Author: Andrea Leland

Saturday, June 22, 2024 6pm / Bajo El Sol Gallery  A series of short films by artist / filmmaker LaVaughn Belle Filmmaker will be present for Q & A La Vaughn Belle makes visible the unremembered. Through exploring the material culture of coloniality Belle creates narratives from fragments and silences. Working in a variety of disciplines her practice includes: painting, installation, photography, writing, video and public interventions. Ms. Belle will present five short videos, each 5 to 7 minutes in length. Video works to be screened include ‘Por El Viento y La Curriente / Becoming Wind and Current,’ a poetic investigation of the history of marronage and its implications today commissioned by MAC en el Barrio, a program of the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico). The screening will also include ‘Effluvia,’ a video commissioned by the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art on the occasion of Belle’s solo exhibition in 2023. Shot in the marshes and swamps of South Carolina Belle traverses former rice plantations, sites of slave rebellions to explore what histories ooze from the earth and water. ARTIST STATEMENT My work is about unbecoming a colonial being and the power of story in that process. I was born in the  dual island nation of Trinidad in Tobago with all my political rights intact. I would soon lose them when my parents migrated to the U.S. Virgin Islands when I was 5 months old and I became something between a subject and a citizen. I belong to this place that has changed colonial hands seven times—the longest being Denmark and the last being the United States. My work deals with this history, that is both personal and global, and tells new stories that validate freedom and self-determination. In my practice I examine archives, architecture and other aspects of material culture from the colonial period. I look for the narratives inscribed in various objects and places. I find ways to add to them and subvert them by layering other narratives including my own. I also look to elements in the natural world like the land or sea and powerful forces like the hurricane or the black hole for strategies to create new geographies. I move fluidly between painting, sculpture, video, public intervention and writing. In this way I am sometimes making myths, other times maps, counter monuments and archives. What is constant are my desires to piece together the fragments, to move beyond colonial nostalgia and to make visible the unremembered. ARTIST BIO:  Belle holds an MFA from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba and an MA and BA from Columbia University in NY. She was a finalist for the She Built NYC project to develop a monument to memorialize the legacy of Shirley Chisholm and for the Inequality in Bronze project in Philadelphia to redesign one of the first monuments to an enslaved woman at the Stenton historic house museum. As a 2018-2020 fellow at the Social Justice Institute at the Barnard Research Center for Women...

Saturday, June 1st  6pm at Bajo El Sol Gallery   IRMARIA : A  Short Film Filmmakers: Christopher Lawrence & Aariyah Athanase will be present for Q & A following the screening .  Set in the Virgin Islands, A young girl named Mia and her mother Kierra, experience one of the world’s most powerful hurricanes. As a result Mia realizes what she must do.   Christopher Lawrence, Director and co-creator of the film IrMaria  Christopher is a 26 year old 3D animator from the United States Virgin Islands. Of his work he says: “I come from a family of artists, so naturally I grew up always loving art. It is a practice that allowed me to express myself in ways that others could not. Specifically, the medium of animation had a major influence on me growing up. This influence is what drove me to pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Animation allows me to create worlds. Some worlds may reflect reality, such as the IrMaria film and others that push the boundaries of human imagination. It allows me to leave something behind that is living and breathing even when I’m long gone. I love the ability to represent Virgin Island’s culture in media because it has been historically unrepresented amongst the wider populace. As a Virgin Island artist, it delights me in knowing I have the ability to share a fresh perspective. Directing the short film IrMaria allowed me to spread awareness, not only about the devastating effects of hurricanes, but also the resilience and courage of the Virgin Island people. “     Aariyah Athanase, Co-creator of the film IrMaria  Aariyah Athanase, a native St. Johnian, discovered her artistic spark and love for storytelling at a young age. Growing up in a vibrant family full of colorful characters, Aariyah’s curiosity blossomed as she observed their unique personalities and listened to the captivating folktales her aunts would weave, each with their own enchanting twist. This fascination with stories, fueled by her growing passion for drawing and animation, led Aariyah to nurture her artistic talents of drawing and painting in various mediums throughout her youth. After graduating from the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, she set her sights on the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she pursued a degree in 3D Animation. During her time at SCAD, Aariyah’s artistic journey took a digital turn, expanding her horizons to embrace the potential of digital art and video production. During her senior year  she co-created the short 3D animated film ‘IrMaria,’ a powerful piece that sought to shed light on the struggles of the Virgin Islands during a time of perceived neglect by the media in the United States. Armed with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Animation, Aariyah returned home with a fervent mission. She was determined to use her talents to illuminate the rich history and culture of the Virgin Islands, a place that had shaped her identity and inspired her art....

Saturday, April 6, 2024, 6:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present STRIPPED FOR PARTS: AMERICAN JOURNALISM ON THE BRINK 99-minute documentary film Filmmaker RICK GOLDSMITH will be present for Q & A after the film WATCH THE TRAILER FILM SYNOPSIS: Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is the story of one secretive hedge fund that is plundering America’s newspapers and the journalists who are fighting back. Investigative reporter Julie Reynolds, Denver Post editorialist Chuck Plunkett and a handful of others, backed by the NewsGuild Union, go toe-to-toe with the faceless Alden Global Capital in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism across America. Who will control the future of America’s news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service and the lifeblood of our democracy? “Goldsmith is an amazing storyteller, able to take the important and little-understood topic about how US newspapers are being destroyed by corporate greed and explain it in a compelling way. Everyone in a community that is vulnerable to the loss of their journalistic “voice” needs to watch Stripped for Parts.” –Mike Blinder Publisher and editor, Editor & Publisher Magazine RICK GOLDSMITH – FILMMAKER: RICK GOLDSMITH has been producing and directing documentary films since 1981. His mission as a filmmaker is to tell stories that encourage social engagement and active participation in community life and the democratic process, and to stimulate young minds to question the world around them. Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink (2023) is the third in a trilogy of films with journalism themes, following Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996) and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009) (co-produced/co-directed with Judith Ehrlich),both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. Most Dangerous Man also won a Peabody Award. Other Goldsmith films: Everyday Heroes (2001) (co-produced/co-directed with Abby Ginzberg) is a behind-the-headlines look at AmeriCorps and a provocative and instructive look at youth, race and national service. Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw (2015), chronicles “the female Michael Jordan” from troubled family life to basketball superstardom, revealing a long-hidden battle with mental illness. In 2023, Goldsmith received a Maysles Bros. Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis International Film Festival and also The Rose F. and Charles L. Klotzer First Amendment Award for Free Speech in the Service of Democracy from the Gateway Journalism Review. Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Goldsmith came west in 1975 and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area ever since. Trained in architecture, music and community activism, he began working in films in 1979. He is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Writers’ Guild of America, West, and New Day Films, a filmmaker-run distribution coop. See links to reviews and interviews with Goldsmith, and more...

Sunday, March 3, 2024, 6:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present STEWARDS OF THE LAND 90-minute documentary film Filmmaker JUANMA TEITELBAUM and Producer MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ will be present for Q & A WATCH THE TRAILER FILM SYNOPSIS: Stephanie, Ian and Alfredo are landless ecological farmers striving to produce healthy food for local consumption in Puerto Rico. In this economically depressed US-territory–highly dependent on food imports and a frequent target for hurricanes–producing food locally is urgent. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: “Puerto Rico is fertile land. I grew up in a land-occupation settlement in Vega Baja, surrounded by all the tropical fruit trees that my family could dream of. Seeing so much abundance and generosity from nature around us, I wondered how was it possible that Puerto Rico imported over 85% of our food? That question has determined my audiovisual work for almost 20 years. Stewards of the Land is our first feature-length documentary. In this film we follow the day to day of three young Puerto Rican agro ecological farmers as they confront the natural and unnatural challenges of cultivating food sovereignty with grace and dignity.” – JuanMa Teitelbaum, Director JUANMA TEITELBAUM – DIRECTOR: JuanMa Pagán Teitelbaum is a documentary filmmaker and ecological farmer. He holds a master’s degree in Caribbean Studies from the State University of New York-Buffalo and a wide-ranging experience in the world of cinema, including lighting and sound work, music video cinematography and editing, and work on movies and documentaries. Alongside Mariolga Reyes Cruz, JuanMa has produced over 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture in Puerto Rico. His mini-documentary series Harvest Today (Cosecha Hoy) was broadcast on The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and received an Emmy Suncoast nomination. The Stewards of the Land is his first feature-length documentary which showcases the efforts of three Puerto Rican ecological farmers working in the main island of Puerto Rico. MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ – PRODUCER/SCREENWRITER: Mariolga Reyes Cruz is co-founder and executive director of the Fideicomiso de Tierras Comunitarias para la Agricultura Sostenible, the first agricultural community land trust in Puerto Rico. Prior to founding the organization, Mariolga taught at the University of Puerto Rico and worked on coalition building for social and climate justice. She co-produced 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture that were broadcast on public television, for which she received an Emmy nomination. Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Virgin Island Council of the Arts and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.  For more information, contact the St John Film Society stjviff@gmail.com or visit www.stjohnfilm.com