What's New and Streaming for the Culture in June!

RIO, NEGRO

Rio, Negro is a documentary that provides an insight into the history of Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the presence and participation of the black population of African descent in the city’s development. Through interviews and a large number of documents, the documentary seeks to uncover how the black population forged personal trajectories and community ties in an urban diaspora characterized by struggles against the “civilizing” project of the white elites. Rio, Negro highlights this discussion, linking the racist agenda, the relocation of the capital to Brasília, and the political and organizational implications for Rio de Janeiro.

BAMAKO

Her marriage on the rocks, cabaret singer Mele returns home after a degrading night of work and finds her apartment complex transformed into an elaborate tribunal in which the institutions of international capitalism are being put on trial. Her sister stands up alongside peasants, farmers and other citizens, appealing to the bureaucrats of the international banking cabal. A long night in pursuit of justice is offset by a sultry evening of Malian life.

AMBUSHED

A desperate artist steals a briefcase from a corrupt businessman, and now must come up with an escape plan for survival.

GETAWAY

After a falling out with her best friend, single mom June takes her clingy son Leighton on a trip to Jamaica. Reuniting with cousin Grace, they seek solace in sun-kissed beaches, but old shadows force June to confront long-held beliefs in ‘GETAWAY,’ revealing the depths of motherhood in extraordinary times.

ETHAN ART VENTURE

Ethan is determined to recreate the yearly narrative as the school’s ‘best artist’ at the national art conference against the new class artist.

ALONE IN A STRANGE WORLD

After the outbreak of the second Congo war in the late 1990s, the Mingolo family decide to take seven-year-old son Londri out of the country to save his life and give him the chance of a bright future.

JAC ON THE COME UP

Ozzie Stewart’s award-winning turn as Jac propels the story of a recent widow who takes a walk through mid-town Manhattan on an autumn day, contemplating life, love, and what lies ahead.

THE NOD: TELL ME YOU GOT ME

The Nod: Tell Me You Got Me, is an insightful exploration into the near-universal ‘Nod’ gesture recognised by black people who are otherwise unknown to each other and the sentiment behind the gesture.

STOP FILMING US

Based on the struggle of young people in Goma (Northeastern Congo) against the prevailing Western reporting about war and misery, Stop Filming Us investigates how these Western stereotypes are the result of a skewed balance of power. Stop Filming Us creates a cinematic dialogue between Western perceptions and the Congolese experience of reality. While the Congolese perspective becomes increasingly clearer in the film, questions arise about the perspective of the film itself; is a white director able to make a film about the new Congolese image or is it primarily a story created by his own Western perspective?

FANMI

https://youtu.be/KWQrl2GdSyA

Absorbed by her recent break-up, Martine doesn’t notice her mother is hiding the true reason behind her visit to Montreal.

GALAPAGOS AND AFRICA, NATURE IS HERE

The South American islands are home to 21 endemic species of birds, giant tortoises, iguanas and penguins.

GEMMEL AND TIM

Award-winning documentary GEMMEL & TIM explores the lives and untimely passings of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, two Black gay men who both died from meth overdoses at the home of West Hollywood politico Ed Buck. The film simultaneously investigates the crimes and offers a cautionary tale to keep these events from repeating.