By Stephen Weir

During the carnival season in Toronto, a day doesn’t go by without me being asked “what is it about you that you love Carnival so much?”  I didn’t have an answer as to why I consider Carnival the best live show on earth, that is until I saw the movie Lavway: Our Story.

It is a magical movie made by devotees of the Caribbean arts and released in Port-of-Spain last year. Bet you won’t see this on Netflix, it is aimed primarily at a Caribbean audience.  This is an hour-long explosion of colour, music, costumes, dancing and dark mystical stories about Carnival.

It helps to know about the traditions of the annual T&T carnival before you go the film’s September 8th Canadian premier. This film was made to entertain not to teach. 

“This is an experimental film based on traditions of Trinidad’s unique Carnival,” writes director Ryan Gibbon. The film harnesses the energy of the mas and is a rousing ode to the origins and rituals of the festival; awash in mysticism and pulsating soca music.

So what is it all about? First understand the title – Lavway is Trinidadian for the call and response chants used when marching or chants used to cheer on stick fighters (a T&T martial art). We see stick fighters shot in scenes that look more like a ballet than a deadly duel.

Weaving through the storyline are traditional carnival parade characters, done up with a pizazz worthy of Hollywood. The Bat, Burrokeet, the Dragon, the Midnight Robbers and more are wildly lit and filmed inside a soundstage.

The introduction to costumed characters, none of whom say a word are made by Savannah, the narrator of the tales.

Savannah is an omnipresent character who finds himself in different everyday situations casually observing or commenting on what he sees. His costuming reflects his story and the story of T&T throughout. His outfit carries hand-painted scenes of the savannah. There are brass charms in his beard telling the story of Lavway in symbolism.

“The narrator is a mythical shapeshifter, that transcends into various human forms that can be seen in our everyday culture. I chose neutral colors and bright pops juxtaposed with scenes from the savannah on his shirt,” explained stylist Shandelle Loregnard.

She totally rebuilt the screen image of T&T’s top film actor Nickolai Salcedo. When he starred in the movie Hero, he was a clean cut, ramrod straight-back RAF officer speaking in WW2 Queen’s English. In Lavway, he has a nose ring, a feral beard and clothes befitting a mystic man.

Many of T&T’s top soca performers are here, backed by a line of drummers. The singers’ costumes and makeup have been worked over by a team of the island’s best. They need subtitles so that viewers can recognize the new look Destra, Voice, Patrice Roberts, and Nailah Blackman — they are flawless and stunning.  Best song? David Rudder’s High Mas, sung like you’ve near heard before.

This isn’t a movie that has been made to transform the parade into cinema. Ryan Gibbon teamed up with the Trinidad’s Tribe Carnival to make cinema an integral part of the carnival experience. This must be required viewing every August.

The movie is headlining the CTFF’s Sweet T&T night. CTFF runs from September 7th to 23rd at the Carlton Cinema.

When I go I will sit at the front because I know people will be dancing in the aisles as soon as the singing starts. And next year, when somebody asks me why I love Carnival, I am going to give them a DVD of this film.