¡Aqui Estamos! AfroLatin@ Film Series
Lead in to the "Afro-Latin@s Now!" Conference
All film screenings are free to the public.
AFRO-LATIN@S IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Friday, October 28 - 7:00pm
Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, Bronx
Garifuna Nation (Film Premiere!)
Carlos de Jesus (2011, 90 mins)
Having escaped the ravages of slavery in the Americas, the Garifuna culture has survived for over 212 years on self-reliance, sacred spirit-possession practices, and their dancemoves.
A feature-length video documentary, “Garifuna Nation,” presents a cultural encounter between two distinct Afro-Caribbean experiences: Afro-Puerto Rican and Garinagu (also called Garifuna). Through these two parallel perspectives, the video looks into how the slave experience has historically played itself out in different ways and how circumstances determine who we are today. Having escaped the ravages of slavery in the Americas, a group of West Africans joined with Carib Indians to form the Garifuna culture that has survived for over 212 years -- on self-reliance, sacred spirit-possession practices and dance moves. Now, the Garinagu people must face the challenge of interfacing western lifestyles and modern technology with the long-held values regarding their community.
Bronx Museum of the Arts
1040 Grand Concourse at 165th Street, Bronx
Garifuna Nation (Film Premiere!)
Carlos de Jesus (2011, 90 mins)
Having escaped the ravages of slavery in the Americas, the Garifuna culture has survived for over 212 years on self-reliance, sacred spirit-possession practices, and their dancemoves.
A feature-length video documentary, “Garifuna Nation,” presents a cultural encounter between two distinct Afro-Caribbean experiences: Afro-Puerto Rican and Garinagu (also called Garifuna). Through these two parallel perspectives, the video looks into how the slave experience has historically played itself out in different ways and how circumstances determine who we are today. Having escaped the ravages of slavery in the Americas, a group of West Africans joined with Carib Indians to form the Garifuna culture that has survived for over 212 years -- on self-reliance, sacred spirit-possession practices and dance moves. Now, the Garinagu people must face the challenge of interfacing western lifestyles and modern technology with the long-held values regarding their community.
Q & A will follow all films.
Presented in partnership with WNYC Radio, NYU Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and Bronx Museum of the Arts.
With the generous support of WK. Kellogg Foundation.
Presented in partnership with WNYC Radio, NYU Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and Bronx Museum of the Arts.
With the generous support of WK. Kellogg Foundation.
Recent Film Screenings
AFRO-LATIN@S IN SOUTH AMERICA
Friday, October 21 - 7:00pm
NYU - Department of Social and Cultural Analysis
20 Cooper Square, 4th floor. New York
We of the Saya
Sisa Bueno (documentary-in-progress. 7min. sample.)
We of the Saya is an insightful and uplifting documentary that crosses four personal stories of Afro-Bolivians as a grassroots movement for their community to achieve recognition as a legitimate ethnic group is organized across the country.
U.S./Bolivia, documentary, Spanish with English Subtitles
Dreamtown
Betty Bastidas (documentary-in-progress. 25 min. sample)
DreamTown follows the triumphant yet at times tragic portrait of the struggle three young men face to realize their dream, whether individually competing for their place on Ecuador’s professional soccer team or after finding success being determined to uplift their people.
U.S./Ecuador, documentary, 24 min. Spanish with English Subtitles.
Uprooted: The Movie
Juan Mejia Botero (2007, 44 mins)
"Uprooted' seeks to bring attention to a mounting calamity inexplicably left out of the world's spotlight. The film explores the plight of Noris Mosquera, one of the more than 1 million Afro-colombians violently displaced since 1990. Her son dreams of leaving the refugee shelter for a burgeoning soccer academy in the capital city of Bogotá, and Noris will do all she can to make his dream a reality. Through her day-to-day plight, we delve into the tragedy of uprooting and discover the power of resilience. 'Uprooted' is above all else an intimate portrayal of the tragedy of uprooting in Colombia; a beautifully detailed tale about struggle and resistance; a bittersweet story of loss, love, family, and dreams." - Juan Mejia
Colombia, documentary, 44 min. Spanish with English Subtitles.
NYU - Department of Social and Cultural Analysis
20 Cooper Square, 4th floor. New York
We of the Saya
Sisa Bueno (documentary-in-progress. 7min. sample.)
We of the Saya is an insightful and uplifting documentary that crosses four personal stories of Afro-Bolivians as a grassroots movement for their community to achieve recognition as a legitimate ethnic group is organized across the country.
U.S./Bolivia, documentary, Spanish with English Subtitles
Dreamtown
Betty Bastidas (documentary-in-progress. 25 min. sample)
DreamTown follows the triumphant yet at times tragic portrait of the struggle three young men face to realize their dream, whether individually competing for their place on Ecuador’s professional soccer team or after finding success being determined to uplift their people.
U.S./Ecuador, documentary, 24 min. Spanish with English Subtitles.
Uprooted: The Movie
Juan Mejia Botero (2007, 44 mins)
"Uprooted' seeks to bring attention to a mounting calamity inexplicably left out of the world's spotlight. The film explores the plight of Noris Mosquera, one of the more than 1 million Afro-colombians violently displaced since 1990. Her son dreams of leaving the refugee shelter for a burgeoning soccer academy in the capital city of Bogotá, and Noris will do all she can to make his dream a reality. Through her day-to-day plight, we delve into the tragedy of uprooting and discover the power of resilience. 'Uprooted' is above all else an intimate portrayal of the tragedy of uprooting in Colombia; a beautifully detailed tale about struggle and resistance; a bittersweet story of loss, love, family, and dreams." - Juan Mejia
Colombia, documentary, 44 min. Spanish with English Subtitles.
AFRO –CUBAN NIGHT
Friday, October 7 - 7:00pm
WNYC's Jerome L Greene Space Charlton Street
(Corner of Charlton and Varick), New York
Recordando el Mamoncillo
Pam Sporn (2006,15 mins.)
Directed and produced by Pamela Sporn
Every second Sunday of July from the 1960s through the early 2000s, hundreds of Cubans and lovers of Cuban music assembled at the Bohemian Beer Garden in Queens for the Recordando el Mamoncillo festival. The festival was hosted by el Club Cubano Interamericano and modeled after an annual dance that many of the club’s members had attended in Cuba. “El Mamoncillo” was not just a dance, but also an event that maintained Cuban culture and provided a way for Cuban families and friends to reunite every year.
Recordando el Mamoncillo tells the story of the yearly festival that is now only a memory. The history and cultural importance of El Club Cubano and the Recordando el Mamoncillo festival is brought to life by dance scenes, testimonies of long-time members of the club and musical performances by Chico Alvarez y su Palo Monte, Son Sublime, Charanga All-Stars, and Orquesta Broadway.
El Club Cubano Inter-Americano, an Afro-Cuban social club was formed in New York City in 1945. Inspired by Antonio Maceo, the Black Cuban hero of the Cuban wars of independence, El Club Cubano was founded with the objective of creating a cultural space that would welcome Cubans and other Latin Americans regardless of “race, sex, and political or religious creed.” In its heyday the club held banquets in honor of boxer Kid Gavilán, singers Beny Moré and Celia Cruz. Until recently, El Club Cubano was held together by a group of elders who continued to host the annual “Recordando el Mamoncillo” dance.
Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories
Documentary, 57 minutes
Spanish & English subtitles
Directed by Pam Sporn
Edited by Rafael Parra
Original score by 2005 Grammy winner Oscar Hernández
Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories highlights the historical journey of a black Cuban family, revealing that the Cuban-American experience is more complex racially and ideologically than is popularly understood. Pablo Elliot Foster, the son of Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants, narrates Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories. After his father returns to Cuba for the first time after 33 years in the US, Pablo decides to explore his own Afro-Latino identity. Pablo’s guides are his father, aunt, and uncle, who emigrated from Cuba as children in1962. Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories is the visual autobiography of one family that confronts questions of diaspora, class, immigration and identity.
WNYC's Jerome L Greene Space Charlton Street
(Corner of Charlton and Varick), New York
Recordando el Mamoncillo
Pam Sporn (2006,15 mins.)
Directed and produced by Pamela Sporn
Every second Sunday of July from the 1960s through the early 2000s, hundreds of Cubans and lovers of Cuban music assembled at the Bohemian Beer Garden in Queens for the Recordando el Mamoncillo festival. The festival was hosted by el Club Cubano Interamericano and modeled after an annual dance that many of the club’s members had attended in Cuba. “El Mamoncillo” was not just a dance, but also an event that maintained Cuban culture and provided a way for Cuban families and friends to reunite every year.
Recordando el Mamoncillo tells the story of the yearly festival that is now only a memory. The history and cultural importance of El Club Cubano and the Recordando el Mamoncillo festival is brought to life by dance scenes, testimonies of long-time members of the club and musical performances by Chico Alvarez y su Palo Monte, Son Sublime, Charanga All-Stars, and Orquesta Broadway.
El Club Cubano Inter-Americano, an Afro-Cuban social club was formed in New York City in 1945. Inspired by Antonio Maceo, the Black Cuban hero of the Cuban wars of independence, El Club Cubano was founded with the objective of creating a cultural space that would welcome Cubans and other Latin Americans regardless of “race, sex, and political or religious creed.” In its heyday the club held banquets in honor of boxer Kid Gavilán, singers Beny Moré and Celia Cruz. Until recently, El Club Cubano was held together by a group of elders who continued to host the annual “Recordando el Mamoncillo” dance.
Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories
Documentary, 57 minutes
Spanish & English subtitles
Directed by Pam Sporn
Edited by Rafael Parra
Original score by 2005 Grammy winner Oscar Hernández
Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories highlights the historical journey of a black Cuban family, revealing that the Cuban-American experience is more complex racially and ideologically than is popularly understood. Pablo Elliot Foster, the son of Cuban and Puerto Rican immigrants, narrates Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories. After his father returns to Cuba for the first time after 33 years in the US, Pablo decides to explore his own Afro-Latino identity. Pablo’s guides are his father, aunt, and uncle, who emigrated from Cuba as children in1962. Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories is the visual autobiography of one family that confronts questions of diaspora, class, immigration and identity.
HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Friday, October 14 - 7:00pm
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd. (135th Street), New York
Mirrors of the Heart: Race and Identity
Lourdes Portillo (1993, 30 mins)
Lourdes Portillo's 1993 film explores racial consciousness and identity in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Mirrors of the Heart is a compelling companion piece to the recently completed Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic An Island Divided
Henry Louis Gates (2011,1 hr.)
In the Dominican Republic, Professor Gates explores how race has been socially constructed in a society whose people reflect centuries of inter-marriage, and how the country’s troubled history with Haiti informs notions about racial classification. In Haiti, Professor Gates tells the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic, and finds out how the slaves’s hard fight for liberation over Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire became a double-edged sword.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd. (135th Street), New York
Mirrors of the Heart: Race and Identity
Lourdes Portillo (1993, 30 mins)
Lourdes Portillo's 1993 film explores racial consciousness and identity in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Mirrors of the Heart is a compelling companion piece to the recently completed Haiti & the Dominican Republic: An Island Divided.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic An Island Divided
Henry Louis Gates (2011,1 hr.)
In the Dominican Republic, Professor Gates explores how race has been socially constructed in a society whose people reflect centuries of inter-marriage, and how the country’s troubled history with Haiti informs notions about racial classification. In Haiti, Professor Gates tells the story of the birth of the first-ever black republic, and finds out how the slaves’s hard fight for liberation over Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire became a double-edged sword.
