Dir. Olen Gutiérrez
EL Salvador, 2022 | 60 min | Historical – Food | Spanish with English Subtitles | Rated G | Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Bilal Yussif
Ghana, 2024 | 19 min | Social | Akan with English Subtitles | Rated G | Belize Premiere
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.
Dir. Carlos Underwood
UK & Northern Ireland, Mexico and Spain, 2024 | 98 min | Social – Human Rights – Migration | English | Rated R | Caribbean & Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Tumeli Tuqota Jr.
Fiji, 2022 | 8 min | Animation – Culture | Fijian with English Subtitles | Rated G | Caribbean & Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Jaime Carmona
Puerto Rico, 2023 | 6 min | Genre | Spanish with English Subtitles | Rated PG13 | Belize Premiere
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.
Dir. Erika Santelices & Orlando Barría
Dominican Republic, 2023 | 77 min | Historical | Spanish/English with English Subtitles | Rated PG-13 | Central American Premiere
“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.
Dir. Ina Sotirova
Jamaica, 2024 | 18 min | Social-Drama | English & Patois with English Subtitles | Rated G | Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Carlos Daniel Alvarado
Venezuela, 2022 | 115 min | Comedy | Spanish with English Subtitles | Rated PG | Belize Premiere
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.
Dir. Jonathan Blackmann
Trinidad & Tobago, 2024 | 13 min | Genre | English | Rated PG-13 | Central American & Belize Premiere
Dir. Eladio Arvelo
USA/Belize, 2024 | 90 min | Environment | English | Rated G | World Premiere
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.
Dir. Elizabeth Francisco
Curaçao, 2024 | 20 min | Social | Papiamentu with English Subtitles | Rated PG13 | Caribbean & Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Joaquín Pedretti
Argentina/Paraguay/Chile, 2024 | 89 min | Social/Historical | Spanish/Guarani with English Subtitles | Rated R | Caribbean/Central American/Belize Premiere
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. Samir Habet
Belize, 2024 | 10 min | Thriller | English | Rated PG | World Premiere
Dir. Nicolas Polixene & Sylvain Loubet
Martinique, 2024 | 15 min | Horror-Romance | Créole Martiniquais with English Subtitles | Rated G | Central American Premiere
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.
Dir. Mark Harris
Belize/USA, 2024 | 90 min | Thriller | English/Spanish & Belize Creole | Rated PG-13 | Caribbean Premiere
Dir. Esly Martínez
Honduras, 2023 | 6 min | Drama | Spanish with English Subtitles | Rated PG | Central American & Belize Premiere
Dir. Arturo López Rodas
El Salvador, 2024 | 13 min | Drama | French with English Subtitles | Rated G | Caribbean & Belize Premiere
Torn between love and faith, a monk goes on a pilgrimage looking for a sign.
Dir. Rachelle Salnave
USA, Haiti, Guadeloupe, 2024 | 30 min | Social | Haitian & Guadeloupean Creole with English Subtitles | Rated PG13 | Caribbean Premiere
ART: By Any Means Necessary is a groundbreaking exploration of freedom through the interconnected stories of two Caribbean art institutions. In Haiti, former graduates turned custodians of their famed film school have been entrusted with upholding the vision of the Artists Institute, established and nurtured over two decades by an American filmmaker and philanthropist before his departure.