Just in time for Caribbean American Heritage Month, Caribbean movies and TV shows are now more accessible than ever to viewers in the Caribbean diaspora across the US, UK, and Canada with FILMCO’s release of curated titles across its expansive catalogue and slate of original films on the newly launched PAVILION+ platform. Audiences across the Caribbean Diaspora and viewers with keen interests in the Caribbean can enjoy the large and growing list of FILMCO titles on the PAVILION+ platform for free.
FILMCO (Filmmakers Collaborative of Trinidad and Tobago) is a distribution platform designed to give filmmakers in Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean who are part of the FILMCO collaborative the opportunity to monetize their content through licensing and distribution. The strong and vibrant membership organisation’s core areas of focus are the distribution of films and television series, management of the annual trinidad+tobago film festival, and industry-specific professional development and training.
FILMCO titles available on PAVILION+ represent the wide variety of creative output of its members and stakeholders, including films across a range of genres, such as documentaries, classic Caribbean films, action movies, student films, and more. FILMCO’s co-founder, Mariel Brown, notes: “For many Caribbean filmmakers and television producers, gaining access to audiences is a crucial but often missing link in their work’s value chain. Our growing partnership with Pavilion is helping to connect all the pieces of the chain, and we’re excited to expand the appetite for and access to Caribbean content with Pavilion, while building more sustainable livelihoods for our stakeholders.”
The best in Caribbean content is available for free on PavilionPlus.co to all viewers in the Caribbean diaspora across the US, UK, and Canada. Here’s some of what you can expect to watch:
Classic Caribbean FILMCO titles available on PAVILION+ include Bim, which follows a young Bheem Singh who is sent to live with his aunt in Port of Spain after his father’s death. Bullied at school and abused at home, he runs away and begins a life of petty crime that eventually catches up with him. The 1974 film, written by Raoul Pantin and directed by Hugh A. Robertson was described by co-founder and chairman of the trinidad+tobago film festival, Dr Bruce Paddington, as “one of the most important films to be produced in Trinidad and Tobago and… one of the classics of Caribbean cinema”.
Other FILMCO titles offered on the site include dramatic thrillers such as The Cutlass and the heart-pumping student film Pendulum. Inspired by true events, The Cutlass tells the story of a young woman who falls into the grasp of a dangerous sociopath. Completely isolated in the tropical wilderness of Trinidad, she has no other choice but to muster the courage to emotionally battle the unsettled mind of her abductor. Directed by Darisha J. Beresford, the film’s stellar performances and excellent cinematography will keep you guessing until the end. Pendulum follows Luther, the CEO of a major software company in Trinidad who has a stalker intent on doing him harm. He calls in Ryan, an old friend and former soldier who is battling with post-traumatic stress disorder, to protect him. Ryan tracks down the stalker and is forced to kill him, but in so doing, makes a shocking discovery.
If you’re into documentaries, Inward Hunger: The Story of Eric Williams explores in-depth the life and legacy of Dr. Eric Eustace Williams. The first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Williams was a complex and controversial Caribbean figure, best known for leading Trinidad and Tobago to Independence in 1962 and for his seminal and once controversial book, ‘Capitalism and Slavery’. Directed by FILMCO co-founder Mariel Brown, Inward Hunger is a pioneering documentary series that reveals Eric Williams in unprecedented breadth and depth, in the context of the world that shaped him, the forces to which he at times succumbed, and those he fought to change.
FILMCO’s release of its curated selection of films on PAVILION+ is just the start of what’s to come. No matter what your interests are, you will be sure to find something you’ll enjoy watching from the wide selection FILMCO filmmakers have to offer. You can access FILMCO content on the PAVILION+ website or via the Roku Channel for free, supported by ads.
About FILMCO
Founded in January 2017 by four filmmakers from Trinidad and Tobago, FILMCO is a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating a sustainable ecosystem for film and television producers and directors in Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean and to being a leader in the sustained development of a diverse audio-visual industry.
Enquiries: i [email protected]
About PAVILION+
PAVILION+ from Pavilion Entertainment offers the best Caribbean TV, movies, and documentaries streaming on The Roku Channel, giving users the opportunity to discover and enjoy exclusively Caribbean content – for free.
About Pavilion
Pavilion Entertainment is a TV and Film production and distribution company with offices in Los Angeles and Trinidad and Tobago.
Pavilion Entertainment seeks to tell universal stories from a Caribbean point of view. These stories not only resonate with the regional Caribbean audiences but will also appeal to the Caribbean Diaspora living in developed countries.
Really DNO? So will I be able to watch the on going movie of Roosevelt Skerrit, Gaston Brown and Choksi? Boy let me make sure I have ROKU