RBC Royal Bank teams up with ttff/11

RBC Royal Bank is once again teaming up with the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) to promote the work of emerging artists in Trinidad and Tobago and across the region. ttff highlights the work of filmmakers from across the Caribbean, the Caribbean diaspora and Latin American countries in the Caribbean basin. RBC Royal Bank is lead sponsor of the festival which runs from September 21 to October 4, 2011 at venues across the country.

Support for emerging artists is a priority area of focus under the RBC Community Blueprint. The Emerging Artist Project provides support to apprenticeship, internship and artistic recognition programmes that bridge the gap between academic excellence and the professional careers of talented young people in the arts.

In 2010, we sponsored the inaugural ttff Youth Film Concept Competition where emerging filmmakers submitted concepts for short films. Artistes of the winning submissions worked alongside experienced directors to produce their films.

This year, RBC Royal Bank in collaboration with ttff/11 and the Commonwealth Foundation present Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion. Venezuelan director and screenwriter Fina Torres and Guyanese-Canadian producer and actor Damon D’Oliveira will facilitate sessions at the three-day intensive developmental workshop from September 20 – 22.

RBC Royal Bank’s sponsorship of the ttff and Focus is part of a broad strategic approach to youth development. In Canada, RBC is the official sponsor and bank of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the TIFF Talent Lab for aspiring filmmakers. Focus and the TIFF Talent Lab are just two of a number of projects aimed at helping young people not only in theatre and musical performance, but in writing, filmmaking, playwriting, and more.

RBC Royal Bank will also be a major sponsor of the Bahamas International Film Festival in December.