One of the documentaries being screened at the  2010 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival is Tracy Assing’s new film The Amerindians, which premieres at the festival this week. The director and writer is a member of the Carib community of Arima, the Santa Rosa Community.

Film description: “The only real Caribs are dead Caribs.” In this revealing film, Tracy Assing seeks to put to rest that historical saw. Assing was raised a member of the Santa Rosa Carib Community, the only recognized group representing indigenous descendants in Trinidad and Tobago. Until now, Amerindian descendants have depended on the stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents for their history, while the indigenous story of survival has been written out of the history books. Assing walks us through her own exploration of the history of the Santa Rosa Community and, as her great aunt, the Carib Queen, prepares to join the Great Spirit, ponders an uncertain future.

The Amerindians was funded by The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company, The National Trust, The Amerindian Project Committee, and BP.

See full ttff program and details at http://www.trinidadandtobagofilmfestival.com/day.asp?wd=d07

For Tracy Assing’s essay “The Long Walk Home,” see http://www.meppublishers.com/online/caribbean-beat/archive/index.php?id=cb74-1-39

Photo of smoke ceremony from http://news.bn.gs/article.php?story=20091014154639344&mode=print