Free Movie Night
7:00 pm Tuesday March 11th
Sputnik Bar, Coral Bay 776-6644

PLAY, JANKUNU PLAY by Oliver Greene (45) 2006

“… a highly significant accomplishment for the Garifuna people, in their effort to preserve their culture and share their rich heritage with the world.”

The Garifuna are people of West African, Arawak and Carib descent who live along the Caribbean coast of Central America from Belize to Nicaragua. One of their most popular rituals is wanaragua, commonly called Jankunu. Dancers wearing colorful regalia entertain by mimicking the military and social customs of the European colonizers of Belize… similar processions performed in the Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, North Carolina, St Kitts-Nevis and Cape Coast, Ghana, reveal the extent to which this ritual is practiced.

Meet the Filmmaker! Free Cultural Music Workshop with Oliver Greene  5:00 – 6:30 PM

Filmmaker Oliver Greene will present a free workshop before the film and will also participate in audience discussion afterwards. Greene is an Associate Professor at the School of Music, Georgia State University. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology (emphasis, ethnomusicology) from Florida State University and masters and bachelors degrees from Southern Methodist University and the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, respectively. He has published articles in the Black Music Research Journal, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music, the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music and in the book The Garifuna: A Nation Across Borders.

Be sure to come meet Oliver Greene and hear of his experiences in creating this informative and colorful film.

A Celebration of Garifuna Culture

A GARIFUNA JOURNEY - A documentary by local filmmaker and St John Film Society founder Andrea Leland and co-producer/director Kathy Berger, 1998 (46 min)

“…captures the triumph of spirit of the Garifuna people.”

This film, made with the cooperation and participation of the Garifuna people, celebrates the enduring spirit of these descendants of the African and Carib-Indian inhabitants of the Caribbean. The Garifunas were never enslaved. They resisted British colonialism and, because of this, were exiled to Central America where their distinct culture continues to exist today.

Told in the voices of the Garifuna themselves, the film is engaging and colorful. It is an encouraging testament to a society’s ability to keep its music and spirituality alive amid the threats of the encroaching bigger world.

“…a vital step in archiving the rich culture and fascinating trajectory of the Garifuna of Belize. The video is a prime model for the use of the moving image in preserving living culture.” 
- Huntington International Independent Film Festival.

Also – Local Drummer Eddie Bruce!

Eddie Bruce will demonstrate some drumming techniques similar to those of the Garifuna.

A Short Film By Local Filmmaker

I Hear Your Voice in the Circling Night - A short film by local filmmaker and St John Film Society founder Sigi Torinus, with music by Brent Lee, 2009 (7.35 min), performed by Noiseborder Ensemble, Windsor, Canada.

“A poetic journey beginning in the white North and traveling to the Tropics into the deepest depths of the night.”

Footage from St. John, Virgin Islands and Northern Canada.