Nneka Luke, General Manager of FilmTT, congratulates Sustain T&T on hosting the 6th edition of Green Screen - The Environmental Film Festival. She notes that the festival has grown significantly over the past 5 years. FilmTT is proud to support the festival as a partner. In particular, FilmTT supported the "Films for a Better Place" workshop and grant program, which created 5 local documentary shorts with environmental themes. FilmTT looks forward to seeing these films and more at this year's festival.

1. Address by:
Nneka Luke, General Manager, FilmTT
Benefit Launch | Green Screen The Environmental Film
Festival
Tuesday 1st
November, 2016

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The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning
and Development
His Excellency Lutz Görgens, Ambassador of the Federal
Republic of Germany
His Excellency Fernando Schmidt, Ambassador of the Republic
of Chile
Carver Bacchus, Founder and Director of Green Screen - The
Environmental Film Festival
Lisa Mahabir, Sagicor
Members of the Green Screen organising team
Visiting guests,
Members of the media,
All special guests,

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Good evening.
It is my pleasure to share a few thoughts on behalf of the
Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, FilmTT, and to
congratulate Sustain T&T on hosting the 6th
edition of Green
Screen – The Environmental Film Festival.
What an accomplishment! In just five years, this event has
grown steadily, from an audience of 200 in year 1, to 2000 in
year 5, and has the potential to increase this number
significantly in 2016. As we all now know, this sixth year of
Green Screen sees it evolve from a film series to a full film
festival, with an increase in film screenings, panel discussions
by highly-acclaimed, international environmentalists,
(including the co-founder of Greenpeace, Bobbi Hunter, who
is here with us this evening), and events aimed to fundraise

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as well as to expand reach to new audiences interested in the
environment, and in sustainable living.
FilmTT is proud to be a first-time Supporting Partner of such a
worthy and unique film festival. Green Screen, and its parent
company Sustain T&T, are becoming a collective reference
point for NGO-led environmental and sustainability education;
smartly, they have especially been targeting schools in this
vein, acknowledging that caring about the environment really
has to do with behaviour change, and that our young people
are best positioned to create and spread self-aware habits to
tread more carefully on the earth.
In our role as the state company responsible for the strategic
development of the audio-visual and film industry, setting a

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firm foundation is critical to drive success for all. This is why,
for Green Screen, we were particularly interested in targeting
our investment toward the “Films for a Better Place”
workshop and grant programme, where 5 local documentary
shorts with environmental themes were created, and will be
screened during the festival. Though small, this programme
has the potential to become a regular incubator for a specific
type of much-needed film that addresses the many pressing
issues related to our environment.
We applaud your efforts to develop capacity and to invest in
local content creation, and we look forward to seeing these
films and many more in this year’s Festival.

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As you know, diversification continues to be crucial to the
evolution of our national economy, and for us at CreativeTT,
the creative genius of our citizens in the areas of film, fashion
and music, is at the heart of our efforts.
In the coming year, FilmTT will continue to facilitate the
development of the local film industry through a tight
programme of activities. This includes the creation of a 5 – 10-
year strategic action plan for the industry that will assess
where we are now, set a vision for where we want it to go, and
establish action plans for how to get there.
Key to our work will also be rebuilding Trinidad and Tobago’s
regional and international film industry network as a means of
facilitating new opportunities and access for local content

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creators. Through these and other plans, FilmTT’s goal is to
ensure that Trinidad and Tobago’s audio-visual and film
industry becomes a commercially viable, long-term
contributor to national wealth.
I also take this opportunity to commend Sustain T&T on the
transformational work that they’re doing, outside of Green
Screen. Raising awareness of crucial issues such as recycling,
conservation, climate change, alternative energy and
sustainable agriculture and development; creating platforms
for local filmmakers, musicians, artists and activists and
continuing your outreach with high school students will surely
go a long way in ensuring that the environment remains a
priority area for current and future generations.

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In closing, I’d like to share with you a quote by American
cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead that, to me,
encapsulates the essence of this work, and of the potential
impact of Green Screen. She said, “Never doubt that a small
group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
Congratulations on the 6th
edition of this event. We look
forward to an exciting 12 days, and to learning and growing in
individual and collective environmental knowledge,
awareness and action. Thank you.