Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  FRONT PAGE Toronto Caribbean Newspaper SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE PARTY By Stephen Weir On Saturday night, the Harbourfront Centre and Theatre in Toronto was abuzz with excitement as it hosted the Battle of the Bands and a celebration of Jean Augustine’s 87th birthday. The event, held under the banner of the #CaribbeanTales Film Festival ( #ctff ), attracted a lively crowd eager to celebrate both music and a distinguished figure in Canadian history. The evening featured performances by two renowned musicians and the screenings of two Toronto Caribbean Carnival films. The highlight was the screening of “Iconography: Mungal Patasar,” a Trinidad documentary directed by Mikhail Gibbingsand Teneka Mohammed. The film delves into the life and career of Indo-Trinidadian musician Mungal Patasar, celebrated for his unique fusion of sitar and steelpan, blending Eastern and Western musical traditions. Patasar, who traveled from Trinidad for the event, performed a captivating set accompanied by p...

  The Curtain Rises, The Show is About to Start. Cue Marcus Garvey’ Ghost         Greeter in Mas costume welcomes people to the start of the CTRR opeing party By Stephen Weir Caribbean Camera Sept. 4 If all went well last night, after The Caribbean Camera was put to bed, the 19th annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF) is now well underway. Get ready, Toronto— from now until late night on Sunday, September 25th, the city will be buzzing with virtual movies, short films, and several not-to-be-missed in-person events. This is not your typical film festival. Unlike previous years, most of the 50 or so movies, short films, and television shows will be screened online. However, there are still several in-person events that are expected to pack the Harbourfront Centre’s film theatre and the CTFF West Studio at their Dundas Street West headquarters. Last night’s opening was held at the CTFF Hub, featuring films from Canada, St. Lucia, and France, including the...

  Soca. Calypso. Helping Children. Its Roy Cape, and he has the Jean Augustine Trophy to Prove it Two film festivals are taking place in Toronto simultaneously this week. Where do you think the paparazzi and cameras (except ours) were on this past Saturday night when celebrities like Sean Penn, Willem Dafoe, Spike Lee, Lil Nas X, Nickelback, and Viggo Mortensen were spotted on King Street? Well, most readers probably already know the answer. The world's attention was focused on Saturday night TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). It's a shame because they missed the opportunity to cover a historic Caribbean evening at the CTFF (Caribbean Tales Film Festival) a few blocks away. Call it a Big People Party that combined a birthday fete for the famed retired Grenadian Canadian politician Jean Augustine, the showing of a Trinidadian documentary about saxophonist Roy Cape, an award presentation and a live wild performance by Ozzie Gurley which ended with two of his brass sectio...

Hey Roy Cape. Welcome Back.  Toronto has missed you! The long-time Caribana calypso saxophonist from Trinidad, Roy Cape, is making a return to Toronto next month, albeit through film, as part of the annual Caribbean Tales Film Festival (CTFF). During the late 90s and the early 21st century, the arrival of Roy Francis Cape and his All Stars Band marked the beginning of the Carnival season in Toronto. From calypso shows and parties to mas camp mashups and cruises, as well as performances at the Grande Parade, Cape has consistently been the sought-after music maker. However, a battle with cancer in 2014 and a subsequent hip fracture five years later have prevented the 81-year-old man from gracing a Toronto staged of late. On September 9th, the CTFF will host the international premiere of the 2022 film 'Iconography: Roy Cape' at Harbourfront’s Fleck Theatre, followed by a special performance by the Roy Cape All Stars. As for whether Cape will be in Toronto, a spokeswoman for the fi...

  Three of the best film festivals’ films in three different venues on three different days but come on, Jamaica is no T&T Why does it just happen in September? Now that all the critics and movie people have seen the best new film festival flicks how do we, the common people get a chance to buy bags of popcorn, sit back in a darkened theatres and watch a trio of amazing movies about the community’s history, its living heroes and of course Carnival. We are talking about a suite of films that have just gotten the red carpet treatment at three different events and venues - the Caribbean Tales Film Festival launch, a Harbourfront star studded 85 th  birthday party / film premier, and a drama about growing up in Malvern which debuted earlier this month at TIFF and shows again at a TIFF repeat  showing next week. These three titles, with one reservation are keepers not just for now but forever.   Toronto Caribbean Carnival: Fun and Free  is an hour-long docum...

Conductor Jean tells fellow train riders to never give up The Honourable Jean Augustine (pictured below) probably didn't have to say anything except All-A-Board,  but a 1,000 people waiting to board the TTC Freedom Train wanted to hear what the first  Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament had to say .  Standing on steps inside Union Station she told the crowd that things are better now than during the days of Canadian slavery, but warned them there is still a long road ahead. The former politican and now community activist was the honouorary conductor of   last Sunday night's  Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride. The ride is back on track and in-person this year after being derailed for two years by Covid. The annual train ride aboard a special TTC train took some 1,000 people on a non-stop ride from Union Station to the Sheppard Station to have a midnight “happening” to mark Emancipation Day. It wa...

Will Toronto’s establishment be Jolly with that news that In The Black will be a new movie shot in living colour. Filmmaker and head of the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, Francis Anne Solomon announced this week that she has begun work on a feature film based on the book In the Black written by Caribbean Canadian superstar Denham Jolly. News of the proposed film will probably bring both cheers and jeers, depending on what side of the radio dial audiences find themselves. He is best known is best known as the founder of Canada’s first Black radio station, Flow 93.5 and the publisher of the now defunct Contrast newspaper. “In the Black won the Toronto Book Award in 2017. In it he tells the story of his journey from Jamaica to Canada in the 1950s, through his struggles to overcome racism and become an extremely successful businessman, activist, philanthropist, and publisher. When the Camera’s Stephen Weir interviewed Jolly about his book when it was launched, he asked J...

--> The late Charles Roach, Mas Model and the Honourable Jean Augstine at 2011 Caribana Gala, Toronto City of Toronto is naming St Clair West laneway after the father of Caribana By Stephen Weir In two weeks times the late Charley Roach will have his name immortalized on a mid-town Toronto alley.   The City of Toronto is about to give name to a small laneway in the St. Clair Avenue West neighbourhood where the late prominent human rights lawyer, artist, musician and a founding father of Caribana, worked. The City will be holding the laneway celebration in the memory of Charley Roach on Wednesday, July 18th at 7pm.   Hosting the event will be local Councilor Joe Mihevc. The soon-to-be Charles Roach Lane, is just north of St. Clair Avenue and runs from Feel Good Lane east to Rushton Road. Charley Roach was born September 18, 1933, in the community of Belmont in Trinidad and Tobago. He and his first wife, Hetty, immigrated to Canada in 1955 and settled...