African Diaspora International Film Festival NYC 2023
November 24—December 10
Latin American and US Latinx Films co-presented by Cinema Tropical
ADIFF NYC 2023 is showcasing 85 films from 33 countries. The films are sourced from major film festivals such as Berlinale, Cannes, Toronto, FESPACO, and Durban, as well as independent filmmakers from America and around the world. This year ADIFF showcases 15 Latin American films, offering a great selection of stories both fiction and non-fiction, with Latinx subjects at the core.
For tickets and more information visit: https://nyadiff.org
ROSA CHUMBE
(Jonatan Relayze, Peru, 2015, 75 min. Spanish with English subtitles)
Rosa is a mature police officer with both a gambling and a drinking problem who is forced to take care of her grandson after her daughter steals her savings. Everything takes a wrong turn one night. Only a miracle can save her.
SANTIAGO OF THE WOMEN
(Santiago de las mujeres, Rosamary Berrios Hernández, Puerto Rico, 2011, 63 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
The documentary narrates the daily drama and the impressive devotion of Loiceña women to the image of Santiago Apostle. A look at the metaphor between the myth of the appearance of Santiago in Loíza, Puerto Rico, and the cultural resistance of the community, this documentary is a reminder of the character, vitality, and role Loiceña women have as pillars of the community.
FAITH IN BLACKNESS: AN EXPLORATION OF AFROLATINE SPIRITUALITY
(Charles Reynoso, USA, 2023, 27 min. In English)
Black Latine people around the world practice a myriad of faith traditions. This short-form documentary explores the dynamic identities of these Afro-Latine people and their journey for a home, and a faith in Blackness.
Sunday, November 26, 3pm at The Chapel, Teachers College in New York City
Saturday, December 2, 5:30pm at Cinema Village in New York City
ROLE-STORIES OF BRAZILIAN PROTESTS IN MALLS
(Vladimir Seixas, Brazil, 2021, 82 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
Protests against the violence of security guards and shopping mall employees in Brazil have mobilized thousands of people in recent years. Protests in malls showed the barriers imposed by racial discrimination and social exclusion.
Monday, December 4, 7pm at Cinema Village in New York City
Sunday, December 10, 1:30pm at Cowin Center, Teachers College in New York City
MALUALA
(Sergio Giral, Cuba, 1979, 84 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
In 19th century Cuba, runaway African slaves known as 'Cimarrons' hid in settlements in the eastern mountains. But discord among the Cimarrons is sown by a limited offer of freedom from the Spanish. Maluala is part of a trilogy of films about Cuba's slave uprisings made by Sergio Giral, the best-known Afro-Cuban director.
I AM BERTA
(Berta soy yo, Katia Lara, Honduras, 2022, 135 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Hours before her assassination, Indigenous leader, and environmental activist Berta Cáceres wrote down the names of those aiming to kill her. Using the clues, her friends and family seek to find the perpetrator.
Friday, December 8, 7pm at 179 Grace Dodge, Teachers College in New York City
Sunday, December 10, 5pm at The Chapel, Teachers College in New York City
GOODBYE MOMO
(Adios Momo, Leonardo Ricagni, Uruguay, 2005, 107 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
An 11-year-old street boy, Obdulio, who sells newspapers for a living but cannot read or write, finds a magical "Maestro" in the night watchman of the newspaper's office who teaches him how to read and write and the real meaning of life through the lyrics of the "Murgas" [Carnival Pierrots] during the magical nights of the Uruguayan Carnival.
Friday, December 1, 11am at Cinema Village in New York City
LA PLAYA DC
(Juan Andrés Arango Garcia, Colombia, 2012, 90 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Tomas, an Afro-Colombian teenager who fled the country's Pacific coast pushed out by the war, faces the difficulties of growing up in a city if exclusion and racism. When Jairo, his younger brother and closest friend disappears, Tomas plunges in the streets of the city. His search becomes an initiatory journey that compels him to face his past and to leave aside the influence of his is brothers in order to find his own identity. Through this journey, Tomas reveals a unique perspective of a vibrant and unstable city that, like Tomas, stands on the threshold between what once was and what might be.
Thursday, December 7, 11am at Cinema Village in New York City
KAFE NEGRO: CUBA & THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION
(Mario Delatour, Cuba/Haiti, 2020, 52 min. In Spanish and French with English subtitles)
A historical documentary that explores the social, economic & historical ramifications of the Haitian Revolution in Cuba. It tells the story of the waves of migration of Haitian workers who, over time, profoundly transformed the culture and demographics of Cuba and developed coffee growing on the island.
HAITI IS A NATION OF ARTISTS
(Jacquil Constant, USA, 2022, 50 min. English)
The film tells the story of Haitian artists creating transformational art after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The documentary depicts the humanity of Haitian culture through the lens of a Haitian-American filmmaker who seeks to uplift the rich diversity of Haiti and its historical legacy.
Friday, December 1, 8pm at The Chapel, Teachers College in New York City
FAREWELL SAVAGE
(Adieu Savage, Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, Belgium, 2023, 92 minutes. In French with English subtitles)
In this debut feature, Director Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento, himself a descendant of an almost extinct indigenous Colombian community, went to meet the Cácuas, to talk about their feelings, their loves, their loneliness. In doing so, he reconnects with his own Indigenousness. With humor and tenderness, the Cácuas try to teach him what it is to be a native.
Monday, December 4, 8:10pm at The Chapel, Teachers College in New York City
Wednesday, December 6, 4:50pm at Cinema Village in New York City
LUDI
(Edson Jean, USA, 2021, 81 min. In Haitian Creole and English with English Subtitles)
After a half truth lands her under immense financial pressure, Ludi Alcidor embarks on a frantic scour through Miami's private care-taking world in an increasingly desperate attempt to send money to her family in Haiti.
Streaming November 24 - December 10
ANGELS ON DIAMOND STREET
(Petr Lom, USA, 2019, 88 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
The documentary spotlights three women fighting for social justice in an African-American church in Philadelphia. We follow head cook Mamie Mather, former Black Panther Barbara Easley-Cox, and Pastor Renee Mackenzie at the soup kitchen of the Church of the Advocate: a national monument with a rich history in the civil rights movement.
Streaming November 24 - December 10
DIASPORA
(José Ramón Alamá, USA/Dominican Republic/Spain/Senegal, 2022, 60 min. In English, French, and Spanish with English subtitles)
Since the dawn of humanity, migration has been an integral part of the human experience. 'Diaspora' is a documentary chronicling how migration shaped the Caribbean identity and how its diaspora continues to do so.
Sunday, December 3, 5:10pm at 179 Grace Dodge, Teachers College in New York City
Thursday, December 7, 6pm at The Chapel, Teachers College in New York City
EXECUTIVE ORDER
(Medida Provisória, Lázaro Ramos, Brazil, 2022, 102 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
In a dystopian future, the Brazilian government decrees a measure that forces black citizens to migrate to Africa in an attempt to return to their origins. Seeing themselves in the center of terror, two cousins take refuge in an apartment, where they debate social and racial issues, and share the same yearning for the change of country.
Streaming November 24 - December 10
