Some of the Caribbean’s most prolific filmmakers are set to join in a New York City celebration of the illustrious career of legendary Jamaican actress, Leonie Forbes.

Caribbean Classics - Leonie Forbes Film Fest features work from Lennie Little-White (Jamaica), Andrew Millington (Barbados), and Frances-Anne Solomon (Trinidad & Tobago), and takes place at Medgar Evers College on Saturday, May 5.

An officially endorsed Jamaica 50th Independence Anniversary program, the day-long festival is presented by a tripartite collation of Caribbean diaspora cultural organisations, the Caribbean Cultural Theatre, Caribbean Research Center, and CaribbeanTales Worldwide Distribution. The series of four films and discussions culminates with the iconic actress of Caribbean stage and screen in conversation with Jamaican born journalist, reggae impresario, and program director of Sirius XM Radio, Pat McKay.

The schedule for the Saturday, May 5, 2012 programme is:

2p.m: ‘What My Mother Told Me’. A journey towards self-discovery forces a young woman to meet her mother, whom she thought had abandoned her as a child. Frances-Anne Solomon, director (Trinidad & Tobago)

3p.m: ‘Children of Babylon’ Love, lust, race, and class collide on a hedonistic pleasure dome as life on an old plantation is confronted by a changing society. Lennie Little-White, director. (Jamaica). Featuring Bob Andy .

5:15p.m: ‘Guttaperc’ A storied past and the yearning for development creates conflicts for the feature of a village and family. Andrew Millington, director (Barbados).

7p.m: Tellin We Own Story - In Conversation with Leonie Forbes Journalist Pat McKay interviews the iconic actress on life, art, and life imitating art.

8:45p.m: ‘A Winter Tale’ Families struggle to reconcile their immigrant dreams after a bullet meant for a drug dealer kills a ten-year-old boy. Frances-Anne Solomon, director (Canada). Featuring Dennis “Spragalang” Hall

Tickets for the Caribbean Classics - Leonie Forbes Film Fest range from $10 for general admission per screening to $5 for students and seniors at the early afternoon screenings.

A special $25 ‘Festival Passport’ provides access to all screenings and the tribute session to Forbes. A project of the Brooklyn, NY based Caribbean Cultural Theatre, the Caribbean Classics Stage & Screen Series highlights the work some of the region’s most illustrious pioneering practitioners of stage and screen and celebrates their role as social commentators, their struggles with cultural identity and in fashioning a Caribbean voice.

The series has previously featured the work of Jamaican dramatist and filmmaker, Trevor Rhone, ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Smile Orange’. ‘One Love’; Guyanese novelist E. R. Braithwaite, To Sir With Love, and Jamaican novelist and screenwriter, Anthony Winkler, The Annihilation of Fish and The Lunatic.

For additional information: 718-783-8345 / 718-270-6218 / 917-202-0696 or via info@caribbeantheatre.org