Dir Eli Jacobs- Fantauzzi (Cuba, 2019) 50 min Rated
Bakoso reveals the influence of contemporary African music in Cuba as not just a thing of the past, but a phenomenon happening now! This documentary produced and directed by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, explores the technology, culture and landscape that forms the AfroBeats / Cuban fusion genre “bakosó”.
Dir. Eduardo Spiegeler & Maria Jose Alvarez (Nicaragua, 2018) 60 min / Rated PG-13
Carl Rigby Moses (1945 – 2017) is considered one of the pioneers of the NiCaribbean spoken word poetry. His poetic work incorporates performative elements, oscillating between social commentary and a critical dialogue with the Afro-descendant tradition of Central America. This film is the product of two years of conversations, poems, monologues and performance recorded at his home, studio or during strolls through the Old destroyed city of Managua or his native Pearl Lagoon in Nicaragua’s So.Caribbean. An attempt to capture and recover this unique discourse of this creator of words sounds and concepts. Delving into Rigby’s poetry reveals to us the wondrous voice of someone who, we feel, must be known and remembered for making his life a poetic existence.
Dir. Issa Lopez (Mexico, 2017) 84 min / Rated
A haunting horror fairytale set against the backdrop of Mexico’s devastating drug wars, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID follows a group of orphaned children armed with three magical wishes, running from the ghosts that haunt them and the cartel that murdered their parents. Filmmaker Issa López creates a world that recalls the early films of Guillermo del Toro, imbued with her own gritty urban spin on magical realism to conjure a wholly unique experience that audiences will not soon forget.
Dir. Che Espiritu ( Philippines, 2018) 1hr 53min/ Rated PG
A special little homeless girl (Aguy) travels about the Philippines curing the afflicted with her mysterious healing powers, until one day she befriends a sick old man (Sal) who for some perplexing reason she is unable to cure. The unlikely pair are drawn to each other with both of their lives forever changed by their unique friendship and magical journey together.
Dir. Blanca Rosa Blanco Azcuy, Alberto Luberta (Cuba,2018) 105 minutes Rated PG 17
Detective Patricia receives the news of the death of Mariano, a man whom she believes had been wrongly accused in the past. She travels to his hometown to inform the family of the news, determined to find the real culprit. There she meets Ubaldo, her former companion of the academy and who was her great love
Dir. Daniel Velasquez (Belize, 2019) 80 min/ Rated PG-13
In the late 80s Belize was victim to a crack epidemic and 10 year old Jon Deluna was abandoned by his crack addicted parents. He was adopted by his auntie and they moved to New York City were he became a young successful writer. Twenty-five years later he returns to Belize to write his next novel but is haunted by his horrible childhood memories and can’t find new inspiration. He struggles to write a new novel but his depression sends him on a 3 day drinking binge that makes him suicidal. Even though he is surrounded by nature loving artist childhood friends and a loving wildlife vet girlfriend who all try to save him, he keeps drowning his pain in the bottle.
Dir. Jorge Perez Solano (Mexico, 2018) 1hr 42min / Rated PG 13
The Black People tells the story of Magdelena and Juanita, two women who are united in the spiritual realm by their tona, or spirit animal, and in the material realm by neri, Juanita’s husband and magdalena’s lover. Juanita’s death will grant Magdalena the clarity that she needs to go on with her life without neri. This is the first Mexican feature film starring afro-mexican actors from various communities in the Costal region of Oaxaca.
Dir. Storm Saulter (Jamaica / US,2018) 111 min / Rated R
A Jamaican teen who is burdened by an unstable father and an unruly older brother hopes a meteoric rise in track-and-field can reunite him with his mother, who has lived illegally in the U.S. for over a decade.
Dir. Kenneth Muller (Guatemala, 2017) 1hr 10min / Rated PG-13
The dying Guatemalan war veteran agrees to accompany a girl searching for information about her grand father, his comrade in arms. Flashbacks show the campaign the men fought in when young.
Dir: Julius Amedume (USA) 114 min / Rated R
Based on Graham Farrow’s acclaimed stage-play RATTLESNAKES, award-winning writer/director Julius Amedume’s Neo Noir psychological thriller, tells the story of Robert McQueen. McQueen’s typical day takes a turn for the worst when he’s ambushed by three masked men, who accuse him of sleeping with their wives. He pleads his innocence, but what he does reveal will not only change all of their lives forever – but will it be enough to save his?
Dir. Norman Maake (South Africa, 2019) 113min/ Rated:
Zinhle Malinga is a hard working modern woman with strong traditional values who knows what she deserves, and believes she knows what kind of man she needs to be happy. She is not willing to play games and waste time, she is ready to take the next step in her life and get married. The story starts and she meets Nkosinathi Shange, a true blue player, who has been burned in love. The chemistry they feel for each other is too hard to ignore. They decide to give their relationship a chance. Because they have both been burned in love, they are hesitant to truly commit, and be too open about who they are. Zinhle is so real, and so unpretentious that he decides to give her one last test- he takes her to where he lives, his mother’s backroom.
Dir. Rob Grant (Belize/US, 2018) 82 min /Rated: PG-13
Rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean under suspicious circumstances. When his girlfriend Sasha and best friend Jonah give hothead Richard a harpoon for his birthday, he wants to try this new toy out right away. So the three of them set out for a day trip on a boat, but suspicion and jealousy soon start to get the upper hand. Before long, the tension has become unbearable. To make matters worse, the boat’s engine fails and then it turns out they left their supplies on shore: a nerve-wracking struggle for survival ensues that spares no one’s secrets – or blood. This post-modern adaptation of a story by Edgar Allan Poe in which three shipwrecked sailors draw lots to see who has to sacrifice himself as a cannibalistic snack, is a bloodthirsty thriller that leaves sufficient space for laughs. It’s painfully obvious from (nautical) miles away that this triangular relationship is not going to end well.
Dir: Washington Carvalho (Brazil, 2018) 102 min / Rated PG
Lia is a young girl who lives in a favela of Rio. But one particular morning, she does not realize that traffickers from another favela are invading hers. Lia gets trapped inside the school, amid the crossfire. But she is not alone. She finds other girls with the same situation. And what would seem to be merely a confrontation of traffickers in search of more territory, becomes a traumatizing day for these innocent and helpless girls at the hands of cruel and violent men. Linked to all of this war among traffickers, it has a love history between two teenagers, a black and a white girl, whose father is a racist officer and a homophobic mother.
Dir. Patricia Ortega (Venezuela/Colombia, 2018) 97 min / Rated: R
Ariel discovers she was submitted to several surgeries to correct her intersexual body as a baby. This revelation will confront her with a challenge: to remain a “normal” but oppressed woman, or to dare to find herself outside gender binaries.
Dir. Jose Alvarenga Jr. (Brazil, 2018) 120 min / Rated: PG-13
10 Seconds to Victory is a feature film that narrates the thrilling biography of the boxing champion Eder Jofre. The movie shows the journey of a poor boy from the famous neighborhood, “Peruche” and his father and coach Kid Jofre. The film shows chronologically, from the beginning of his career, until he becomes a world boxing legend. Side by side, father and son will fight the biggest fight, the fight to live.
Dir. Leon Lozano (Belize/ USA, 2019) 30 min / Rated PG
A US born Belizean man travels to Belize Central America to scatter the ashes of his deceased father, only to discover that he himself conceived a son during a past visit to the country. He must now face his own conflicted feelings about fatherhood caused by the estranged relationship he had with the man who gave him life.
Dir. SUNG Hsin-Yin (Taiwan) 111 min / Suitable for all ages
“Have you become the adult of your dreams?”
Chi earned her American dream after persevering with her studies in Taiwan. Following her grandmother’s death, Chi returns to her family on Happiness Road, where she begins to feel nostalgic about her childhood and starts to contemplate the meaning of “life: and “home”. What is happiness? Will Chi find her happiness?
Dir. David ” Ras Indio ” Obi – Artist: Ras Indio
LABEL: Indigenous Productions
OUT OF COMPETITION
Dir. Xx Artist – Big Bang Manifest
LABEL: Head Concussion Records
OUT OF COMPETITION
Dir: Artist: Ras Indio & Boss Lady
LABEL: Indigenous Productions
