By Gerald V. Paul

The CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival (CTYFF) is partnering with Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to celebrate Black History Month with a Fundraising Gala that recognizes the 50^th Independence Anniversaries of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago and includes screening of Storm Saulter’s stunning award-winning feature film ‘Better Mus’ Come’.

The celebration will take place on February 4^th and 5^th at the Bell Lightbox, as part of a special TIFF screening series entitled “Music, Magic, Clash: New Voices in the African Diaspora.”

“TIFF’s Black History Month programme seeks to showcase some of the African Diaspora’s most engaging new filmmaking voices,” said Cameron Bailey, Co-Director of the Toronto International Film Festival “Through our partnership with CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival, we can bring one of the region’s most celebrated new films to an even wider Toronto audience.”

“We are so excited to work with TIFF to grow and diversify Canadian audiences and help bring great Caribbean and Diaspora films to the world stage” Frances-Anne Solomon, founder and CEO of CaribbeanTales told The Camera.

Solomon said “Better Mus’ Come” is important because it represents a contemporary take on the region’s historical reality. “Young people need to know where they come from in order to step forward with confidence and pride. ‘Better Mus’ Come’ is a fresh dynamic approach to the past that enhances our critical perspective on Canada’s children in the Diaspora.”

Set within the politically turbulent turf wars of 1970’s Jamaica, Saulter’s film tells the story of the Green Bay Massacre, a landmark in Jamaica history, and a young gang leader who must choose between fighting for his tribe and making a better life for his five-year old son. Hailed as “heralding a new era in Jamaican filmmaking, ‘Better Mus’ Come’ is currently on a successful festival tour and most recently won the Audience Award at the highly regarded Bahamas International Film Festival.

For more information: CaribbeanTales-events.com