Colosal
Cinema
Nayibe Tavares-Abel, 2025 1h 16m (18)
Screening as part of Crossroads, a new series bringing bold, contemporary Caribbean films to cinemas across South East England. Curated from standout titles at the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival.
Currently not showing
All families keep secrets, says director Nayibe Tavares-Abel. Hers are intimately intertwined with the democratic history of the Dominican Republic. Tavares-Abel is an election observer for the 2020 elections. In May 1990, her grandfather Froilán Tavares, a respected lawyer and president of the Central Electoral Board, was blamed for the electoral fraud that would prolong the authoritarian regime of Joaquín Balaguer. Colosal is a portrait of a transgenerational family caught between fear and trauma, and of new generations in search of new paths.
About Crossroads
Crossroads is a new annual screening series bringing contemporary Caribbean film to independent venues across South East England. Drawing on standout selections from recent editions of Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival, the series introduces audiences to bold, formally inventive, and politically resonant cinema emerging from one of the most underrepresented regions in global film culture. Conceived as both cultural exchange and long-term audience-development strategy, Crossroads builds sustained relationships between venues and communities – broadening reach, deepening engagement, and laying the groundwork for Caribbean cinema to become a recurring and visible presence within the UK’s exhibition landscape.
The Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) is the world’s leading Caribbean-focused film festival, championing films made by Caribbean filmmakers and from across the diaspora. For two decades, TTFF has created vital platforms for stories emerging from one of the most underrepresented regions in global cinema – celebrating the richness, complexity, and evolving identities of the Caribbean.
The first edition of Crossroads, draws directly from the 2025 edition of TTFF, presenting a curated selection of standout titles to audiences across South East England. Selected within a Caribbean context and now shared within a UK one, these films extend a curatorial vision grounded in authorship, care, and lived experience.
This project is supported by the BFI Film Audience Network.