Bruce Paddington (PhD)
He is a filmmaker, lecturer, academic and film festival curator. He was a senior lecturer in film at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine and the co-founder of the Bachelor of Arts Film Programme. Previously he was a lecturer in educational technology, photography and the media. Paddington was encouraged by former principal of UWI, Dr Bhoe Tewarie, to start the film programme. Together with Dr Jean Antoine and with the support of Deans Ian Robertson and Funso Aiyejina, Paddington co-designed the BA Film Programme, which started in 2006. Today, the film programme at UWI offers a BA major in film production or film studies and a minor in film studies.
He has taught film at York University, Bowling Green State University and at the International Film School, Cuba and been a guest lecturer at Trinity College, Dickinson College, the University of Michigan, Florida Atlantic University, Winona State University, Syracuse University, University of Puerto Rico and the Open University, England.
He has published many journal articles on Caribbean and Latin American cinema and has co-edited, with Luis Notario, the book “Exploring Caribbean Cinema” (2012).
He is the founder of the New World Film Centre and Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival. He was the festival director from 2006–19. He was President of the Caribbean Association of Film Festivals, co-founder and director of the New World Film Centre and the founder/director of the pioneering production company Banyan Productions.
He co-founded Banyan Productions in 1974 and produced local programmes for the sole station, Trinidad and Tobago Television. Together with Christopher Laird and Tony Hall, Banyan recorded innumerable cultural segments, covering festivals, customs, art, politics, which were aired on the
2 https://sta.uwi.edu/uwiToday/archive/september_2014/article11.asp
Gayelle series. They made the first local soap opera “Who The CAP Fits” in the late 1970s, and were commissioned to produce documentaries throughout the Caribbean. The Banyan archive still exists in a purpose-built facility with ongoing efforts to digitize what had been recorded on thousands of magnetic tapes.
He is an award winning filmmaker, having made over 500 films and television programs, mainly on Caribbean culture. His 2006 documentary, THE MENNONITES OF BELIZE, has been screened at many film festivals and in 2007 received the award as the best cultural and educational program by the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.
The film FORWARD EVER: THE KILLING OF A REVOLUTION (2013) highlights the revolutionary government of Grenada 1979-1983 and the subsequent murder of the Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and a number of his colleagues. FORWARD EVER was premiered at the 2013 Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival and was a special presentation at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, Havana, Cuba. It has also been screened at the British Library, the British Film Institute and at film festivals in Guadeloupe, Washington and Toronto.
Bruce Paddington was inducted into the CBU Caribbean Media Hall Of Fame in 2025.