Rolê - Stories of Brazilian Protests in Malls

ROSA CHUMBE

SARA GOMEZ: AN AFRO-CUBAN FILMMAKER 

SOUL IN THE EYE

Two coming of age stories that explore the life of 2 young women on 2 islands.

Set in Puerto Rico, ANGÉLICA is a drama about a young Afro- Latino woman who must fight to find her voice.

THE CATHEDRAL, from Mauritius, follows free spirited Lina as she faces an important decision that will impact her life.


ANGÉLICA

Angélica, after a long absence from Puerto Rico, returns home when her father, Wilfredo, suffers a stroke. This unexpected return and her father’s illness force Angelica to re-evaluate her relationship with her mother and family members who don’t accept her because of her skin color. She must face herself and discovers that she does not know who she is. After her father’s death, Angelica must decide whether to return to the comfort of her previous life, dissatisfied, but secure, or set on an adventurous path to rediscover herself as an independent, modern, strong, black, and Puerto Rican woman.

Directed by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad, Puerto Rico, 2016, 100min, Drama, English & Spanish w/English subtitles

THE CATHEDRAL

The Cathedral is a lyrical narration set in the beautiful and unusual setting of Port-Louis,   capital of Mauritius. Lina, a young woman in search of her identity interacts daily with friends and family in a carefree happy manner that will be challenged when one day her dancing    catches the eye of a photographer... The Cathedral is based on a short story by Ananda Devi.

Directed By Harrikrisna Anenden , Mauritius, 2006, 78 Min, drama in Creole With English Subtitles. 

When Maria’s husband died, she was told to either leave the sugarcane plantation or to work in the only existent job: cutting and planting cane.

She decided to work in exchange for a miserable wage and a rudimentary barrack she and her five children call home. With that, she was accepting a precarious life without electricity, drinkable water and sanitary services. This is how people are stuck in a house provided by the Company, ensuring that no other basic service neither civil rights are provided, maintaining people in a life of misery. The vast extension of a sugarcane plantation in Dominican Republic offers this deal to thousands of Haitian workers. Some struggle to leave – like Maria’s daughter, with few chances of working in a hotel by the coast. Some others are forced to leave – like Leidy and her baby, when her father-in-law retires after 50 years of work. Yet, some others – like Yudelka and Telemin – organize and try to change the miserable situation everyone is living in the cane fields. They are an obstacle that hinders the functioning of the great machine that is the Plantation.

Directed by Juan A. Zapata, Dominican Republic/Spain, 2021, 76min, Documentary, Spanish w/English subtitles

 " Sugar Cane Malice is the third film from director [Juan A.] Zapata, a native of the Dominican Republic, who is also an architect and visual artist. Both sensibilities are on display in Sugar Cane Malice, which pays particular attention to the built environment of the workers, and contrasts it through a series of helicopter (or drone) shots with modern construction in the island’s cities and the luxurious beach resorts that are beloved of tourists. He also finds beauty even in the sugar cane fields where these workers labor for the benefits of others. Above all, he respects the dignity of his subjects, who haven’t let their difficult lives become their only story." ~ Sarah Boslaugh

AWARDS

FULL FRAME Documentary Film Festival 2021
Official Competition 

Festival des Libertés 2021
Official Competition 

EATSA Art & Tourism is an International Film Festival 2021
Official Competition 

SOMCINEMA Festival (Spain) 2021
Official Competition 

Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam 2021
Official Competition

SUSANA BACA: MEMORIA VIVA

THE BLACK MOZART IN CUBA

The Esmeraldas Beach Trailer  from ArtMattan Productions on Vimeo.

THE ESMERALDAS BEACH 

In today’s Ecuador, the black population, the descendants of enslaved Africans, continue to experience strong racial and social discrimination. Yet people in the community still strive to value their specific culture and transmit the rebellious memory of their ancestors who fought for freedom. The Es­meraldas Beach sets out to expose the invisibility of Afro-Ecuadorians and rectify the narrative of the country’s history with the film’s central protagonist, Juan García, who has worked on that project for years. He developed a school book that presents black Ecuadorians prominently since the only Afro-descendants shown in local school books are portrayed next to a marimba and football.  The documentary also addresses the 1999 assassination of Afro-Ecuadorian legislator and presidential hopeful, Jaime Hurtado.

Directed by Patrice Raynal, 2020, France/Ecuador, 58 minutes, documentary, French and Spanish with English subtitles.

THE EXCEPTION AND THE RULE 

In the midst of the Cold War, ten young promising musicians from Mali are sent to Cuba to study music and strengthen cultural links between the two socialist countries. Combining Malian and Afro-Cuban influences, they develop a revolutionary new sound and become the iconic ensemble ‘Las Maravillas de Mali’. New Year’s Eve 2000. Richard Minier, a French music producer meets a former member of the band in Bamako and decides to bring the band back together.

Directed by Edouard Salier and Richard Minier | 2020 | 81min | France, Cuba, Mali | Documentary | Spanish, French with English subtitles

THE VALLEY OF THE BLACK DESCENDANTS 
(EL VALLE DE LOS NEGROS)