ROXFILM | Homage to Earth and Ancestors (Shorts)

Arnoldo's World

Directed by Evan Tanner, Ellen Lippman Finn (USA 2023, 6:44 mins).

A Mayan school teacher, Arnoldo Televario Coché, breaks through centuries of fatalistic complexity to help fellow indigenous families as they face food scarcity, extreme poverty and child malnutrition.

ENCHUKUNOTO (The Return)

Directed by Laissa Malih (Kenya 2024, 15:52 mins).

Laissa Malih — the first female Maasai filmmaker — returns to the community her parents left behind in this deeply personal look at how the lands of her forefathers are being reshaped by climate change.

Indai Apai Darah (Mother, Father, Blood)

Directed by Kynan Tegar (Indonesia 2024, 14:55 mins).

A young girl growing up in the Indigenous-held forests of central Borneo follows ancient connections to earn the gift of a story - her People's 1973 fight to preserve their lands amid rampant deforestation.

A Seat At The Table

Directed by Sophia Abolfathi, Rob Bailey (USA 2023, 13:38 mins).

Food, health, and nutrition divide two sides of town in Gainesville, Florida -- how the movement to bring Black culture, history, and knowledge back to the table is healing the community.

Tahnaanooku'

Directed by Jonah Kozlowski (USA 2024, 6:44 mins).

An artistic celebration of the environmental activism of Darline Deegan and her efforts to protect the land of her Indigenous community.

Ma ŋaye ka Masaala a se ka Wɔmɛti (From God To Man)

Directed by Lansana Mansaray (Sierra Leone 2024, 14:59 mins).

On the day that Lansana Mansaray was born, a tree was planted in his name in his father’s Limba village. Now an Emmy and Peabody nominated filmmaker, Mansaray returns to the same village to better understand the essential relationship that Limbas share with the trees that define every aspect of community life.

Tentsítewahkwe

Directed by Katsitsionni Fox (USA 2024, 17:21 mins).

Jessica Shenandoah is Wolf Clan from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation and comes from a large family of knowledge keepers. As a young girl it was normal for her to go with her mother and grandmother to pick medicines, berries and wild food plants. She is now a mother of four, seeking to bring back the land based practices that have been lost. Jessica reaches both inside and outside Haudenosaunee territories to find those who have reconnected this knowledge, so she can bring it back to our community and the future generations. She embodies Tentsítewahkwe, as she picks up knowledge of the old ways, these slow methods of creating and connecting in reciprocity with the earth.

HAMAPAH/THE MAP DANCE-ON-FILM

Directed by Daniel Banks (USA 2023, 3:09 mins).

HAMAPAH/THE MAP DANCE-ON-FILM (30 min.) chronicles dancer and choreographer Adam W. McKinney’s return to his ancestral homelands—Benin, Poland and United States (Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, and Wisconsin)—to trace the intersections of his African, Jewish and Native American heritages. Directed by Daniel Banks and filmed by documentary filmmaker Laura Bustillos Jáquez, the work was created over a four-year period as a way to investigate the possibility of healing transgenerational traumas. HaMapah/The Map Dance-on-Film explores issues of mixed heritage identity and ancestry and offers a complex, powerful story about humanity and connection.

Pidgin Kaua'i Style

Directed by Erica Byers (USA 2023, 7:20 mins).

"Pidgin Kauai Style" is a short documentary that explores the distinct dialect and accent differences of Hawaii Creole, also known as "Pidgin," as spoken on the Island of Kaua'i. The film features four women who candidly discuss regional aspects of the language and share their personal experiences and stories about how speaking Pidgin is a source of pride for them and their community.

Q&A to follow.

Host or Publisher The Roxbury International Film Festival