings the Caribbean together through a shared commitment to storytelling, creating a space where filmmakers can showcase their work, connect with industry professionals and engage in meaningful exchange. At its core is a strategic effort to ignite and energize the region’s film and multimedia industry, fueling a fresh wave of production and creative content across the Caribbean. CFF seeks to strengthen collaboration across islands, expand global visibility for Caribbean film and contribute to a more sustainable and connected film ecosystem.
