Food: New York African Restaurant Week FestivalCountry: DR Congo, Ghana, Jamaica, Senegal, South Africa, USA, Zimbabwe|A delectable journey across the continent in 6 exciting dishes from 5 imaginative chefs in the center of Harlem: and a true testament to the power of plantains
Film: Sergei Loznitsa, State Funeral, 2019Country: Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine|An immersive experience of Joseph Stalin’s 1953 funeral proceedings carefully constructed from archival footage that gives a rare glimpse into the psyche of the massively oppressed
Film: Jesús Torres Torres, No One Will Ever Know, 2018Country: Mexico|A mother and her son escape their mundane reality through vivid daydreaming in 1970s rural Mexico: a lyrical glympse into the era when the country was full of hope
Film: Hans Pool, Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World, 2019Country: Finland, Germany, Jordan, Libya, Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom|Citizen activists who use open sources to defy dictatorships and maintain democracy in the world of hybrid warfare: a rare look into the investigative journalistic practices
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
Film: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite, 2019Country: South Korea|The Palme d'Or winner about a family's rebel plot to secure gainful employment: wild fun with a staunch anti-capitalist agenda that should appeal to a broader audience as much as it did to the critics
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: Sara CF de Gouveia, Sound of Masks, 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: Djibril Diop Mambéty, Hyenas, 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
Art: Franck Lundangi, The Bird, 2013Country: Angola, France|Fantastic beasts, third eyes and unity with the cosmos in the works of a mystic painter who used to be a soccer player: the kind of spiritual imagery we need in the anthropocene
Food: Achichuk, Tashkent and the Rest at Nargis, BrooklynCountry: USA, Uzbekistan|Uzbek food, which combines all the best from East Asian, Mediterranean and Turkic cuisines, juxtaposes fiery vegetable salads with heavy lamb fat: try it for yourself in Brooklyn's Sheepshead bay
Film: Shannon Service and Jeffrey Waldron, Ghost Fleet, 2018Country: Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, USA|Activists from a Thai NGO risk their lives to liberate modern-day slaves from forced labor on fishing boats: the true price of affordable shrimp at Walmart, Whole Foods and elsewhere
Film: Zhang Wei, The Rib, 2018Country: China|A transgender woman looks for acceptance, while her devout Christian father has to reconcile his faith and love for his child in China's first film centered around the transgender experience
Book: Kamel Daoud, The Meursault Investigation, 2013Country: Algeria|The brother of the unnamed Arab killed by Camus' Meursault is given the stage in this Goncourt-winning novel: a brilliant post-colonial revision of the existential questions posed in "The Stranger"
Film: Stephane Brizé, At War, 2018Country: France|The award-winning duo of Stephane Brizé and Vincent Lindon returns with a high stakes drama about workers fighting against the closure of their manufacturing plant in small town France
Art: Philippe Quesne, The Moles, 2019Country: France|Seven giant moles make New York city their stomping ground in a series of immersive performances channeled by the underground dwellers through the brilliant mind of French artist/director
Film: Jacques Tati, Traffic, 1971Country: France, Italy, Netherlands|Mr. Hulot navigates the brave new world of transportation: the Tati classic finds new meaning 50 years later, as we anxiously await self-driving cars and battle the public systems for efficiency
Book: Zidrou and Aimée de Jongh, Blossoms in Autumn, 2018Country: Belgium, Netherlands|A graphic novel about a romance between two people past their middle age that combines sensuality and complexity: a refreshing, necessary take on modern love and its boundless possibilities
Film: Bing Liu, Minding the Gap, 2018Country: USA|An award-winning documentary that scrutinizes the tenets of masculinity by exploring the way domestic violence has affected a group of male skateboarders in the American Rust Belt
Film: Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra, The Infiltrators, 2019Country: USA|A vastly important film that will keep you on the edge of your seat: the real story of undocumented immigrants who got arrested to be able to help people inside the detention center
Film: Bassam Tariq, Ghosts of Sugar Land, 2019Country: USA|A Sundance winning documentary acquired by Netflix: a bunch of childhood friends try to figure out why the only non-Asian-American, non-Muslim-born person in their group had decided to join ISIS
Food: Carneada and Fried Fish at Seis Vecinos NYCCountry: Honduras|Bringing together the flavors of Mexico, the Caribbean and South America, this exemplary Honduran establishment in the Bronx offers healthy but satisfying meals
Film: Hepi Mita, Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, 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
Music: Narasirato, Inoni Ana Totoraha, 2015Country: Solomon Islands|A perfect soundtrack for preventing climate change from a 17 piece panpipe orchestra who live and work near the rainforest: traditional yet modern Solomon Islands music that lights up rock festivals
Music: Huarere, Homson Tribute, 2004Country: Vanuatu|Reggae from Vanuatu that’s both a testament to the genre’s power and a potent reimagining of it, drenched in Oceanian culture and realities. Archipelago dwellers sure know how to make intelligent beach music
Music: Ngaiire, Blastoma, 2016Country: Australia, Papua New Guinea|Dark, danceable future soul from Papua New Guinea in a sophomore album named after the singer’s childhood cancer: Ngaiire is a talent from Oceania to look out for
Book: Armonia Somers, The Naked Woman, 1950Country: Ecuador|Rediscovered feminist magical realism gem from 1950s Ecuador
Music: Yma Sumac, Mambo!, 1954Country: Peru|Peruvian goddess sings: four and a half octaves and a whole lot of mambo
Film: Laura Huertas Millan, Sol Negro, 2016Country: Colombia|A gentle portrait of a Colombian opera singer who struggles with addiction and mental health issues
