Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tomer Heymann’s latest film is a deeply emotional work that follows an outcast teenager’s life-changing journey. Oren was adopted from Guatemala by an Israeli family when he was a baby. Long unable to find his place in society, the teenager has been subject to ridicule because of his communication difficulties, while at the same time dealing with recurring false diagnoses of mental illness. Oren decides to take up a small video camera and document his own life. He embarks on a quest back to the country of his birth to seek out his biological family in the hopes of better defining his own identity.

NOT IN COMPETITION

Dir. Mark Moneda
(Philippines, 2024) 15 min 56 Sec / social / Ilocano, Tagalog, English w/ English Subtitles / Rated: PG (Belize Premiere)

The story of “Open Time” is set during the early days of the Drug War Campaign in the Philippines. It revolves around Ponga, a homeless, illiterate teenager who sells floor mats made of fabric scraps during the day and balut (duck embryo) at night. He sleeps anywhere, spending most of his time in a computer shop, watching game tournaments of four alpha student gamers. He serves as the middle man for the prizes and rewards won by betting from one computer shop to another. Hence, Mang Jex, the owner of the internet café, sometimes allows him to sleep right outside the shop to keep an eye on the surroundings. Ponga’s life took a total turn all of a sudden after intentionally barging in on a tournament that surprisingly helped the jocks win. After the four alpha gamers discovered his hidden skill, they immediately gave him a spot on their team. Ponga, being the unexpected leader of the squad, was then given access to a world where hierarchy, inequality, and injustice exist.

ROHI is a powerful documentary that sheds light on the challenges faced by 0.2 million people living in the Cholistan Desert, due to climate change, health issues, and water and sanitation problems. The documentary serves as a reminder of the urgent need to address these issues and to take action towards sustainable development. It is essential to recognize the importance of preserving the environment and protecting the health and well-being of all individuals, regardless of where they live. As we continue to face global challenges such as climate change, we must work together to find solutions and ensure a better future for all. ROHI provides a powerful call to action for us to address these issues and make a positive impact on our planet and its inhabitants.

Dir. Marialejandra Martin
(Venezuela, 2022) 13min 39 Sec / Drama / Spanish-Italian w/ English Subtitles / Rated: PG (Belize Premiere)

Gioia returns home for her grandfather’s funeral, having fled when she realized she would never be part of the family business, which had been run by him until then. But now that her grandfather is dead, she makes the women of the family understand that they must unite and take the spaces that belong to them. Together they will take control of the family business, where these women now have their place.

This documentary shines a light on the struggles faced by Antwiadjeikrom in western Ghana and its surrounding communities. It is a story of determination and resilience as students embark on a perilous journey across River Bia just to access education. Unfortunately, the price for the journey across the river has discouraged many parents from sending their children to the only school in the community. Now, the people of Antwiadjeikrom are reaching out for support to build a bridge, which they believe will pave the way for easier access to education. It’s a powerful and urgent call for help that deserves to be heard.

The film portrays the obstacles faced by asylum seekers and refugees in European countries, who are systematically criminalized by Western media and migration policies, in their never-ending struggle to obtain international protection and the right to asylum.
Forcibly displaced persons suffer exclusion, deprivation of liberty, precariousness, exploitation, medical neglect, hunger, racism and survive in uncertainty, in a legal limbo that prevents them from having security, the right to work, decent housing and food.

In an alternate reality Fiji where tradition and culture was never eroded by colonialism, a new Drua (ship) is about to be put to sea and will demand a steep toll for the final stage of its launch.

As a way to honor the process of hormonal transition, 30 Needles (A Letter to the Past) is a journey and reflection on a transmasculine person’s first year on testosterone.

“The Photographer of La 40” reveals the story of photographer Pedro Anibal Fuentes Berg, who is sent to take images in the clandestine Prison of La 40, a torture center created during the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961), in the Republic Dominican. Fuentes Berg feels the inevitable commitment to disseminate these images internationally to highlight the horrors that the opponents experienced inside the prison and decide to release them, so that they are known. Some of these photographs became icons of the barbarity of the Trujillo dictatorship.

A metaphor for what happens when we don’t face difficult emotions and instead, let them rot inside, Stinky Mango is a heartbreaking love story that deals with one man’s internalized emotional struggle and its destructive effects on his psyche and family.

Eladio is a failed actor who has been working for many years as a maintenance employee at a television station in the capital. He will have to return to Maracaibo to take care of his niece, a rocker teenager who will make his life impossible.

A new documentary that follows a multigenerational group of inspiring women leaders striving to protect Belize’s world-renowned barrier reef system. WEALTH UNTOLD shares a revealing look at the multi-disciplinary, multi-decade, community-based conservation work led by women in the fisheries, tourism, and non-governmental sectors in Belize. Their collaborative vision to preserve a unique and threatened ecosystem serves as a model for coastal communities around the world.

Determined to pave her own way, a young photographer risks breaking the taboo in her superstitious community to pursue her dreams; only to discover that some myths are indeed true.

Paraguay, 1947. Nina is a 20 year old young woman living in Asunción at the height of the Paraguayan Civil War that ended with the Democratic Spring. She longs to be a singer, but when her revolutionary family flees abruptly she is forced to live in the house of a conservative family as a maid. She offers her services to the revolution and frees various political prisoners, including Raúl, a communist with whom she has an affair and becomes pregnant. She is later forced to flee the country herself after her lover abandons her.

Dir. Yannick Rosine
Guadeloupe, 2023 | 16 min / Social | French Créole with English Subtitles | Rated PG | Belize Premiere

Two young people are faced with a decisive life choice: whether or not to continue an accidental pregnancy.They disagree while universes parallels overlap.

Subscribe to our newsletter