Dir. Nicole Bernardi-Reis & Laura Bermúdez
(Honduras, USA, 2023) 87 min / Rated: PG13

During her 70 years as a nun, Sister Maria Rosa Leggol helped over 87,000 Honduran children escape poverty and violence through an ecosystem of social, educational and entrepreneurial projects, inspiring an international network of supporters to expand her work. In the midst of civil wars, economic collapse and natural disasters, she continued her charge to help young people, such as Maria and Rosa, break familial cycles of poverty and violence to create lives of their own. “With This Light” poetically interweaves the compelling present-day stories of these teenagers with the epic life and noble actions of Sister Maria Rosa.

Dir. Ana Salceda
(Belize, 2023) 56 min / Rated G

In 2013, a Guatemalan fisherman made a stunning discovery: a massive, uncharted coral reef, seemingly untouched by the bleaching that has decimated other reefs across the Caribbean. To protect what may be a rare “super reef,” scientists partner with local fishers to chronicle its riches and fight for its conservation.

Dir. Bianca Stieger
(Netherlands, UK, 2021) 69 min / Rated: PG

Three Minutes – A Lengthening presents a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938, in a Jewish town in Poland, and tries to postpone its ending. As long as we are watching, history is not over yet. The three minutes of footage, mostly in colour, are the only moving images left of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk, before the Holocaust. The existing three minutes are examined to unravel the stories hidden in the celluloid. The footage is imaginatively edited to create a film that lasts more than an hour. Different voices enhance the images. Glenn Kurtz, grandson of David Kurtz, provides his knowledge of the footage. Maurice Chandler, who appears in the film as a boy, shares his memories. Actress Helena Bonham Carter narrates the film essay.

Dir. Sky Richards, Andreas Kruger Foncerrada
(Mexico, 2023) 88 Min / Rated:G

THE TRAIN AND THE PENINSULA is a deep dive into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula as the 1500 km railroad megaproject called “Tren Maya” is being built. A cinematic journey along the projected route of the train takes us on a thrilling ride across the Peninsula. Through the fascinating stories and reflections of its inhabitants, the documentary unravels the environmental and social consequences of the development model imposed on the region as the train approaches its inauguration. The incisive and transparent testimonies of the inhabitants of the Peninsula weave together a collective story and reveal a human landscape full of vitality and wisdom that exposes the clash between different ways of imagining progress. An urgent film that unveils the worlds hidden behind the tourist paradise that everyone knows, delving into the ideological and territorial battles unfolding in the ancestral land of the Maya.

Dir Iara Lee
(Ukraine/USA/Brazil/Bulgaria/Slovakia, 2020) 57 min / Rated: G

Stalking Chernobyl, a documentary from Cultures of Resistance Films, examines the underground culture of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Three decades after the world’s most infamous nuclear disaster, wildlife has returned in the absence of human settlements. Meanwhile, illegal hiking adventurers known as “stalkers,” extreme sports aficionados, artists, and tour companies have begun to explore anew the ghostly, post-apocalyptic landscape.

Dir. Jack C. Newell
(Haiti, USA, 2023) 91 min / Rated PG

HOW (NOT) TO BUILD A SCHOOL IN HAITI documents Tim Myers, a well- intentioned American contractor as he embarks on the construction of a school in rural Haiti following the earthquake of 2010. The seemingly straightforward project is soon entangled in an exploration of globalization, white privilege, and cultural exchange, evolving into a deeper reckoning of race and power.

Dir. Enrique M. Rizo
(Mexico, 2022) 86 min / Rated: G

A Place Called Music is a documentary about the peculiar musical encounter between Daniel Medina, a traditional Wixarika violinist from the mountains of Jalisco Mexico, and Philip Glass, eminent composer from New York City. The documentary features live music as rehearsals and performances take place in prominent venues of Mexico and New York, music that has only been heard in Wixárika ceremonial gatherings but this time with an unprecedented addition: a grand piano. Even though Daniel and Philip come from very different backgrounds and don’t even speak the same language, they have created a common place where their spirits can meet and unravel each other; their music.

Dir. Luis and Andrés Rodríguez
(Venezuela, 2020 ) 80 min / NC-17

Alone, Silvia, a young woman who suffers from a serious illness, is faced with the responsability of watching and take care of her little daughter Sara. After multiple attempts to find someone and with a broken family relationship, the young mother is torn between her decreased willingness to live and the constant demand of attention of her daughter. Considering what ́s a best for Sara, Silvia forges a plan and decides to make a radical and desperate decision.

Dir. Jose Luis Rugeles
(Colombia, Argentina & USA, 2022) 95 min / PG -13

This film is the portrait of the genius in the depths of his intimacy, the throb of a soul tormented by his great love: music, as if that love did not allow him to love anyone else, exacerbating the meaning of life as an eternal and agonizing suffering. It is a timeless journey, traveling through the dark and lonely place where the creative act happens, where his talent is on the surface and his emotions are free, as well as his whims. The story takes place in hotel rooms, impersonal, standard, overflowing with the chaos of the great Joe Arroyo.

Dir Alan Bidard
(Martinique, 2021) 85 min / Rated: G (Animation)

Once upon a time a magic kingdom where summer lasted forever and where the animals and the inhabitants were immortal. The source of all magic was a young princess called Opal. Legends said that her joy would bring wonders and prosperity to the kingdom. But her sadness would only bring chaos and darkness…

Dir. Yao Ramesar
(Trinidad & Tobago, 2023) 70 min / Rated: PG

Addo Fortune, reeling from the loss of his father, brother, and fiancée, struggles to complete his long- gestating sophomore novel. Kessie, the youngest Fortune, a rising legal luminary, finds herself striving to balance her private and professional lives while meditating between her warring brothers. Adom, the youngest brother, navigates his first campaign for office, fending off charges from his soon-to-be ex-wife and the resulting media storm. Reunited by their brother Addo’s death, the surviving. Fortune siblings retreat to the family’s seaside estate for a period of bereavement, while their grieving mother remains on their nearby farm. Fortune For All offers a glimpse into the world of the Caribbean middle class and the resonance of its rich language.

Dir. Howard Allen
(Antigua & Barbuda, 2023) 91 min / Rated: G

When the architect behind a proposed luxury resort on a small Caribbean island, falls in love with a Canadian marine biologist, who is hell bent on stopping the project, the stage is set for a tragic showdown between the developer and the small fishing community who stand to lose their way of life and their very fragile marine environment, which is hanging in the balance.

Dir Newton Barabara
(Nigeria, 2021) 94 min / Rated: PG-13

Coerced to foil a terrorist plot against a children’s school, two brothers must decide the value of character or risk losing their ultimate reward.

Dir. Jules A Koostachin
(Canada, 2022) 86 min / Rated: PG 13

ANGEL, mother to TANIS, escapes into the night from her abusive partner EARL to a women’s shelter on the reservation. As the prospect of a new beginning comes to light, he tracks her down and she is forced to flee or fight.

Dir. Zhang Zhikun
(Hong Kong, 2022) 155 min / Rated: PG

Hai is the successful and wealthy owner of a horse ranch who begins to follow his dream of making films. As he is reinventing himself through his filmmaking, his mother, wife, and business partner all choose to abandon him, leaving him with his best and only friend, his chauffeur Mingtao. Amidst all these changes, Hai begins to realize that Mingtao is important to him in ways he hadn’t fully understood.

Dir. – Sherone Hope – Artist – T-Unknown

Artist: Shawn Adaan – Mikey Lion – Jah Art

Dir. – Ras Ju – Artist – Ras Ju

Dir. – Sherone Hope – Artist – Unltd

Dir. Omar Aldana – Artist – John King