Pretend It’s Summer Again: In Trinidad It Always Is—Trini Food at Pearl’s in New York CityCountry: Trinidad and Tobago, USA|A woman-owned place in Williamsburg dishes out bakes, rotis, curry stews and everything that has tamarind, coconut or rum in it by finding new heights for the diverse, flavorful Caribbean cuisine
There Are No Bad Kids, Just Bad Approaches to Them—‘In My Blood It Runs’, dir. Maya Newell, 2019Country: Arrernte, Australia, Garrwa People|A stunning documentary about a gifted unruly child decries the imperialist methods of education and punitive discipline in place in Australia. Its subject matter, however, is ubiquitous
Pretend It’s Summer Again: In Trinidad It Always Is—Trini Food at Pearl’s in New York CityCountry: Trinidad and Tobago, USA|A woman-owned place in Williamsburg dishes out bakes, rotis, curry stews and everything that has tamarind, coconut or rum in it by finding new heights for the diverse, flavorful Caribbean cuisine
There Are No Bad Kids, Just Bad Approaches to Them—‘In My Blood It Runs’, dir. Maya Newell, 2019Country: Arrernte, Australia, Garrwa People|A stunning documentary about a gifted unruly child decries the imperialist methods of education and punitive discipline in place in Australia. Its subject matter, however, is ubiquitous
Poet, Artist, Two-Spirit, Immigrant, Sex Worker, Human—‘The Journey of Monalisa’, dir. Nicole Costa, 2019Country: Chile, USA|Filmmaker tracks down her college friend from Chile in New York and creates a portrait of life full of integrity and dignity in circumstances which are not usually considered conventional
Avant-Garde Music, Abstract Art, and Good Friends: ‘Do.So’ by Rolando Renè and ‘Trónco’ by Trónco from Torto Editions, 2019Country: Canada, Italy|An Italian music label makes a premiere with two records of experimental music. One is a dramatic showcase of string musicians playing dangerously, another—an immersive easy listening experience
Modern Technology Meets Archaically Pointless Deaths In the Devastating Frontline Documentary ‘People of the Wasteland,’ dir. Heba Khaled, 2019Country: Germany, Kurdistan, Syria|GoPro footage filmed by militants on the frontline of the Syrian War is arranged into an essay on deadly masculinity by female film director, who has lost her home and family members to the conflict
Film: Growing Pains on the Way to Independent Latvia—‘Paradise ‘89’, dir. Madara Dišlere, 2018Country: Latvia|The events of summer 1989, which paved the way for Latvia's independence from the USSR, are seen through the eyes of a precocious 9-year-old girl in this eye candy of a feature film
Poet, Artist, Two-Spirit, Immigrant, Sex Worker, Human—‘The Journey of Monalisa’, dir. Nicole Costa, 2019Country: Chile, USA|Filmmaker tracks down her college friend from Chile in New York and creates a portrait of life full of integrity and dignity in circumstances which are not usually considered conventional
Avant-Garde Music, Abstract Art, and Good Friends: ‘Do.So’ by Rolando Renè and ‘Trónco’ by Trónco from Torto Editions, 2019Country: Canada, Italy|An Italian music label makes a premiere with two records of experimental music. One is a dramatic showcase of string musicians playing dangerously, another—an immersive easy listening experience
From Beslan hostage to hip-hop artist—Indi, ‘Perviy’, 2019Country: North Ossetia, Russia|A survivor of the Beslan school siege and chronic illness creates soulful hip-hop about love, faith, and perseverance, blending Moscow moodiness with Caucasus mountains flair
Film: Daughters of mujahideen in ‘Before Father Gets Back’, dir. Mari Gulbiani, 2019Country: France, Georgia, Germany|An intimate portrait of two girls in a Georgian village who come of age and learn about the beauty of cinema, while their fathers are in Syria fighting for mujahideen groups
Film: Fabulous, dir. Audrey Jean-Baptiste, 2019Country: France, French Guiana|A transwoman who's made strides in New York and Paris returns to her home country to teach voguing to the locals in a fascinating study of gender and sexuality in French Guiana
Music: Laetitia Zonzambe, Sanza Soul, 2017Country: Canada, Central African Republic|A singer's resilient voice serves as a reminder that the Central African Republic isn't just about war and poverty, but has quite a cultural heritage that is reimagined for the contemporary audience
Food: Plates at La Goulette, Williamsburg, BrooklynCountry: Tunisia|Colorful, delicious plates at a small restaurant with some of the best Middle Eastern comfort food in the five boroughs: merguez sausages and falafel that are worth slowing and sitting down for
Film: Sound of Masks, dir. Sara CF de Gouveia, 2018Country: Mozambique, Portugal, South Africa|The story of Mozambican independence and the country's postcolonial identity as reflected through the performances of Atanásio Nyusi, a traditional Mapiko dancer
Film: Hyenas, dir. Djibril Diop Mambéty, 1992Country: Senegal|Restoration revives anti-neocolonialist film from the Senegalese master Mambéty: human nature is under scrutiny when a billionaire agrees to give money to her struggling hometown—on her terms
Film: Mogu and Perol, dir. Tsuneo Goda, 2018Country: Japan|A furry chef discovers that dinner doesn't taste as good when there's no one to share it with, in this adorable short with some of the best-looking stop-motion food from the creator of Domo-kun
Film: The Wandering Chef, dir. Hye-Ryeong Park, 2018Country: South Korea|Chef Jiho Im doesn't discriminate against his ingredients, preparing elaborate dishes from scavenged, rare plants with healing power. But can the medicinal foods heal his soul?
Music: Davlatmand Kholov and Abdoussatar Abdoullaev, Tadjikistan. Davlatmand, Art and Folk Music, 1992Country: Tajikistan|Music from the mountains of Pamir infused with Sufi mysticism as performed by its master: a testament to the power of Tajik-Persian culture that will entice lovers of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Film: Last Sunrise, dir. Wen Ren, 2019Country: China|When the sun goes out in the world reliant on solar power, an unlikely team of loner astronomer and bubbly student with hidden issues have to try to survive in this very human debut sci-fi feature
From Beslan hostage to hip-hop artist—Indi, ‘Perviy’, 2019Country: North Ossetia, Russia|A survivor of the Beslan school siege and chronic illness creates soulful hip-hop about love, faith, and perseverance, blending Moscow moodiness with Caucasus mountains flair
Film: Daughters of mujahideen in ‘Before Father Gets Back’, dir. Mari Gulbiani, 2019Country: France, Georgia, Germany|An intimate portrait of two girls in a Georgian village who come of age and learn about the beauty of cinema, while their fathers are in Syria fighting for mujahideen groups
Film: Pause, dir. Tonia Mishiali, 2019Country: Cyprus, Greece|Menopause comes to a meek woman with visions of redemption and liberation: will she give in to the avenging force? A darkly funny, infuriating portrayal of one of feminism's less glamorous battles
Film: Winter’s Yearning, dir. Sidse Torstholm Larsen and Sturla Pilskog, 2019Country: Denmark, Greenland, Norway|Portraits of three citizens of a Greenland town waiting to be industrialized become a powerful exploration of the small country's quest for independence in feature debut from Norwegian anthropologists
Film: Seadrift, dir. Tim Tsai, 2019Country: USA, Vietnam|Documentary inquiry into the obscure event from 1970s Texas that can serve as a teachable moment for contemporary immigration issues in the US and abroad
Film: The Chambermaid, dir. Lila Avilés, 2019Country: Mexico|Mexico's nominee for the 2020 Oscars about a young indigenous woman working as a maid at a fancy hotel: a clever, quiet and immersive look at the othering of labor as experienced in the millennial era
Film: A Fresh Perspective, dir. Aaron Hosé, 2019Country: Aruba, USA|In the economy of craft beer making, which currently enjoys a multibillion boom worldwide, few spaces are occupied by minorities: a documentary short sheds light on how that's changing
Film: Night Cleaners, dir. Hanna Nordenswan, 2019Country: Dominican Republic, Finland, Kosovo, Macedonia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, USA|A glimpse into the lives of a diverse range of people who take care of NYC's various facilities as after-hours custodians: a fresh take on the labor and immigration narratives from a Finnish filmmaker
Art: Fafetu, The Traditional Crocheted Patterns of Polynesia by Lakiloko KeakeaCountry: New Zealand, Tuvalu|Fierce, otherworldly pieces created by a 71-year old powerhouse of Pacific arts that raise many important questions on assessing art, gender and tradition in the post-colonial space
Art: John Pule, Hafata, 2016Country: New Zealand, Niue|Leading Pacific Islander artist captures the ambiguity and the splendor of his tiny, magnificent homeland in transformative, deeply spiritual paintings
Film: Eating Up Easter, dir. Sergio Mata’u Rapu, 2018Country: Chile, Rapa Nui, USA|Tiny nation in the middle of Pacific Ocean struggles with globalization and plastic pollution, in an illuminating documentary that is both a call to action and a fascinating piece of ethnography
Film: Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, dir. Hepi Mita, 2018Country: Māori, New Zealand|A loving son's documentary about the legacy and life of his mother Merata Mita, who became a powerhouse of Maori filmmaking and an inspiration to indigenous creators across the world
Film: Before It’s Too Late, dir. Leandro Goddinho, 2019Country: Brazil|Staying tender while standing ground: teenage pop idols are drawn to each other at the advent of Bolsonaro's regime and decide to reinvent themselves against his homophobic agenda
Film: The Orphan, dir. Carolina Markowicz, 2018Country: Brazil|A sparkly Brazilian child finds he’s better off at an orphanage than with small-minded families in a searing, necessary study of the trauma that adoption can wreak on queer kids
The Fantastic Worlds Hiding in the Jungle: the Works of Surinamese Artist John Lie A FoCountry: French Guiana, Netherlands, Suriname|An artist whose body of work is as magnificent and as manifold as the demographics and biodiversity of Suriname itself: living proof that curiosity and restlessness are vital to creative fulfillment
Art: The Twisted Socio-Political Oil Paintings of Fidel FernándezCountry: Paraguay|A young self-taught artist creates grotesque, elaborate paintings depicting rural life in Paraguay, rich in biting observations, sharp political commentary, and invigorating humor
