The trinidad+tobago film festival and Flow are inviting filmmakers to submit short films on the topic of Independence to a film competition celebrating the country’s 50th Independence anniversary.

Entitled Side by Side, in tribute to T+T’s national anthem, the competition is seeking the best 50-second films that express what “Independence” means to the filmmaker.

Submissions will be accepted on any interpretation of the word “independence” and filmmakers are encouraged to be as creative as they wish and explore any aspect of what the word means to them.

The competition is open to filmmakers of all ages, amateurs as well as professionals. Submissions will be accepted from July 1 to August 1, 2012.

Directors of the five best films will each win a Flow package of services, valued at a total of $40,000. Additionally, the best film overall will be awarded TT$5,000 at the ttff awards ceremony on September 30. Films are to be submitted via private link on YouTube and must be of a minimum resolution of 720 x 480 NTSC.

The 50-second film competition is part of a wider ttff/12 Side by Side Independence Showcase, to take place in August. This has received funding under the Government’s “Initiative for the commemoration and celebration of the 50th anniversary of independence”. The ttff/12 Independence showcase includes the 50-second competition, community screenings throughout both islands and an exhibition of cinema history in Trinidad and Tobago from 1945–1999, at the Academy of the Performing Arts (APA), Port of Spain.

The trinidad+tobago film festival is held annually in September and is presented by Flow, given leading sponsorship by RBC Royal Bank and bpTT, and supported by the Trinidad & Tobago Film Company, the National Gas Company, the Tourism Development Company, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism.

For more information on the Side by Side competition, visitwww.ttfilmfestival.com, call the ttff office at 621-0709 or email hello@ttfilmfestival.com