BRUCE Paddington and Christopher Laird, both filmmakers and co-owners of Banyan Ltd, are nearing the sale of its video archives – in good time, too.

Their legacies and that of Banyan were celebrated for three days at Nalis in Port of Spain as part of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (TTFF) weeklong series of events, during which some of Banyan's exclusive and most important works were screened, including Ras Shorty I, a medium-length film directed by Laird, which saw the Gayelle team spend a day with the late soca artiste and his family in Piparo, where they lived.

On Monday, the final day of Banyan Retrospective, audiences saw a full-length, made-for-TV movie directed by Derek Walcott, exploring the impact of oil discoveries on the east coast of Trinidad on village life.

The retrospective was hosted with support from the National Gas Company of TT (NGC), and on the opening night NGC's president Mark Loquan announced the company's intention to buy the vast collection that Laird had long been trying to sell to the right bidder.

NGC, Loquan said, is invested in immortalising this country's culture and heritage, which Banyan did wonders to document. He suggested the NGC’s acquisition means greater public access.

A night later, Paddington – the founder of TTFF – together with Laird, sat down for a panel discussion, when they gave insight into the company's humble beginnings and what motivated the team.

The question, Laird said, always was, "What made Caribbean television different to Hollywood?"

"That's, I think, something that motivated us throughout all our careers...A Caribbean puritan civilisation television aesthetic? What is that?"

[caption id="attachment_977523" align="alignnone" width="604"] Banyan's Late Night Lime feature (1990) with the late Tony Hall, left, the late Pat Bishop and musician/arranger Ray Holman. Photo taken from Banyan Studio's Facebook page. -[/caption]

A puritan aesthetic, they explained, consists exclusively of Caribbean themes and actors.

Banyan, then a workshop, was established in the mid-70s, with Paddington as the sole owner, before Laird joined him a few months later.

Banyan Ltd was founded in 1981, with Laird, Paddington and playwright Tony Hall

as its shareholders.

Race relations and cultural imperialism are sensitive topics they tackled head-on, from the early days.

"Our programmes reflected our view of these things," Paddington added.

"The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon is obviously a key programme dealing with cultural imperialism and the effects of television in the media."

The programme, directed by Laird, was produced in 1992, centred on the domination of Caribbean television by foreign programmes, particularly from the US. It was aired in 120 countries.

"We dealt a lot with race relations in the Gayelle series," he said. The series, a magazine programme, was among its most successful, running from 1985-1990, dealing with an array of issues with culture as its central theme.

In 1974, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizati