Nuestra Tierra Landmarks
Synopsis
From acclaimed Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel, known for her poetic and dreamy class-conscious dramas (La Cienaga, The Holy Girl, The Headless Woman) comes a very different, but no less compelling, portrait of inequality. Martel chronicles the trial of three men who entered the Indigenous community of Chuschagasta in northern Argentina to take ownership of the land and then killed the community’s leader, Javier Chocobar. Drawing on vivid archival video of the incident, caught on cellphone cameras, Martel closely follows the story of the crime, its punishment, and its far-reaching consequences.
Part courtroom drama and part lyrical look at the past, present, and future of the Chuschagasta people, Nuestra Tierra provides a broader context for the murderous act and offers a space for members of the community to reclaim their lives from a government that has long tried to deny not only their rights to the land but even their very existence. With a keen eye for symbolic details and for the tensions between tradition and modernity, nature and technology, Martel also tells a larger tale about the perennial struggles and injustices embedded in contemporary society.
Screenings & Events
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Film Credits
- Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Galelli, Matías Roveda, Joslyn Barnes, Julio Chavezmontes, Javier Leoz
- Lucrecia Martel, María Alché
- Jeronimo Pérez Rioja, Miguel Schverdfinger
- Ernesto de Carvalho
- Comunidad Chuschagasta
- Alfonso Olguín
- Danny Glover, Lynda Weinman, Susan Rockefeller, Tony Tabatznik, Maxyne Franklin, Brenda Coughlin, Marco Perego, Michael Cerenzie, Natalia Meta
- Rei Pictures, Piano, Pio & Co, Louverture Films, Lemming Film, Snowglobe
Sponsors
Program Partner
Program Patron
Cynthia Stone Raskin
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Pasa Faho
Synopsis
In the heart of suburban Melbourne, a quiet Nigerian shoe salesman named Azubuike leads a humble life, selling soles while attempting to stay connected with his sister and their close-knit Igbo Christian congregation. Experiencing a recent waning of faith, fueled by an unexpected financial setback, Azubuike begins to interrogate not only his spiritual identity but also his purpose in life. At the same time, he must attempt to forge closer ties with his distant yet perceptive adolescent son Obinna, who has just begun living with him full time.
As father and son navigate the uneasy terrain between tradition and transformation, they find themselves confronting their perceptions of each other. Bolstered by the grace offered by their communities, they start to move toward common ground. A meditation on inheritance and dislocation, Pasa Faho unfolds as a heartwarming tale of reconnection, resilience, and the quiet beauty of starting again.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Ivy Mutuku, Mimo Mukii
- Kalu Oji
- Mark Atkin, ASE
- Gabriel Francis
- Okey Bakassi, Tyson Palmer
- Nicholas Todarello
- Robert Connolly, Liz Kearney, Kate Laurie, Loani Arman, Edward Rickards
Sponsors
Film Patron
Julie Lamb
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Sugar Cane Alley Rue Cases Nègres
Synopsis
Set in 1931 French-colonized Martinique, this poignant coming-of-age story follows eleven-year-old José. A bright, curious boy, he is being raised by his grandmother, M’man Tine, who dreams of a better future for him beyond the harsh realities of life working on the sugar cane plantation. As José navigates poverty, racism, and the enduring trauma of slavery, he also finds in education a liberative outlet. Filmmaker Euzhan Palcy’s lyrical direction blends historical truth with emotional intimacy and a touch of humor, capturing the lush Caribbean landscape alongside the dignity of its people.
Rich in cultural authenticity and political depth, Sugar Cane Alley was a “four-star” favorite of famed Chicago critic Roger Ebert, who praised it as a “smart, sometimes hard-edged story that earns its moments of sentiment.” Both a tender tribute to maternal love and a defiant cry for justice, the film remains an essential cinematic work that honors the voices of the oppressed while celebrating the unbreakable spirit of hope. This 4K restoration of Palcy’s 1983 masterpiece is a cinematic gift for a new generation.
Awards Event
At this screening, director and writer Euzhan Palcy will receive the Festival’s Black Perspectives Tribute and Career Achievement Award.
Pioneering filmmaker Euzhan Palcy has set the world ablaze with a decades-long body of visionary work, shattering barriers in global cinema and inspiring a generation of storytellers. In 1983, she made history with Sugar Cane Alley, becoming the first Black woman to win both the Silver Lion and a César Award—France’s highest film honor—for Best First Film. She continued to break ground in Hollywood with A Dry White Season (1989), directing Marlon Brando to his final Oscar nomination and becoming the first Black woman to direct a major U.S. studio film. She received an honorary Oscar in 2022.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Michel Loulergue, Alix Régis, Claude Nedjar
- Euzhan Palcy
- Marie Josèphe Yoyotte
- Dominique Chapuis
- Garry Cadenat, Darling Légitimus, Douta Seck
- Malavoi
- Jean-Luc Ormières
- SU.MA.FA. Productions, Orca Productions, NEF Productions
- https://www.euzhanpalcy.net/sugar-cane-alley
- 1983
Sponsors
With Support From
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Sun Ra: Do the Impossible
Synopsis
Sonic experimentation, radical community-building, and an imagination that is far beyond this world are pieces of the impossible whole of Afrofuturist pioneer Sun Ra. This documentary explores the mind of one of the most visionary figures of the 20th century—layering rare archival footage, pulsing performances, and wistful interviews into a fitting portrait of the jazz icon and philosopher. Chronicling his musical rise, including a stint in Chicago, where his radical sound and communal ethos took root, the film explores how Sun Ra used music as both spiritual weapon and liberatory technology, reimagining Black identity across space and time.
Through layered sound design woven together with a tapestry of concert recordings and rhythmic editing, director Christine Turner offers a film that sings, thinks, and soars, capturing the enduring power of Sun Ra’s mission: to dream beyond Earth and make the impossible not only visible, but inevitable.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Christine Turner
- Steven Golliday
- Othello Banaci
- Stanley Nelson, Michael Kantor, Bradford Smith, Keith Brown, Marcia Smith
- Firelight Films
- https://www.firelightfilms.tv/films/sun-ra-do-the-impossible
Sponsors
Presented by
In partnership with
With support from
Program Partner
Program Patron
Cynthia Stone Raskin
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Shorts 3: Black Perspectives
Synopsis
Close ties abound in these short films spanning Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and the U.S. These six shorts explore the complicated relationships between parents and children, aunts and nieces, artists and their craft, and even former lovers.
In Breastmilk, first-time mother Aduke confronts societal expectations and the dynamics of her closest relationships as she struggles to breast feed. When a college student returns home for her grandmother’s repass, she gets a heavy dose of the best and worst her family has to offer in Them That’s Not. History and tradition live through contemporary musician Brandee Younger as she plays a specialized harp made for Alice Coltrane, gifted to Brandee by Alice’s children in Isis & Osiris. Not Dead displays modern-day exploration of W.E.B DuBois’s seminal work, portraying the heartbreaks of the Black experience across space and time. Victoria is a clear-eyed portrait of a single mother and businesswoman making it work in Nairobi, Kenya. The enemies-to-lovers trope jumps from page to reality when two voice actors butt heads in Narrated By.
Screenings & Events
There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.
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Sponsors
Documentary Program Partner
Documentary Program Patron
Cynthia Stone Raskin
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