Author: Andrea Leland

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  

Saturday, April 1, 2023, 7:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present LAZARO AND THE SHARK 76-minute documentary film Filmmaker William Sabourin O’Reilly will be present for the screening Seating is limited, so arrive early!  “There has been no other film, produced either in or outside Cuba, that goes as deep into the fascinating underground of the most African of Cuban cities, Santiago de Cuba.” FILM SYNOPSIS: Lazaro and The Shark: Cuba Under the Surface is a feature documentary that brings us to the world of Conga Competitions in the Carnival of Santiago de Cuba – one of the poorest Carnival in the world. Lázaro, the leader of the Conga de Los Hoyos, is determined to win the coveted award bestowed to the neighborhood that presents the most spectacular Conga. Like leaders of rival congas, Lazaro must join with his neighbors and scour the strictly rationed marketplace to find the necessary materials to create a show-stopping performance. Director William Sabourin O’Reilly, an Afrocuban native to Havana, offers a rare window into communist Cuba, a country that is often romanticized, and almost always portrayed through the eyes of an outsider. Sabourin seamlessly weaves wrenching moments of senseless police violence with intimate scenes of distant lovers aching to reunite. As the competition approaches, we see much more than Lazaro’s desire to win a local honor. We are immersed in the essential fight of the Cuban nation: to continue to live in the legacy of a revolution that has left its people in a constant struggle of poverty, or embrace a more dangerous, vital vision of living in freedom. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: “Cuba, my native country, is at a crossroads, where it has remained for years. After six decades of Communist rule, it has become quite clear that the island nation has sunk into a perpetual economic downturn resulting in poverty and political crisis. The concepts of freedom and democracy are non-existent to generations of Cubans. This reality becomes particularly heartbreaking when one bears witness to the energy, passion, and joy of the Cuban people, displayed intermittently as they experience a life of scarcity and vicissitudes. Lazaro and The Shark tells a story about life in contemporary Cuba, marked by generational conflicts and the suspense of a competition. This film is a declaration of love to my country, my people, and my culture. The music and dancing featured throughout the film emphasizes the undeniable presence and importance of the Afro-Cuban legacy on the Eastern part of the island. The evolution of these festivities, the Conga groups, and the competition between them is both provocative and entertaining. Stripped of the exotic gaze of an outsider, the film is full of compelling stories that peer into the daily lives of Cubans, and their valiant attempts to maintain traditions under extraordinary circumstances. My visceral desire to preserve this socio-cultural memory served as the initial trigger to begin this project over ten years ago. The story finally takes us out of...

ST JOHN FILM SOCIETY IS BACK!!  4pm / Sunday, February 27 ///   Bajo El Sol Gallery 6:30 pm / Saturday, February 26, 2022 ( sold out)    St John Film Society in collaboration with Bajo El Sol Gallery presents  LOS HERMANOS/THE BROTHERS 83-minute documentary film Directors Ken Schneider and Marcia Jarmel will be present for Q & A following the screening. SEATING AT BAJO EL SOL IS LIMITED. Register in advance by sending an email with your name and the number of tickets you want to: stjviff@gmail.com   FILM SYNOPSIS: Ilmar and Aldo López-Gavilán are virtuoso Afro-Cuban musician brothers, born in Havana in the 70s. At 14, Ilmar outgrew his island teachers and was sent to the U.S.S.R. to study violin. He never lived in Cuba again, ultimately landing as a working chamber violinist in the U.S. Younger brother Aldo grew up mentored by Cuba’s impressive jazz and classical pianists, his extraordinary talent achieving renown on the island, but stymied elsewhere by the 60-year-old U.S. embargo. Though they see each other when family finances  and visa restrictions allow, they’ve never had a chance to collaborate musically—something they’ve longed for all their lives. Tracking their parallel lives, poignant reunion, and momentous first performances together on stages across the U.S., Los Hermanos / The Brothers is a nuanced, intensely moving view of nations long estranged, through the lens of music and family. DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT: “A family story originally brought us to Cuba, where Ken’s dad was given shelter as a refugee child from Nazi Germany, two years before the U.S. opened its doors to him. Since the diplomatic shift in December 2014, we’ve seen things begin to change. More American tourists. More money. W-fi. There was a palpable sense of possibility—and concern that core Cuban values would be threatened. When we toured Cuba with Havana Curveball in the spring of 2015, we were concerned about how Cubans would respond to this story of an idealistic and perhaps naive middle class teen from the U.S. Criss-crossing the island for two weeks on a bus of Cuban artists, thought leaders, and pop stars, we found instead open hearts, open minds, and the building of deep friendships with a broad range of Cubans. A year later, the death of Fidel and the ascent of Donald Trump changed the landscape of US-Cuba relations, and the prospects for the brothers. Today it is harder than ever for Cubans and Americans to cross borders. Americans still know little of one of their closest neighbors, likening Cuba to either an island paradise or socialist prison. We rarely hear the perspectives of Cubans themselves. The Cubans we know are deeply proud of their values, their artistic achievements, their way of life. They want change—and self-determination. They have generously shared their stories with us. We are committed to bringing them to you.” – Marcia Jarmel & Ken Schneider KEN SCHNEIDER: A Peabody- winning producer/director who has also edited nearly 40 feature documentaries for PBS, HBO, Showtime and Al-Jazeera. He received a Peabody as Co-producer and editor of Soft Vengeance. He...