Our mission is to inspire a positive appreciation for the history, culture and environment of our US Virgin Islands by establishing a free monthly film series open to and for the benefit of our local community. We will present independent films that celebrate the human spirit with a focus on the Caribbean.
Join us for Tuesday night screenings at Sputnik Bar in Coral Bay, and Thursday night screenings at The Marketplace in Cruz Bay. Please scroll down for our Winter 2010 schedule. For more information on the selected films, click on the film images included in each post.
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Rivers of Corn
Free Movie Night
7:00 pm Thursday February 18th
Marketplace 3rd Floor, St John
SARAYAKU: Rivers of Corn
a documentary by Marta Noemí Bautis (63 min) 2009
Click the image at left to view the film’s website.
In the year 2002 the people of Sarayaku successfully resisted the invasion of an international oil company. Sarayaku: Rivers of Corn is a journey to this Kichua community in the south of the Ecuadorian Amazonia, five years after the frustrated invasion.
This documentary recreates the story through the memory of several women that participated in the events of 2002, and contrasts daily life scenes with those of the struggle of the people of Sarayaku to defend their ancestral lands.
Meet the Filmmaker!
Filmmaker Marta Noemí Bautis will be present to introduce her film and participate in discussion with the audience afterwards. She was born in Argentina and has traveled throughout Latin America as a photojournalist. She is an award winning documentary filmmaker whose videos have been screened at numerous national and international festivals. Ms Bautis is a faculty member at the School of Contemporary Arts, Ramapo College of New Jersey and founder of Tiempo Azul Productions.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Ms Bautis and hear her personal experiences in creating this important film.
For background information about the Sarayaku territory, village and people, follow this LINK .
Tags: Cruz Bay, Ecuador Documentary, Kichua, Marta Bautis, Oil, The Marketplace
Free Movie Night
7:00 pm
Tuesday, March 2nd
Sputnik Bar, Coral Bay (340) 776-6644)
TOUCHED by Laurel Chiten (65 min) 2002
“a documentary about people who think they’ve had contact with aliens, and the Harvard psychiatrist who believes them“
A few years ago, Harvard psychiatrist John Mack, a leading researcher in the alien encounter phenomenon … wanted me to consider making a movie about encounters with these alien life forms. I told him no. I knew next to nothing about alien abduction, had no interest and thought it was all rather foolish. Then, he invited me to meet some of the people who claim to have had these experiences…. I had stumbled into a world filled by people who had been touched by something … and had their lives blown apart because of it. iten
Read more at Touched.
“The debate as to whether these stories are true or not could go on forever. Instead, I became more interested in the people — those who have had their lives both torn apart and transformed by this experience.”
Meet the Filmmaker!
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Laurel Chiten who will be present to introduce and discuss this intriguing film. Ms Chiten has been an independent filmmaker for over twenty years. TOUCHED won Best Documentary at its Canadian premiere at the Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) in Toronto on November 22, 2003. TOUCHED also won Best Documentary of 2003 in the “Abductee or Contactee” category at a long-running UFO convention. To read more about Ms Chiten and her films, click this LINK.
Tags: Alien Abduction, Alien Encounters, Coral Bay, Documentary, Laurel Chiten, Sputnik, Visiting Filmmaker
Free Movie Night
7:00 pm Thursday March 18th
Marketplace 3rd Floor, St John
THE AGRONOMIST by Jonathan Demme (90 min) 2003
The life of tireless Haitian human rights acitivist Jean Dominique:
This fascinating profile of inspired, and inspiring, Haitian independent radio broadcaster Jean Dominique is informative about the history of Haiti’s political strife and includes news film clips and interviews with family members and colleagues. Despite increasing threats and violence, Dominique maintained the station as a haven of truth and free speech.
For the film Demme interviewed Jean Dominique and his wife Michele Montas, both in Haiti and during periods of their exile in New York.
“… Jean Dominique embodies the fragile, perpetual hope that Haiti, so long tormented by foreign meddlers and domestic dictators, might someday nurture a just and decent political order … a lively immediacy unusual in documentaries of its kind.” The New York Times”
Tags: Cruz Bay, Documentary, Free Speech, Haiti, Human Rights, Independent Radio, Jean Dominique, The Marketplace
FILM ARCHIVES
The films listed below were featured in our free monthly film series. Scroll down to see all posts or browse by month in the Archives, found in the left panel near the top of our blog.
We’d love some feedback! Please feel free to comment on any of the films you’ve seen.
For additional recommended films not included in our film series, please visit our Recommended Films page.page.
IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES by Mariano Barroso (95 min) 2001
Based on the novel of the same name, by Julia Álvarez
Click the image at left for more information about the film.
“Women had their place. Hers was in the revolution.”
In the Time of the Butterflies is inspired by the true story of the three Mirabal sisters who, in 1960, were murdered for their part in an underground plot to overthrow the government of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Starring Salma Hayek as Minerva Mirabal, this is a tale of courage and sisterhood set in the Dominican Republic during the rise of the Trujillo dictatorship.
“We cannot allow our children to grow up in this corrupt and tyrannical regime, we must fight against it, and I am willing to give up everything, including my life if necessary.” ~ Patria Mirabal
“It is a source of happiness to do whatever can be done for our country that suffers so many anguishes.” ~ Minerva Mirabal
LAS MARIPOSAS (The Butterflies)
Patria Mercedes, Maria Teresa and Minerva Argentina Mirabal
Click on the image at left for more information.
Tags: Baseball, Coral Bay, Dominican Republic, Drama, Sports, Sputnik
YOUNG@HEART
a heartwarming documentary by Stephen Walker & Sally George (107 min) 2007
!!! ROCK AND ROLL WILL NEVER DIE !!!
Click the image at left to visit the film’s website.
Prepare to be entertained by the inspiring individuals of Young@Heart Chorus, a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay. As the film begins the retirees, led by their demanding musical director, are rehearsing their new show, struggling with Sonic Youth’s dissonant rock anthem “Schizophrenia” and giving new meaning to James Brown’s “I Feel Good”. What ultimately emerges is a funny and unexpectedly moving testament to friendship, creative inspiration, and defying expectations.
“…offers an encouraging vision of old age in which the depression commonly associated with decrepitude is held at bay by music making, camaraderie and a sense of humor.” New York Times
Click the image at left for more on info on the Young@Heart Chorus.
Tags: Chorus, Cruz Bay, Documentary, Music, Senior Citizens, The Marketplace
Thanks to all the film lovers of St John and St Thomas, we had a fantastic turnout of around 120 people!
It was great to have filmmaker Tony Pagano present. The discussion afterwards added a lot to the experience, and the thoughtful questions from the audience sparked interesting stories about the making of the film.
A special thanks to the Virgin Islands Council for the Arts for helping underwrite this event.
NESHOBA
a documentary by Micki Dickoff & Tony Pagano (90 min) 2008
Click on the image to the left for a full synopsis.
“…the story of a Mississippi town still divided about the meaning of justice, 40 years after the murders of three civil rights workers.”
In the summer of 1964, three young men went to Philadelphia, a small town in the heart of Neshoba County, to register black voters and investigate a church burning. When their bodies were found 44 days later buried beneath an earthen dam, many people rationalized the men came looking for trouble and got what they deserved. While the killers continued to live and prosper, most townspeople remained silent, as if the murders never happened.
Finally, in January of 2005, the State of Mississippi indicted the alleged mastermind of the murders, Edgar Ray Killen, an 80-year-old Baptist preacher and notorious racist. The filmmakers gained unprecedented access to Killen. For the first time ever, they capture the outspoken views of a Klan member charged with a civil rights murder and take viewers on a journey into the mindset of a man who, to this day, feels the murders of two Jews and an African-American were justified as self-defense of a way of life.
Meet the Filmmaker!
Virgin Islands resident and filmmaker Tony Pagano will be present to introduce his film and participate in discussion with the audience afterwards.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet this filmmaker whose career spans 32 years in the commercial and network broadcast industry. Mr Pagano spent 17 years at the ABC News Magazine 20/20, first as an editor, then location audio, and finally as their leading Director of Photography. Tony currently owns and operates his independent production company, Pagano Productions.
NESHOBA, Pagano’s feature directorial debut, was awarded numerous prizes in 2008, among them BEST DOCUMENTARY at its premier at the Boston Film Festival and BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY at the New York International Film Festival. Link to full list of awards.
“a disturbing peek at how little some people have changed, as well as an inspiring portrait of others’ determination to see crime punished at last…riveting.” Dennis Harvey, VARIETY November 2008. Link to full VARIETY review.
Tags: Civil Rights, Coral Bay, Documentary, Local Filmmaker, Mississippi, Racism, Sputnik, Tony Pagano
THE BLACK CANDLE: A Kwanzaa Celebration by M.K. Asante, Jr. (71 min) 2008
2009 Winner, Best Documentary, Africa World Documentary Film Festival
“More than a film about a holiday, this is the celebration of a people.” ~ Maya Angelou
Click the image at left to visit the film’s website.
The Black Candle uses Kwanzaa as a vehicle to explore and celebrate the African-American experience. Narrated by world renowned poet Maya Angelou and directed by award-winning author and filmmaker M.K. Asante, Jr., The Black Candle is about the struggle and triumph of the African-American family, community, and culture.
The first feature film on Kwanzaa, The Black Candle traces the holiday’s growth out of the Black Power Movement in the 1960s to its present-day reality as a global, pan-African holiday embraced by millions of celebrants.
“A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture.”
Kwanzaa is celebrated annually from December 26th to January 1st.
Click the image at left for more information about this important holiday.
ALSO FEATURING: Master Drummer Eddie Bruce!
Don’t miss the Live Drumming demonstration at 6:30 PM. Bring a drum and join in the fun before the movie!
Tags: Cruz Bay, Documentary, Holiday, Kwanzaa, Marketplace
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