A scene from Doubles with Slight Pepper

Ian Harnarine, the award winning Trinidadian-Canadian filmmaker, will receive an Award of Recognition from the Government of Trinidad & Tobago for his outstanding contribution to film, at the CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival Gala, co-hosted with TIFF, on February 4, 2012.

The Gala celebrates the 50^th anniversaries of both Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, and will also feature the Canadian premiere of Jamaican film Better Mus Come. Harnarine’s short film Doubles with Slight Pepper, an Official Selection at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, won Best Canadian Short at TIFF 2011, and is currently touring Canada as part of a select group of Canadian films known as Canada's Top Ten. And in January 2012, Doubles was nominated for a Genie (the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars). The Genies take place in March in Toronto. Above, Harnarine is pictured accepting his TIFF award from Cameron Bailey.

The film tells the story of Dhani, a street vendor in Trinidad, who struggles to reconcile his relationship with his father who has just returned from Canada, before the latter dies. Poetic dialogue and compelling characters shape this story of the contemporary immigrant experience.

Harnarine developed Doubles as an alumnus of the CaribbeanTales Incubator Program (CIPAVE) in 2010. The intensive program, that helps filmmakers to develop market ready content, also introduced the US-based filmmaker to potential partners from around the region. Shortly afterwards, the film was shot in Trinidad, with partial funding from the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, and starring Trinidadian actors Errol Sitahal, Sanjiv Boodhu, and Susan Hannays-Abraham.

""I am humbled and grateful that the Government of Trinidad & Tobago has chosen to bestow this incredible honour upon me. Without the financial assistance of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, and the unwavering support of CaribbeanTales, this film would not have been possible. I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to share a bit of Trinidad & Tobago's rich culture with the world."

The son of Trinidadian immigrants, Ian Harnarine grew up in Toronto, and attended York University where he earned a BA in Physics and Astronomy. He moved to Chicago for his Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics. Bored with his chosen profession, he settled in Brooklyn and became a filmmaker at NYU’s Graduate Film School. He is currently on the Faculty at NYU in both the Physics Department and the Tisch School of Film.

The Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film will be presented by the High Commissioner for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Canada His Excellency Philip Buxo on the occasion of the CaribbeanTales Youth Film Festival Gala Brunch, co-hosted with TIFF, at TIFF Bell Lightbox on Feb 4, 2012.

The CTYFF Gala  is co-produced with TIFF,  and partners include  404 Media Group, Art of Catering, Carib101, Flyin Monkey Films, Lisaliving.ca,  Manifesto,  MotionLive, Telefilm Canada, Up From The Roots, Ryan Singh Enterprises, First Fridays, Planet Africa Group and Caribbean Camera.