TIFF's The Big Pitch gives platform to racialized filmmakers to pitch their best

To sum up months — even years — worth of research on a passion project in just three minutes is a daunting task to most, but it's exactly what KhaRå Martin is gearing up for in just a few days.

Martin, a multidisciplinary artist, actress, singer, writer and director, will be pitching her film to a panel of industry insiders through a program at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, Scarborough's Love, she says, is a Caribbean immigrant retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

"It really questions the idea of what it takes to be in love, stay in love and acceptance from people of two different cultures of the Caribbean, two different sizes, two different colours and backgrounds," said Martin.

Martin is one of a dozen finalists for The Big Pitch at TIFF, where filmmakers get to pitch their ideas to an industry panel and audience on Sept. 10. The participants are chosen from two incubator programs — one specifically for Black filmmakers, the other for racialized women and non-binary creators. 

The competition is run in partnership with the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, an annual event created 18 years ago to showcase Caribbean voices and stories on film. While separate from TIFF, it runs around the same time as the festival.

Organizers say the pitching event is crucial for shining a light on diverse homegrown talent at a major international event like TIFF.

3 minutes, high stakes

Those who made the final cut spent nine months in training and mentorship in those incubator programs, designed to support emerging filmmakers.

Diana Webley, director of the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, helps run the competition.

"[The event] was another way to collaborate and give space, give room to all of these Caribbean filmmakers and Canadian filmmakers that probably have a smaller window of time to showcase their talent," said Webley. The CaribbeanTales film festival kicked off on Wednesday.

Webley is the timekeeper for the event — making sure each participant sticks to time.

"It's not a lot of time to get how much funding they're looking for, who their target audience is, who this film is made for, what the genre is. And it's a lot to pack into that three minutes."'

Webley says in the 14 years of The Big Pitch, participants have gone on to earn development deals and form key contacts in the industry — a place that's often hard to navigate without connections.

"The people that are in the room that get inspired from hearing their pitch – they support them and then they get a distribution deal … and can be asked to be either a writing partner or a producer on an additional film," said Webley.

Among the prizes for the winner: $15,000 in equipment rental, various meetings with development executives and memberships to organizations like The Academy of Canadian Film and Television.

Big ideas

Martin says her film was inspired by her own parents' love story and immigration journeys from Jamaica and Trinidad. But it also shines a light on the changing face of Scarborough, she says.

"It's really important to capture what it was like, what Malvern Mall looked like, what the Scarborough RT looked like, because my kids are not going to know what that stuff looks like," said Martin.

"It's never been captured from a videography standpoint, especially in the way that I want to do it, which is in 30-millimetre [format]."

Toronto-based actor, director and filmmaker Celestina Aleobua is another participant getting ready for the big day.

She's looking for development partners and funding for a new comedy series called Jaded, which follows two first-generation Nigerian women trying to revamp their lives. 

"There's a bit of tension. But over time, comedically, they adopt each other's lifestyles in order to deal with the multitude of pressures that they are getting from being Nigerian and expectations from family," said Aleobua, who is working on the project with co-creator Naira Adedeji.

Aleobua says she believes Jaded is important because of representation.

"Canada has so many immigrants. We are a melting pot of so many cultures, but we rarely see these different cultures televised on screen."

Aleobua says there's a lack of "authentic" African stories being told — and that's what they want to do with Jaded. She and Adedeji will have just minutes to make their case at The Big Pitch event.

"Three minutes is short, but it's achievable. We've been practising, we've been pulling out the things that aren't necessarily going to add to the story," said Aleobua.

"But I think it's a lot about the energy that you bring to the pitch."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.