2023 SELECTED FILMS

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 El exilio del Mar (the exile of the sea) based on a true story, is the story of Johana a Colombian who must move from her homeland and is forced by violence to have to change her life, habits, leave everything back to look for a future, a hope, in its history we want to reflect the millions who fight every day to get ahead According to United Nations estimates, the number of international migrants worldwide has increased over the last twenty years, reaching 281 million in 2020. This is a story that seeks to create empathy for those who have the courage to change everything to seek a chance to survive. 

 In 2023, an arms’ dealer’s daughter saves a worker who the father wants to kill, they run off and hide in an old house that transports them into the future that looks like the past. 

 Confronted with the atrocities of an oppressive and unjust society, Yadallah, a young college aged activist, takes change into his own hands. There is a time for talk, there is a time for prayer, and then there is a time for violence.

 A look at the Watts section of Los Angeles from the 1965 riots until today. Watts was the leader in organizing the LA gang truce in 1992.

 Assaman is a cosmic twin love story with the future. A man named Tukki meets a sky-being named Asé. Together, they become suspended in a visual and sonic examination in search of flourishing joy and self-care. What may seem a simple love story quickly expands into a kaleidoscope of introspective, interconnected and intergenerational movement and moments. Assaman holds you for 14 minutes in an Afrofuturist and Indigenous sonic vision - a hypnotic journey. Assaman means "the sky" in Wolof. 

 Broke and misguided, 24-year-old BILAL is tired of working hard jobs for little pay. Like many young men, he dreams of a life of luxury and feels that the only way he can attain it is by selling drugs. Frustrated with his rebellious nature, Bilal’s mother sends him packing back to Toronto to live with his estranged uncle MUSTAFA, who tries to put him on the straight and narrow. Sadly, the allure of fast money never escapes him and Bilal gets caught up with PURPLE, a Muslim gang leader who tries to sway him from the street life. Bilal instead chooses to go into the drug business on his own under the mentorship of Purple’s nemesis DUTCH. A dose of reality hits when Bilal is faced with the threat of death and he is forced to choose between continuing his life of crime or turning things around, before it’s too late. 

 Nathan and his girlfriend are struggling with the cost of living crisis in the UK, so when Nathan gets a chance to interview for a dream job, he jumps at it.

After arriving in London for his interview, Nathan finds himself at a luxury apartment which feels a world away from his council flat on the estate. Nathan quickly realises that something is off when he's faced with making an impossible decision that will affect the rest of his life. With the clock ticking, Nathan will have to decide whether to accept an opportunity of a lifetime or give up his memory of these events.

 Follow trumpeter Theresa May as she takes you on an aural and visual journey based upon a new piece, Afrofuturism, composed by Shanyse Strickland. From the beginning of the piece which calls upon the ancestors with unaccompanied trumpet, to the middle section which dances in a groove to the beat of the African Diaspora, to the finale which ends in the spoken words “Black lives will exist in the future”, this film elicits stories of Blackness and embodies May's personal style, creativity and aesthetic while highlighting Black women. 

 An important look at the joys and challenges of biking while Black and the need for a transit future rooted in justice and equity. BIKING WHILE BLACK chronicles the determination of communities and the fight to continue to ride through decriminalization, disenfranchisement, and gentrification. 

 Massie a bi-racial teen that has to deal with the pressures of moving away from her father and dealing with bullies in her school. All of these things over comes her life and she cant take it any longer. Massie thought it was only one way out. 

 The chronicling of the 1991 People’s Convention Movement highlights how a group of grassroot leaders spoke truth to power for the selection of a black consensus candidate. The backdrop of racist southern politics, demanding unity from black power brokers and the great-coming-together would faceoff. Intertwined was the $65 million dollar conundrum of the Great Pyramid’s charlatan developer in charge of erecting the crown jewel of Memphis’ skyline. In tandem was the downfall of the African American World Trade Center that inspired the pyramid structure set to base its headquarters in Memphis. This series of events would assure an election night shock and awe. 

 In the summer of 2020, protesting has increased due to the rise of systemic injustices in America. A young black woman searches for the answers and analyzes all that has happened with her friend. She goes through a cultural reflection on the challenges of seeking social justice for her pregentrified community. She goes through a self-discovery phase on her purpose in taking action to becoming an activist in society. 

 Two beautiful souls, one govern by his Soul, Hasanti (Kenyon Tillis), an aspiring Spoken Wordsmith, and one govern by her Heart, Na'Eemah (Ariel Simone), a Senior Publicist and aspiring Mentor, share a slight connection after a meeting at a Los Angeles Nightclub. After Hasanti makes an unexpected delivery to Na'Eemah the connection grows. The two bond over music, photography, ideology and poetry, and eventually begin a beautiful romance. She teaches him how to operate from his Heart and he teaches her how to operate from her Soul.

 Follow the story of Elijah Manley, a young, Black, queer activist and one of the youngest candidates to ever run for the Florida State Legislature. Along the way, we will meet other young activists and organizers who are striving to make a difference within our country, starting within their own community. 

 The archive manager of an organization, when faced with the demands of the clients (representing various revolutions against different systems), encourages them to participate in the violation with a deceptive offer.

 On an Autumn Friday, 10-year-old Olivia receives her period for the first time. However, she shields the truth from her mother, Sharon, and her older sister, Andrea, in hopes of attending a sleepover at the family's church. Blind to her young sister's experience, Andrea continues to defy her mother's wishes as she searches for freedom and her identity outside of their family unit. Unable to communicate as they wish they could, these two sisters find themselves navigating their coming-of-age stories as they try to overcome the guilt of their shame together. 

 "The Guardian: Sandwich Generation" is a heart-wrenching and powerful documentary that follows the life of a man who finds himself in a unique position of responsibility. As the self-appointed guardian of his entire family, he struggles to balance the demands of caring for his elderly parents, his three adult brothers who require full-term care, and his four sons who all have varying degrees of autism.

 Committed to a soul journey of healing, building, and ascension finds one brother navigating a social media maze of propaganda attempting to define his course in life. In an effort to reclaim what has been stolen, find what has been lost, and repair what has been broken, this cinematic expression deals with the heart of deception and the core of confusion leading humanity with an immoral compass.

 Censored by the right-wing government of India, Anthem for Kashmir is a short narrative on the Indian occupation of Kashmir highlighting issues of forced-disappearances, half-widows, encounter-killings and pellet-gun victims. Accompanied by a Tamil protest rock track with lyrics referring to these human rights abuses.

 DocuCourse: A Changemaker’s Story - Returning & Redemption follows the stories of people who have been impacted by the U.S. justice system and Randy George, who supports them in navigating life and works to connect them with community solutions for re-entry. Returning & Redemption explores the aspects of trauma, drug addiction, healing, and forgiveness as it relates to those who have been formerly incarcerated. Throughout the DocuCourse, viewers will hear from other community leaders as they share in the healing and struggles of those working to overcome barriers to societal re-entry. At the end of the documentary, will be a brief course on how to support returning citizens through exposure and how future advocates can use these principles and strategies to mobilize for change in their own community or region.

 Perplexed by the plight of his people, a quick-witted modern-day Historian finds historical records tracing back his ancestry beyond the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to a time of prosperity and freedom, bringing to light the reasons for perpetual exile, oppression, and captivity.

 hurt are each other. Will they choose the right things to do, or will they continue to be TORN forever? 

 Set both within and outside California’s oldest prison, 26.2 to Life: The San Quentin Prison Marathon, explores the crisis of over-incarceration through the stories of three men living life sentences in California's oldest prison who are working to better themselves and be productive citizens despite the fact that they may never be released. As the men run the most unique marathon in the world - 105 laps around an uneven dirt and concrete path that loops the prison’s crowded Lower Yard - they confront the challenges of aging, finding purpose and maintaining family relationships behind bars, all while grappling with the reality that they may never again see life on the outside.

 Against the backdrop of civil war in the poverty-stricken Central African Republic, a Chinese construction manager and a local African laborer work on opposite ends of the sand supply chain to build a bank. Attempted suicide, failed coup, shutdown of sand market… as deadlines loom, unexpected twists threaten their jobs, relationships, and plans for a better life.

 Stay away from her because you are doomed to stay away
and If you approach her......