Over 450 secondary school students and youth group members from Penal to Port of Spain, San Juan to San Fernando, Scarborough to Siparia filled Movie Towne’s largest cinema on Tuesday 27th March for the Orientation Session of the 2012 Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF). The Festival has expanded beyond expectations with increased student interest spanning the entire nation.
In 2012, student participation has grown by 68%: with last year’s winner, Holy Name Convent, returning to defend their title against new entrants such as Holy Cross College and Cowen Hamilton Secondary and 2010’s winner Rio Claro East Secondary also biting at their hells. The race for this year’s 16 awards is definitely ON!
Every student was beaming with excitement and each group is anxious to begin their production based on one of this year’s challenging themes: The Environment: “Making a Cleaner, Better Future”; Peace/ Social Change: “Fixing T&T”; National Identity: “My Islands, What it means to be Trinbagonian” and in commemoration of our 50th Anniversary of Independence - Cultural Traditions/Preservation: “50 years of Culture: Preserving the T&T Legacy”.
One highlight of the Orientation was an inspiring video message from Shaun Escayg, a son of the soil, who has been the mastermind behind sequences of the Bumble Bee character from Transformers the movie, among others. Students were the first to see his newest show reel and were left in awe but definitely motivated to turn their stories into films when Mr. Escayg encouraged them to make the best films they can. 
All students were encouraged to put their best ‘film-foot’ forward as it is hoped that Guadeloupe and the Dominican Republic will join the programme as part of the evolution of the Festival. In this way, there will be opportunities for members from winning schools to travel to Caribbean islands and work with other young persons to express their unifying stories through film.
The TTFC and its partners, the Ministry of Education, the Division of Education of the Tobago House of Assembly, MovieTowne (festival founder) and the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival congratulate all schools and students for their commitment to the Festival and wish each the best in their endeavours. For more information on the Festival or on becoming a corporate partner / sponsor of the Festival please write to info@trinidadandtobagofilm.com
