They Said THIS About Me in the Trinidad Express Newspapers

I was recently a featured article in the Trinidad Express Newspapers for being the youngest self taught filmmaker to be selected 3 times for 3 consecutive years in the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. Here's the article's link on the Express website: https://trinidadexpress.com/features/... However if it doesn't show the full thing, here's the entire article. AT just 21-years-old Riyadh Rahaman has become the youngest self-taught filmmaker to score a hat-trick at the trinidad + tobago film festival. For three consecutive years his short films have been official selections of the ttff. The first of his films to be selected by the local film festival was Paranoia/Crime in Trinidad and Tobago back in 2018, followed by his horror short film The Lagahoo in 2019 and this year his crime short film Red Alert will be featured. From its opening scene up until the final closing seconds Red Alert takes its audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Rahaman’s latest film as well as his previous short films that were selected by the ttff represents a departure for the filmmaker whose YouTube channel has been replete with comedy videos and skits that he created and filmed. The heavy subject matter addressed in Red Alert however is nothing to laugh about. In the crime film which is just under 11 minutes, the lead character played by Rahaman himself suffers a bout of paranoia when his brother doesn’t return home and his thoughts take him to a dark place. The emotional twists and turns that ensue leave the viewer guessing until the end. Rahaman first got the idea to do the film when he made contact with the group Alert T&T which shared a few of his videos on its Facebook page. “They pretty much challenged me, they said that if I were to create a video related to crime, they would love to show it on their page and that’s when I started to work on Red Alert,” he says. It’s a silent film which is still very new to our local film market. “When I was writing Red Alert I realised I didn’t need to speak in the film in order for it to speak volumes and express the emotions I wanted. I also wanted to give my audience on YouTube something new that they weren’t accustomed to,” he says. The film has been well received because most people can relate to the emotions expressed in it. Some of his previous work has made people laugh, feel afraid or sit at the edge of their seats in suspense but his goal with Red Alert was to bring people to tears. Judging from the feedback he has received, one can only say: mission accomplished. “People messaged me to say they shed a tear when they looked at it. Some have been able to relate to it on a deeper level because they have either been a victim of crime or know someone who has. One of the best comments I got was that the film spoke so much without actually saying a word,” he says. Rahaman who counts Afred Hitchcock, Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese among his favourite film directors, is well on his way to establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with. What is particularly impressive about the young filmmaker is that aside from attending a six week intensive filmmaking course in Maine last year, he is mostly self-taught. Rahaman learned everything about filmmaking from the Internet and from his own personal research. He first began making videos at the age of 12, his drive and passion for creating original content was relentless. It became obvious to his parents that filmmaking was not just a hobby but something their son wanted to pursue as a career, so they motivated him to continue. Back then he never envisioned that in the near future not one but three of his short films would be selected by the ttff. “I was ecstatic the first time I was selected because it was my first time breaking out, I didn’t expect it and then to be selected two more years again was crazy,” he says. The future may see Rahaman experimenting with other genres like action movies of which he is a big fan. The pandemic may have thrown a wrench into some of his production plans, but he’s staying busy. From his own Riyality Studio he created The Riyality Show, a sketch comedy series and is open to any opportunity to have the series aired on local television. He’s also working on two new scripts for upcoming projects including another horror. He has hopes of submitting those films to other film festivals. Who knows where that may lead? Having already exceeded his own expectations, Rahaman once said Red Alert was his best work, he has since changed his mind. “The best is yet to come,” he promises. Make sure to LIKE, SHARE & SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed! SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://goo.gl/onzgck Tiktok:   / riyalitystudio   Facebook:   / riyalitystudio   Instagram:   / riyalitystudio   11383 Subscribers