Caribbean News
2022 TCIFF Poster Gets International Recognition
#TurksandCaicos, January 23, 2023 – The 2022 Turks and Caicos International Film Festival (TCIFF) Poster, designed by 10-year-old Janiya Harris of the Oseta Jolly Primary School, was recently named one of the world’s best film festival posters by FestivalinLA.com.
The international platform created by film critic José Alberto Hermosillo promotes the talent of the most prestigious festivals worldwide, and the organization selects the most creative, colorful, and inventive film festival posters each year.
This is the platform’s second year recognizing a TCIFF poster. In 2021, Janella Forbes’ masterpiece “Mother Earth”
marked the debut of the festival and its supporting art on the site.
Karen Whitt, Chairman of TCIFF, said that this is truly a win not just for the young artists but also for the film festival and the Turks and Caicos Islands as a whole.
“We are so proud of this accomplishment and so proud of the work that both Janella and Janiya have done to put this beautiful country on the international film festival stage among so many other creatives.”
She continued, “Turks and Caicos is home to some incredible talent, and year after year we are raising the bar on the poster designs for the festival, and we are happy that these designs are being featured among the best in the world.”
According to the FestivalinLA website, the organization curated every featured piece based on concept, originality, and supporting components, all conjoined to their respective festival’s theme and harmonious style. The final line-up is a collection of wonderful gems that help the public recognize the cultural identity and beauty of each festival and its designated city or country.
Patrina Pollard-Harris, mother of Janiya Harris, said that she was excited when she saw the feature on her daughter’s work and that it doesn’t matter how young you are, there is always an opportunity to make a difference, you just have to be ready to apply yourself when that opportunity comes.
“We are all so proud of our Janiya, and we are even more excited to see that her design was included with so many international posters,” she said. “It’s been non-stop excitement for her. This goes to show that you are never too young to make a difference, and no matter the age, a dream can still come true.”
Young Harris was one of over 40 children from the Edward Gartland Youth Centre who participated in the 2022 poster competition. The 2022 competition focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and allowed children with artistic vision to bring their designs to life with the aid of a finely tuned computer program. The event was curated with the help of London-based creative company Once Upon A Time. Their Creative Director, Jolyon Meldrum, commented,
“I was so impressed with Janiya’s final result, and how easily she took to using generative AI. The beauty of what we are seeing here, is that technology has removed a barrier. This now allows a younger generation to express themselves in a completely different and unique way”
Harris created her poster by describing the picture in her mind to the AI program with phrases such as kids playing, flamingos, seashells, blue fish, crystal clear waters, flowers, and a clean beach. After fine tuning her descriptive phrases and tweaking the program’s results, she arrived at the final winning piece that has risen to international acclaim.
Her winning piece was a playful and inviting take on the beaches that the Turks and Caicos Islands are known for. It features crystal-clear waters, sand, shells, and a flamingo, all created in a style reminiscent of an afternoon arts-and-craft session. 
“From featuring the art of world-renowned local artist Bradley Theodore for our inaugural poster to highlighting the incredibly talented youth of these islands in subsequent years, our posters not only represent the festival to the world, but also this incredible country,” said Whitt. Speaking on the upcoming poster competition for the 2023 festival, she continued, “For 2023, we will once again host a competition for the country’s youth, and we encourage all our amazing, young local creatives to get involved. This year, we invite our youth interested in photography to join in on the fun. As always, the theme of the festival, ‘oceans and environment’, should be the central focus of any entry, but how that is demonstrated through photography is entirely up to the artists submitting their work.”
Festival organizers are asking that all interested parties visit their social media pages and website, www.tciff.org, for more information.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, and the organizers will be making some exciting announcements soon about this year’s festivities. The main event is scheduled for November, and it will once again be a multi-day event that combines the glitz and glamor of Hollywood with impact and purpose. The festival will also celebrate the best of filmmaking with a focus on safeguarding our oceans and environmental conservation.
For more information on the Turks and Caicos International Film Festival, and the upcoming poster competition, interested persons are encouraged to visit their website at www.tciff.org or the social media pages.
Photo Captions:
Header: Janiya Harris and Country Music Star Jimmie Allen.
Insert: Janiya Harris of the Oseta Jolly Primary School
Release: TCIFF
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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