Art Connect

The Levantille is one of the most crime-laden and violent communities in Trinidad and Tobago. But co-existing with the high crime rate and poverty is a thriving arts movement. The Success Levantille Secondary School sponsors the Art Connect Program. This program offers students from high-risk environments a chance to learn ways to express themselves and communicate outside the culture of violence and fear. Partnering with urban artist Wendell McShine, the Freetown Collective, and London's Company Chameleon Dance Theatre, this program offers exposure to the arts and a chance for growth and hope. The filmmakers gave some of these students cameras to document their lives outside of school and their personal thoughts about participating in the program. By incorporating this footage into the larger documentary, ART CONNECT gives us an intimate look at how these young people try to create a world of possibility to counter the often grim realities they face. It is an uplifting journey of transformation and a testament to the role art plays in genuine social change. (In English with English subtitles) – C.R.