Noticias y eventos • News and events • Nouvelles et événements

Film “Cimarrón Spirit” celebrates Afro-Dominican Culture and Carnival Traditions

“Cimarrón Spirit” (United States, 2015) is a documentary film directed by Rubén Durán and Michael Brims. The film explores African-based cultural element, religious celebrations, and customs that survive in the Dominican Republic. For more information on the project, see <http://www.loscimarrones.com>.

Documentary Film: Dominique Roland’s “Havana Formell”

The documentary summarizes what Havana meant for the life and therefore the musical work of Juan Formell, founder of the orchestra Los Van Van, who died in 2014.

Roland proposes a journey of about an hour across some of the places that were inspiration for this great musician: the Malecón, the Trillo Park, Cayo Hueso community, in which he was born, among others.

The catchy music of Los Van Van, which targets dancers, to whom Formell always gave much importance, and the choreography by professor Santiago Alonso, National Dance Award, are among the main appeals of this documentary, particularly enjoyed by Cubans. Deputy Minister of Culture of Cuba said that it is a high quality documentary that grasps the greatness of Los Van Van.

The film, a coproduction of the Study Centre Enghien-les-Bains and Unicornio from Producciones Abdala, Cuba, will be screened in Cuba with a large program including the participation of the whole production team.

West Indies at War on YouTube

Savant Film’s 2015 production, “West Indies at War,” is now available to watch free of charge on YouTube.

“The West Indies at War” is a four part television series that tells the story of soldiers from the West Indies who fought and died in World War One. During the war, the men experienced discrimination at the hands of their white counterparts and were forced into menial labor roles. Upon their return to the Caribbean, the embittered soldiers, including Arthur Cipriani, Uriah Butler and Norman Manley, rallied the masses against their colonial oppresors.

Produced for the Parliament Channel, the series include rare archvival footage and photographs, woven together with interviews from leading Caribbean historians, journalists and writers, including Professors Brinsley Samaroo and Bridget Brereton, journalist Judy Raymond and award-winning writers Olive Senior and Lawrence Scott.

The series also features a moving original music score by Trinidad & Tobago composer, Francesco Emmanuel.

Jews of the Caribbean

A relatively small number of Jews have lived in the Caribbean since the time of the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. As refugees from fascist Europe in the 1930s and 40s, they formed what has been called a Calypso shtetl. A new study from Columbia University Press, Calypso Jews, investigates how contemporary Caribbean authors have been inspired by this presence. Its author, Sarah Phillips Casteel is Associate Professor of English at Carleton University, Ottawa.

Jamaica begins process to get reggae inscribed on UNESCO cultural heritage list

Jamaicas’ Ministry of Youth and Culture is moving to have reggae inscribed on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Principal Director of the Culture and Creative Industries Policy Division in the Ministry of Youth and Culture, Dr. Janice Lindsay, says the ministry has set up a committee to prepare the documents expected to be submitted in March 2017.

All the above information courtesy of Repeating Islands blog <http://repeatingislands.com/>.

Conference “Beyond Homophobia: Centring LGBT Experiences in the Caribbean”

January 26-27, 2017

University of the West Indies, Mona Campus

This conference aims to build on the success of the symposium “Beyond Homophobia: Exploring Identities and Sexualities in Jamaica,” held at The UWI in October 2015, which began an exploration of the ways in which Jamaican sexualities, gender identities and queer practices are expressed and experienced beyond the discourse of violence, and stereotypes, assumptions and limitations presented by heterosexual and binary gender norms. The presentations gave hope for the future of intellectual engagement with LGBT issues in Jamaica, and for the possibility of a more sustained exploration of sexualities, gender identities and expressions in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. The response to the symposium indicated that there is a wealth of untapped knowledge and experience, and...