trinidad+tobago film festival presents a free screening of “Hamilton” in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Port of Spain.

Date: Saturday 24 October
Time: 5.30pm – 8.30pm
Location: 22 Jerningham Avenue, Belmont

Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and show tunes, “Hamilton” has taken the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton and created a revolutionary moment in theater–a musical that has had a profound impact on culture, politics, and education. Captured at the Richard Rodgers Theater on Broadway in June 2016, the film transports its audience into the world of the Broadway show in a uniquely intimate way.

If you would like to attend, please register in advance at http://bit.ly/ttffhamiltonscreening This is an in-person event and there is limited seating. We ask that you only register if you are certain that you will attend. Groups are limited to a maximum of two persons per group.

This film will be screened in compliance with health and safety guidelines for masks, size of the gathering, and social distancing. 

#ttffcommunityscreening #watchsomething
#inperson #sociallydistanced #ttfilmfestival

We’ve extended our online screenings
through 22 September!

Did you miss a film you really wanted to see? Hoping for a re-watch of a new favourite? Well, here’s your chance!

All film bundles are now available until midnight on Tuesday 22 September! Bundles cost $35 (US$5.25) as usual, and are screening to the English-speaking Caribbean at online.ttfilmfestival.com

You can buy tickets for film bundles by heading direct to online.ttfilmfestival.com.

You can also buy a five bundle pass (for the cost of four bundles) here, and we’ll send you the coupons to watch the film bundles of your choice!

trinidad+tobago film festival announced ten winning films across its two award categories (jury prizes and special awards) at our virtual awards ceremony held on Monday 14 September on Facebook Live. The juries comprised several international film industry professionals, and films selected for the juried competitions were rigorously discussed, dissected and unanimously agreed upon by the festival’s programmers before being selected for competition.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Coast Land, directed by Alexander Arjoon
Our Own House, directed by Vanessa Bergonzoli, Jeremy Kaplan and Tyler Robinson
Atordoado, Eu Permaneço Atento / Stunned, I Remain Alert, directed by Henrique Amud and Lucas H. Rossi dos Santos  
The Onyx Butterfly, directed by. Yasmin Evering-Kerr
Unbroken, directed by Gabrielle Blackwood

WINNER: Unbroken, directed by Gabrielle Blackwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY MED LENGTH FILM

I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by. Miquel Galofré
No Island Like Home, directed by Giulio Gobbetti and Jan Stöckel
Men sa lanmè di (Thus Spoke the Sea), directed by Arnold Antonin

WINNER: I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by. Miquel Galofré

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT FILM

Irma, directed Lisa Cruz
Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray
Ma dame au Camélia (My Lady of the Camellia), directed by Édouard Montoute 
Ici C’est Paris (Paris Is Here), directed by Léa Magnien and Quentin Chantrel 
Pure Service, directed by Reyda Gay
Yellow Girl and Me, directed by Isabella Issa 
Timoun Aw (Your Kid), directed by Nelson Foix

HONOURABLE MENTION: Irma, directed by Lisa Cruz
WINNER: Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray

BEST NARRATIVE MEDIUM LENGTH FILM

Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles 
Mightier dan de Sun, directed by Trevon Christopher Jugmohan
Zeen?, directed by Calyx Passailaigue

HONOURABLE MENTION: Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles 
WINNER: Zeen?, directed by Calyx Passailaigue

BEST NEW MEDIA WORK

Murciélago (Bat), directed by Claudia Claremi
Centella (Firefly), directed by Claudia Claremi
Looking for ‘Looking for Langston’, directed by Ada M. Patterson
The Whole World is Turning, directed by Ada M. Patterson

WINNER: Centella (Firefly), directed by Claudia Claremi

BEST STUDENT FILM

Carmencita, directed by Nayibe Tavares-Abel
Endless Love, directed by Duda Gambogi
Carne e Casca (Meat and Shell), directed by Dani Drumond
La Pieza de Casseus (The Raging Dance of Casseus), directed by Camilo Mejía
Waiting In Strange Times, directed by Kristof West
Wicket, directed by Harsh Khurana

HONOURABLE MENTION: Carmencita, directed by Nayibe Tavares-Abel
WINNER: La Pieza de Casseus (The Raging Dance of Casseus), directed by Camilo Mejía

BEST FILM AS DECIDED BY A YOUTH JURY

Avatara, directed by Nadav Harel
Choosing Destiny, directed by Angelo Berkeley and Shemaiah Trotman 
Isla Serena, directed by Leonel González
K.I.N.G, directed by Rashad Frett
Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray
Yellow Girl and Me, directed by Isabella Issa

WINNER: Mortenol, directed by Julien Silloray

BEST TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FILM

Get Free!, directed by Akkel Charles
I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by Miquel Galofré
Mightier dan de Sun, directed by Trevon Christopher Jugmohan
Waiting In Strange Times, directed by Kristof West

WINNER: I Don’t Call it Ghetto, directed by Miquel Galofré

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE LENGTH

501 Not Out, directed by Sam Lockyer
A media voz (In a Whisper), directed by Patricia Pérez Fernández and Heidi Hassan 
Servidão (Servitude), directed by Renato Barbieri
Stateless, directed by Michèle Stephenson

WINNER: Servidão (Servitude), directed by Renato Barbieri

BEST NARRATIVE, FEATURE LENGTH

La Imagen del Tiempo (Timeless Havana), directed by Jeissy Trompiz 
Malpaso, directed by Héctor M Valdez

WINNER: Malpaso, directed by Héctor M Valdez

Congratulations to all the winners!

This year, the ttff will award ten juried prizes. Films in juried competitions are rigorously discussed and dissected before being selected by the ttff/20 programming team, and must be unanimously agreed by the three programmers. The shortlist of films in competition is sent on to the various juries, who then watch and deliberate on all the films before coming to a final agreement. The best Trinidad & Tobago film will be decided based on the aggregated results of the combined juries.

We’re honoured to present this year’s jury members.

narrative jury

Ian Harnarine 
Ian Harnarine earned his MFA from NYU’s Graduate Film School. His film “Doubles With Slight Pepper” won a Genie Award for best live-action short drama from the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, along with the 2011 Best Canadian Short Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. His work for “Sesame Street” was nominated for an Emmy. Harnarine was one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and has been profiled in the New York Times.

Jaie Laplante
Jaie Laplante has led Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival as executive director and director of programming for the past decade, overseeing the Festival’s international growth and influence. Additionally, he is the director of MDC’s Tower Theater Miami, the highest-grossing year-round art cinema in South Florida. In 2018, Laplante received the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Isabel la Católica from Felipe VI, King of Spain, for his career work in the exploration of contemporary Spanish and Spanish-language cinema in the state of Florida.

Robert Maylor
Rob Maylor is the CEO and founder of Mental Telepathy Pictures. The company’s first production “Sprinter,” directed by Storm Saulter, won three awards at the 2018 American Black Film Festival (Best Feature, Audience Award and Best Director) as well as awards from around the globe; Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were executive producers. Rob began his career working with the late powerhouse attorney Johnnie Cochran and went on to hold Hollywood industry positions at United Talent Agency, Mark Burnett’s One Three Media and Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Pictures. He received his formal training at Princeton, William & Mary Law School, and the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program, where he received a MA in Fine Arts. 

documentary jury

Leslie Fields-Cruz
Leslie Fields-Cruz is the executive director of Black Public Media, and the executive producer of the award-winning series “AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange”. Leslie serves on the board of directors for New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and New Era Creative Space, a local community arts center in Peekskill, NY.

Shola Lynch
Shola Lynch is a Peabody and Emmy award-winning filmmaker, and a 2016 member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She makes films about audacious women – and in particular black women. She is best known for her documentaries, “Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed” (2004) and “Free Angela & All Political Prisoners” (2012). She is currently working on her first scripted film and the lead character is, of course, a woman. Lynch is also the curator of the Moving Image & Recorded Sound Division archive at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 

Chris Metzler
Since graduating from USC with a degree in business and cinema, Chris Metzler’s film career has taken him from the depths of agency work, to coordinating post-production for awful American movies seen late at night in Belgium. His filmmaking work has resulted in him criss-crossing the country with the aid of caffeinated beverages and creating award-winning documentaries such as “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea”, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone” and, most recently, “Rodents of Unusual Size”. Metzler also serves as the associate director of programming for the all documentary film festival, SF DocFest, in San Francisco, California.

new media jury

David Gumbs
David Gumbs is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist from Saint Martin, based in Martinique. Recent works include the Currents New Media digital festival in Santa Fe, and the touring exhibition “Relational Undercurrents”, a major survey of Latin American and Caribbean Art, in the United States. 

O’Neil Lawrence
Chief curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica, Lawrence has curated over 35 exhibitions including the critically-acclaimed “Seven Women Artists” (2015), “Masculinities” (2015), “I Shall Return Again” (2018) and “Beyond Fashion” (2018). His research interests include race, gender and sexuality in Caribbean and African diaspora art and visual culture; memory, identity and hidden archives; photography as a medium and a social vehicle; Caribbean and general art history and museums and other public cultural institutions. He has contributed essays to publications on Caribbean art and sexuality, most recently Beyond Homophobia (UWI Press 2020). He is currently on the Advisory Council of the Caribbean Art Initiative.

Marsha Pearce
Marsha Pearce is a scholar, writer, educator, and curator based in the Caribbean. She holds a BA in Visual Arts and a PhD in Cultural Studies. Pearce is a lecturer and Visual Arts Unit coordinator at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

student films jury

Analisa Chapman
Analisa Chapman is one of the founding directors of the film production company, Have A Bawl Productions. She has had diverse experience as a producer, traversing film, radio and theatre; and is the president of the Jamaica Film and Television Association (JAFTA). By day she is an intellectual property and entertainment attorney.

Fanny Huc
Fanny Huc is the programming manager at the International Film Festival of Panama. She is also part of the Panalandia Film Festival programming team and collaborated in the first Panama Animation Film Festival. Huc has participated in multiple independent films as well as productions for mainstream media including the BBC, VH1, MTV, Netflix and others.

Eloise Van Wickeren
Eloise Van Wickeren was born and raised in Curaçao. After receiving her MA from the University of Amsterdam, she moved back to her island to apply her skills there. She has had extensive experience in filmmaking in Curaçao, writing and directing several documentaries and short films, but also doing location management for both feature films shot on the Island – “Tula: The Revolt” and “Double Play”.

A fixture of the annual trinidad+tobago film festival since 2011, we’re delighted to announce the return of new media to Medulla Art Gallery on Fitt Street in Woodbrook. The new media section of ttff comprises avant garde and experimental film and video works from artists and filmmakers in the Caribbean and diaspora.

Curated by Melanie Archer, works in our new media section can be viewed at Medulla Art Gallery weekdays (through 15 September) from 10am to 6pm, and Saturday from 11am to 2pm. All health and social distancing protocols will be in effect, with only five attendees at a time being allowed into the exhibition space. We ask that all attendees wear face masks, according to Government regulations.

works listing

group 1

Looking for “Looking for Langston”, by Ada M. Patterson
Hijo del mar (Son of the Sea), Candido Junior Bienvenido Cast
Displaced, Alex Mendez Giner

group 2

I am Sugar, by Richard Mark RawlinsIsland State of Mine, by Richard Mark Rawlins
How to break a horizon: a memory as retold by the sum of its residue, by Kearra Amaya Gopee
I cried so much I felt the universe pass through my eyes, by Luis Vasquez La Roche
Shade, by Analise Cleopatra
Alternative Facts, by Marina Santana de la Torre
El dúo de las hermanas gato (The Cat Sister’s Duet), by Marina Santana de la Torre

group 3

Goodbye to the Things, by Ian Schuler
The Whole World is Turning, by Ada M. Patterson

group 4

Wake Up, by Shinelle Ambris
Untitled, by Kelley-Ann Lindo
Howler Monkey Sex Noises at Lunchtime, by Rachel Lee
Silent Truths, by Rhiana Bonterre

group 5

Centella (Firefly), by Claudia Claremi
Palindrome, by David Parris 
Murciélago (Bat), by Claudia Claremi

Happy Trinidad and Tobago Independence, film lovers! In celebration of Patriotism Month and the development of the Trinidad and Tobago film industry, we bring you ‘love t&t’, a series of online film screenings during ttff/20, of some of the new films and filmmakers emerging in T&T. ‘love t&t’ is brought to you in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

---

Our first love t&t bundle will be screened online Wednesday 09 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  A Day at the Beach: Marcy is having a relaxing day at the beach when a nationwide catastrophe occurs in this sci-fi horror short set in South Trinidad. The Interview: A confident young man meets with unforeseen complications at a job interview where things are not quite what they seem. Get Free: Twenty-one-year-old Iris’ life is endangered as her ex-boyfriend returns to seek unwanted closure. A series of events unfold as we see what was, and what still is, between them. The Covid Chronicles: Filmed during two weeks in March, “The COVID Chronicles” is an intimate, candid portrait of our strange new times, seen through the eyes of a group of friends spanning Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. Waiting in Strange Times: Set in Trinidad during the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19, “Waiting In Strange Times” explores space and time during a period of boredom, uncertainty, confusion and fear. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 1 here!

---

Our second love t&t bundle will be screened online Thursday 10 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  Mightier Dan De Sun: “Mightier dan de Sun” is the story of an Indian couple with nothing to lose. When combined with mental illness and supernatural forces, alcohol becomes a catalyst for unfortunate events. Jump: “Jump!” follows the three-month journey of the JumpTT programme which used parkour and physical theatre as an aesthetic to tell the stories of young people transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 2 here!

---

Our third and final love t&t bundle will be screened online Monday 14 September, and will be available for 24 hours.  A La’Diablesse Curse: A womanising absentee father is hunted by La Diablesse, a powerful shape-shifting Caribbean spirit, who demands his soul in exchange for his son’s freedom. Code R.E.D.D.: A man with a briefcase is more dangerous than a man with a gun. Two struggling private detectives hired to find a briefcase instead find themselves running for their lives. Now they must find the businessman who set them up and thwart his plans to set up a human trafficking ring in Trinidad. Get tickets for love t&t bundle 3 here!

Tickets are now available for all our online screenings! Visit online.ttfilmfestival.com to browse through the daily film bundles, click the bundle you’d like to see, and take it from there! Please note, films will be available to viewers across the English-speaking Caribbean only.

All tickets for online screenings are quoted in USD. As a quick guide, our regular online tickets are tt$35, and tickets for the opening night film cost tt$50.

Click here for a detailed step by step of setting up your account to watch films during the festival.

Note, films will only be viewable on the day they are scheduled for. Take a minute to browse through our daily schedule or download a PDF of our guide here.

Printed guides can also be collected from a number of locations, including Paperbased Bookshop, Y Art Gallery, Medulla Art Gallery, Rituals St Ann’s, Ink Stop, SPLICE Studios, Full Bloom. You can also swing by our office to collect a copy of the guide or to pay for workshops and screenings. We’re at 22 Jerningham Ave, Belmont.

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD, 17 August, 2020 — Feature-length documentary, ‘501 Not Out’, which charts cricket legend Brian Lara’s record-breaking first class innings, will open the 15^th edition of the trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) on 09 September. This year’s much anticipated opening night event and screening will be held online, so that cricket lovers and Lara fans in Trinidad and Tobago and around the English-speaking Caribbean will be able to screen the film and share in the excitement.

Directed by award-nominated UK director and lifelong cricket fan, Sam Lockyer, “501 Not Out” was inspired by the extraordinary career of Brian Lara. Twenty-five years after Lara’s world-record-breaking innings for Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the UK, the documentary tells the story of cricket’s first global superstar.

“I am truly honoured that ‘501 Not Out’ will be opening the trinidad+tobago film festival this year!” said the film’s director, Sam Lockyear. “I have fulfilled a long-held dream in making the film and I hope that it is a fitting tribute to the genius of Brian Lara, my childhood hero and the greatest cricketer to ever live. For the film to be screened where this incredible story begins means a great deal to me and to everyone here at Iconic Productions. I cannot wait for everyone to see it… Thank you ttff!”

Featuring rarely seen archive footage and stills, the film explores Lara’s remarkable ascent in 1994 and celebrates his development in Trinidad. It features interviews with iconic names from the world of cricket, including some of Lara’s former international and county teammates from the historic treble-winning season, his friends and coaches in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, fans who witnessed the marathon knock first-hand and those inspired by his heroics. 

“We are thrilled to be screening an opening night film that has such resonance with us at home and around the Caribbean. Brian Lara is a cricket legend! Sam’s film will give our Caribbean audiences the chance to relive Lara’s astonishing, record-breaking performance. With ttff making the switch to a primarily online festival this year, we decided to screen the opening night film online as well, and we have some lovely things in store for attendees,” said interim executive director of FILMCO, Mariel Brown. 

With 120+ films being screened online during the festival period 09-15 September, ‘501 Not Out’ will have its Caribbean premiere at ttff/20.  The opening night event will be held online at online.ttfilmfestival.com from 7pm AST, 09 September, 2020.

Opening Night tickets cost TT$50 (US$7.50), and are available now for online purchase at here. Tickets can also be paid for in advance via online bank transfer, or at the ttff office at 22 Jerningham Ave, Belmont. For more information on tickets, call the ttff office at (+)1.868.323.3228 or email Kamille at hello@ttfilmfestival.com

trinidad+tobago film festival is given leading sponsorship by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, contributing sponsorship by Republic Bank Ltd, with Shell T&T supporting ttff/20 online industry events. 

Image credit: courtesy ttff/20 and Iconic Productions

trinidad+tobago film festival is proud to announce the industry programme for this year’s edition! From the Caribbean to Latin America, Europe to North America, our masterclass and workshop facilitators, presenters and panelists are a diverse, international and award-winning group of filmmakers.

Online industry events and training will be offered as panels and presentations, which will be free and live-streamed via the ttff Facebook page; or workshops, which will be ticketed and take place via Zoom. For Zoom workshops, tickets must be paid for in full and in advance, and Zoom links will be sent in advance of workshop commencement. All workshop tickets are available at ttfilmfestival.com (see event-specific ticket links below). They can also be purchased via bank transfer or in person at our office at 22 Jerningham Ave.

Please register for our industry events here, and one of the ttff team will be in touch to arrange payment and/ or send Zoom links as necessary.

Please email Catherine at admin@filmco.org for information on payment options and discount codes. FILMCO members, filmmakers with a film in this year’s festival and students with valid photo IDs can receive a discount on all workshops.

*If you sign up for three or more ‘paid-for’  industry events at once, you will be entitled to a total discount of 30% off the ticket price.

---

Masterclass

---

Workshops

---

Presentations

---

---

Filmmaker Panels

Narrative Filmmakers Panel

with Shola Amoo (‘The Last Tree’), Akkel ‘Lee’ Charles (‘Get Free’), Isabella Issa (‘Yellow Girl and Me’), Calyx Passailaigue (‘Zeen?’), and Héctor M. Valdez (‘Malpaso’)
9 September, 11.00am–12.30pm
Online via Facebook Live @ttfilmfestival

Documentary Filmmakers Panel

with Henrique Amud (‘Stunned, I Remain Alert’), Gabrielle Blackwood (‘Unbroken’), Sam Lockyer (‘501 Not Out’), Shari Petti (‘Jump!’), and Michèle Stephenson (‘Stateless’)
12 September, 1.00pm–2.30pm
Online via Facebook Live @ttfilmfestival

Chosen from the Caribbean section which comprises feature-length films from the Caribbean, the diaspora, and films by international filmmakers made in and about the region, the narrative and documentary films in competition for the Best Feature-Length Narrative Film and Best Feature-Length Documentary award are:

narrative films:

La Imagen del Tiempo (Timeless Havana), dir. Jeissy Trompiz
Malpaso, dir. Héctor M Valdez

documentary films:

501 Not Out, dir. Sam Lockyer
A Media Voz (In a Whisper), dirs. Patricia Pérez Fernández and Heidi Hassan
Servidão (Servitude), dir. Renato Barbieri
Stateless, dir. Michèle Stephenson

synopses

narrative films

La Imagen del Tiempo (Timeless Havana)
Directed by Jeissy Trompiz/ 2019/ Cuba/ 70 minutes

Shot through the eyes of Felipe, a tortured film director trying in vain to create the authentic portrayal of love that his grandfather so easily captured in his amateur films of decades prior, his lens follows Edel and May, actors playing the characters Alejandro and Rita, strangers with different motives looking for the same girl. Their search meanders through a chaotic Havana that gets them simultaneously nowhere and entangled. Likewise, Felipe’s film meanders from scene to scene lacking a coherent thread and conclusion and leaving him unsatisfied. He is incapable of capturing the compassion in his takes that his grandfather did until he realizes that – unlike himself – his grandfather had the capacity for love. With his new-found awareness, he sets his characters free from their hopeless search.

Malpaso
Directed by Héctor M. Valdez/ 2019/ Dominican Republic, Haiti/ 80 minutes

Candido and Braulio are twin brothers growing up near the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. While Candido stays home secluded due to his albinism, Braulio helps his grandfather sell coal in the market. Their life takes a turn for the worst after the unexpected death of their grandfather. Now Braulio will need to look after his brother while attempting to make ends meet in the border town market. All the while, Candido dreams of the eventual return of their absent father.

documentaries

501 Not Out
Directed by Sam Lockyer/ 2019/ Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom/ 108 minutes

Over 25 years on from Brian Lara’s world-record-breaking innings for Warwickshire at Edgbaston in the UK, brand-new documentary “501 Not Out” tells the story of cricket’s first global superstar.

Exploring Lara’s remarkable ascent in 1994, the film celebrates his development in Trinidad and features interviews with iconic names from the world of cricket. These include his former international and county teammates from the historic treble-winning season, his friends and coaches in the Caribbean, fans who witnessed the marathon knock first hand and those inspired by his heroics. Notable contributions come from Sir Curtly Ambrose, Allan Donald, Dermot Reeve, Gladstone Small, Dennis Amiss, Jonathan Agnew, Ian Bell, Deryck Murray, Bryan Davis and Trini Posse Group co-founders Nikki Borde and Nigel Camacho.

Featuring rarely seen archive footage and stills, the film also examines the wider impact of Lara’s arrival and success at Warwickshire, coming so soon after his test record 375. “501 Not Out” brings an amazing story to life on the big screen for the very first time.

A Media Voz (In a Whisper)
Directed by Patricia Pérez Fernández and Heidi Hassan/ 2019/ Cuba, France, Spain, Switzerland/ 80 minutes

Two childhood friends entering their forties, facing the challenges of emigration, try to rebuild their lives far away from Cuba. An intimate and revealing auto-ethnographic documentary about uprootedness, motherhood, love of film, and freedom. Told through the audiovisual correspondence between two filmmakers and Cuban emigrants, it is a story of friendship and exile.

Servidão (Servitude)
Directed by Renato Barbieri/ 2019/ Brazil/ 72 minutes

A feature-length documentary about contemporary slave labour focusing on the Brazilian Amazon, “Servidão” follows the work of the Special Mobile Inspection Group of the Ministry of Labour. Through the testimony of modern abolitionists and rural workers it explores the links between contemporary slavery and a cruel slave-holding mentality that has existed in Brazil for five centuries. With narration by Negra Li, it is an important record of one of Brazil’s greatest ills.

Stateless
Directed by Michèle Stephenson/ 2020/ Canada/ 95 minutes

In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013 and the Dominican Republic’s Supreme Court strips the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929, rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. Director Michèle Stephenson’s new documentary follows the grassroots campaign of a young attorney named Rosa Iris, as she challenges electoral corruption and fights to protect the right to citizenship for all people.

Images: production stills from ‘Malpaso’, directed by Héctor M Valdez, and ‘Stateless’, directed by Michèle Stephenson