Margaret Mead Film Festival 2024

<p>This four-part documentary series serves as an exploration of one of rap music&rsquo;s most elaborate forms of personal expression&mdash;jewelry. ICE COLD delves deeply into the cultural significance and craftsmanship behind hip hop jewelry, exploring its evolution from a symbol of status to a form of self-expression. In celebration of the Museum&rsquo;s opening of Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry in the Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery within the Museum&rsquo;s new Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, this documentary will be on view throughout the entirety of the Mead Festival.</p>

<p>Wounded in battle, a valiant island warrior discovers love in a mysterious underwater realm. Together with the shape-shifting octopus that saved his life, the warrior embarks on an epic adventure against colonial invaders. Rooted in Hawaiian legends, this love story explores &ldquo;aikāne,&rdquo; the Hawaiian term of respect for intimate friends of the same sex. This supernatural romance offers a vibrant vision of love&#39;s triumph over the forces of evil.</p>

<p>Follow the journey of an Andean bear and an Afro-Ecuadorian musician in a stop-motion animated short that blends folklore, friendship, and activism. The pair team up with a group of magical allies and embark on a quest to support the Indigenous women battling a mining corporation in the Intag-Ecuador valley. Nangulvi invites viewers into a whimsical world where storytelling and traditional music inspire a fight for environmental justice.</p>

<p>Itzel, a young girl who cares more about her phone than her past, must reconnect with her Mayan roots to survive the dangers of the jungle.</p>

<p>A young Nubian girl embarks on a journey back in time to reconnect with her drowned homeland. Guided by the Nile Egret, she travels underwater within the lake created by Egypt&#39;s Aswan High Dam to visit Nubia&#39;s mountains and palm trees, water wheels and houses, men and women. She bids farewell to her people as they board the boats that will take them to their resettlement villages. Returning to her own time, she carries the strength of knowing that Nubia will always live on inside her.</p>

<p>&lsquo;Nakwaxda&rsquo;xw Elder, Colleen Hemphill, tells the story of her childhood. The film portrays modern-day Colleen as she reflects on her past and re-enacts the stories she tells of her youth as a young girl growing up on a float-house in the wild and unpredictable Pacific Northwest and its waters. Colleen notices how different her way of life was when she was young and how much more harmonious her community was with nature.</p>

<p>Many in the Ozogoche Lake Region of Ecuador feel pulled to migrate north in spite of the enormous risks associated with the journey. In Ozogoche, filmmaker Joe Houlberg Silva draws a parallel between human and avian voyages and shows the annual migration of the mysterious &ldquo;Cuvivi&rdquo; sandpiper bird to the remote Andean lakes. Don&rsquo;t miss this poignant story of cultural identity, trust, and the profound beauty of the Ecuadorian highlands.</p>

<p>The act of burial is a primal human ritual that delimits life from death. But what happens to the corpses of migrant persons drowned at sea, those &ldquo;pure unknown&rdquo; who have been denied the possibility of a better life? No one now seems to care about their right to a dignified death. No one except Dr. Cristina Cattaneo, who is bravely and determinedly fighting for their cause.</p>

<p>In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe.</p> <p>Deep in the pitch-black forest, a few hundred moths are drawn by a single source of illumination to a piece of hung canvas. Only through this intimate examination can their existence, and the happenings of their world, be made visible. Though moth life spans are measured in hours and represent only a small amount of the immense biodiversity of their species, in these small beings lies a history of our planet. With a transportive and experiential visual style and immersive sound that brings you to a place few people can travel, co-directors Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan&rsquo;s <em>Nocturnes </em>gives us a multi-millennia vision of time nearly beyond our human-scale perception.&mdash;SS</p>

<p>With fewer than 1,500 fluent speakers remaining, Cherokee activists rally against time to safeguard their endangered language. Shot over three years following the 2019 declaration of a Cherokee language state of emergency, this gripping film captures the passion of those fighting to preserve the early written language of an Indigenous culture in North America. Through interviews and community scenes, we witness the resilience of a people determined to defy extinction and reclaim their heritage</p>

<p>A woman looks back on her life, through narration and song. In Mother Suriname &ndash; Mama Sranan, filmmaker Tessa Leuwsha uses a stream of fascinating colorized archival footage to illustrate the lives of Surinamese women like her grandmother, who was a washerwoman.</p> <p>She&rsquo;s born in a hamlet in 1905 to a white mother and a black father&mdash;a disgrace. Her father is forced to leave and her mother also disappears. She&rsquo;s despised as a half-caste, does not go to school and soon becomes aware of the state of colonial relations (&ldquo;we work and they watch&rdquo;). She has a child whose father is always elsewhere, working for the Dutch. Determined to make the most of her life, she moves to Paramaribo, where she has three more children she raises on her own.</p> <p>Meanwhile, she sees her homeland moving towards more self-esteem. Before Suriname&rsquo;s independence in 1975 however, all her children move to the Netherlands&mdash;and she eventually follows them, with sorrow in her heart: &ldquo;In Holland, paradise is like a shadow, just in front of you or behind you, never with you.&rdquo; Still, strong-willed as she is, she finds a place where she connects with her homeland, her spiritual roots and herself.</p>

<p>Through Her Child&rsquo;s Eyes, Patpro Will Go Through Three Periods of the History of Her Indigenous People, in the Heart of the Brazilian Forest. Tirelessly Persecuted, but Guided by Their Ancestral Rites, Their Love of Nature and Their Fight to Preserve Their Freedom, the Krah&ocirc; Never Stop Inventing New Forms of Resistance.</p>

<p>Dreams and desires are confronted as a cast of neurodivergent teens prepare to come of age in their school&rsquo;s time-travelling, John Farnham&ndash;themed musical. A funny and heart-warming peek behind the curtain with some banger songs.</p>

<p>&ldquo;This is not a love letter to this country. But to us inside this country.&rdquo; Author Jacqueline Woodson narrates Meanwhile, a docu-poem about white supremacy and a community of artists who share visions of resistance. Meanwhile, an immersive, nonlinear cinematic journey&mdash;where artists&rsquo; expressions blend with historical and observational footage&mdash;unveils the profound impact of white supremacy on our human connections.</p>

<p>A group of Indigenous women from the Shinnecock Nation fight for environmental restoration in the waters of their homeland through kelp farming. Their traditional ecological knowledge intersects with their struggle for sovereignty as these farmers protect lifeways and cultural practices for their tribe along the Long Island shore.</p>

<p>Ralph James has traded in the street name &ldquo;El Diablo&rdquo; for the title of &ldquo;The Urban Dad.&rdquo; Leaving behind a life of drug dealing, Ralph is now the sole caretaker of his daughter Bug and leader of his local dad&rsquo;s group in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Weaving together snapshots from Ralph and Bug&rsquo;s lives, this film highlights a father&rsquo;s sacrificial love for his child, promising to overcome anything that stands in his way.</p>

<p>Indigenous women and Christian punk rockers form a surprising alliance as they join to thwart a multibillion-dollar megadam project imperiling the landscape of northern Myanmar. Despite backing by the Burmese military and the Chinese Communist party, the dam project was halted in 2011, largely by a karaoke album that catalyzed a country-wide environmental movement. Immerse yourself in the fight to save the Irrawaddy River in this tale of punk rock defiance and grassroots activism.</p>

<p>Prepare for an eye-opening journey into the heart of the American Midwest. Filmmaker Mitch McCabe returns home to Detroit to capture the essence of a nation divided during and after the 2020 presidential election. From anti-lockdown protests to post-election chaos, 23 Mile shows the unraveling of societal norms through the lives of everyday Americans. With captivating scenes and unfiltered voices, the film challenges our preconceptions and urges us to confront our biases.</p>

<p>Darkness falls over Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and its 17 million inhabitants. It is just before Christmas and people are struggling to gain access to electric light. Kudi is mobilising the residents of his Kisenso neighbourhood to collect money for a new power cable. On Mount Mangengenge, a holy place overlooking the city, Pastor G&eacute;d&eacute;on delivers a sermon about the light of Christ as the path to life and truth. Davido is searching for a place to stay after his house was flooded by the Congo River. Together with other young men, he kills time by working out and dreams of a better future.<br /> <em>Tongo Saa</em>&nbsp;is a sensitive portrait of the residents of Kinshasa as they face the challenges of life in an environment plagued by violence and coloured by the uncertainty of tomorrow.</p>

<p>An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.</p> <p>Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront profound questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system &mdash; including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism &mdash; as well as NoiseCat&#39;s own personal connection to the story and community &mdash; the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative. Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, compassion, and grace for the affected Indigenous communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy. At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their unflagging determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets. Ultimately, <em>Sugarcane</em> reminds us to respect the humanity in ourselves as well as in others.&mdash;BB</p>

<p>In the snowy heart of Yakutia little girl Nyukku embarks on her first Munkha, Sakha relic traditional fishing. Filled with excitement and armed with her &quot;magical&quot; mittens, she dreams of catching a big pile of fish. However, her brother Michil is quite skeptical about the &ldquo;magic&rdquo; of her mittens and teasingly predicts that she will lose them. Nyukku&#39;s enthusiasm is undiminished, so she challenges Michil to a bet.<br /> Unfortunately, her adventure leads to an unexpected chaos and failure, and Nyukku loses the bet. Through this experience and guided by their father&#39;s wisdom, Nyukku and Michil learn a valuable lesson: the true magic lies in the strength of family bonds and mutual support. As a result, the children save the catch, and miraculously, Nyukku gets her lost mitten back.</p>

<p>Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it&rsquo;s easy to make people afraid, it&rsquo;s hard to destroy their passion for living.</p> <p>And how does one continue to live when everything you love is under a vicious attack? <em>Porcelain War </em>argues that you can learn to fight back using all the tools you have, including your art, in order to avoid erasure. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re ordinary people in an extraordinary situation&rdquo; is how co-director Slava Leontyev describes their current life. Meanwhile, there is absolutely nothing ordinary about them &mdash; these artists, farmers, IT specialists &mdash; coming together to fight their oppressor. <em>Porcelain War </em>is a true cinematic gem. Leontyev and co-director Brendan Bellomo manage to gracefully capture the dissonance between the horrors of war and the fragile beauty of nature and artistic practice. Anya&rsquo;s and Slava&rsquo;s porcelain pieces come to life in delicately crafted animations that offer context to their makers&rsquo; story and a stunning outlet for processing grief.&mdash;AT</p>

<p>Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people&rsquo;s happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way?</p> <p><em>Agent of Happiness,</em> directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurb&oacute;, offers a unique take on the notoriously exoticized Bhutan and its unusual happiness policy. We follow Amber as he investigates various expressions of contentment across different households and lifestyles while navigating his own struggle as a Nepali minority. The holistic philosophy at the heart of the survey he conducts challenges the conventional metrics of fulfillment and success, often provoking some deeper soul-searching. The filmmakers elegantly capture many tender moments between Amber and his interlocutors, as well as some very revealing conversations filled with unflinching honesty and quiet wisdom.</p> <p>Through its carefully crafted narrative, the film resonates as a heartfelt exploration of happiness in the face of adversity. As Amber grapples with societal disparities and personal roadblocks while searching for love, this story becomes a beautifully realized reminder to count our blessings.&mdash;AT</p>

<p>Brazilian jiu-jitsu martial artist and family man Angel Adorno shares the victories and challenges of being blind in a sighted world, on and off the mat. Designed for blind audiences, this film explores Angel&rsquo;s resilience in overcoming a difficult past as he learns to trust himself and others.</p>

<p>Countless migrants make the treacherous journey from South and Central America to reach the United States&mdash;and many document it on social media. While Venezuelan filmmaker Tatiana Rojas Ponce struggles to find meaningful ways to help those arriving in New York from her home country, she meets Paola and Emily, who share stories, videos, and reflections about their harrowing passage through the Darien jungle en route to the United States.</p>

<p>Leroy Emmerich bought some land in the 1960s with money he earned from filmmaking. Leroy&rsquo;s son turned the land into a flower farm and now his grandson, Lee Emmerich, is making a film about the uncertain future of their family farm. Homegrown explores family cycles, parental expectations, and the connections between filmmaking and farming.</p>

<p>Quechua stories reach the far-flung highlands from the city center of Puno, Peru as Chaska attempts to balance her career in radio with familial obligations in some of the nearest highlands. Portraying a rich heritage through quotidian scenes blended with the modernity of present day, the film paints a tender portrait of community and a woman embracing modernity to promote her cultural roots. Produced by Watay Misita, a company born from a female film collective that highlights the stories of Andean women, the project won the Peruvian Bicentennial Shorts award and has screened in numerous festivals.</p>