Continuing its trend of supporting novel and interesting ways of preserving and enhancing our local culture, NGC will sponsor the $US$15,000.  US$10,000 will go to the first-ever Jury Prize for Best Film in the 2009 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. US$5,000 will go towards the best locally-made film by a resident film maker.

The Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) approached NGC to sponsor the Jury Prize for Best Film. This jury prize, “The National Gas Company Award Best Film’, will be awarded to the feature film which best reflects the Caribbean spirit.

The jury for the event will be made up of a panel of four jurors including Ms. Christine Punnett, Acting NGC Public Relations Head, B.C. Pires, Dr. Bruce Paddington and an international film festival director/producer. Like the Cannes, Venice and Sundance Film Festivals, the jury prize is the most sought-after accolade in these events. 

The addition of the jury prize allows this local film festival, which started in 2006, to add prestige and attract international attention to the event.  The prize will also attract a high calibre of producers and directors and improve this event’s chances of being placed on the ‘must attend’ on the international film festival calendar.

This is an exciting opportunity for us at NGC as we delve into new and innovative ways of reinforcing the identity of our people by giving visual expression to ideas. NGC is also happy to lend support to the TTFC, which like NGC, is a home-grown agency interested in breaking new ground in its chosen field.