Author: Sigi

2026 Films / Home

Films by Vashni Korin

Sunday, April 19, 2026 4 p.m. Bajo el Sol Gallery On Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 4 p.m. Bajo el Sol Gallery, the Gri Gri Project, and the St. John Film Society will host a screening for multiple films by filmmaker and artist Vashni Korin. Attendees will have the opportunity to view Korin’s films, “You Can’t Stop Spirit”, “Negra, Yo Soy Bella”, and “RATHER THAN A POWER”, and engage with the filmmaker in a Q&A session following the screening. There is a suggested donation of $5.   Part of the mission of the St. John Film Society is to present independent films that celebrate the human spirit with a focus on the Caribbean. The upcoming film screening will feature Korin’s works that depict multiple Afro-diasporic perspectives including that of the women of the Baby Doll Mardi Gras masking tradition, an Afro-Puerto Rican woman healing through the Bomba dance tradition, and more.   Vashni Korin is a filmmaker and artist who works with time-based media blending auto-ethnography, documentary, fiction and sound. Her practice explores public and private ritual through beauty, symbol and rites of passage with emphasis on feminine power. She earned a BA in Journalism from Xavier University of Louisiana and is best known for her cultural documentary work “You Can’t Stop Spirit”(New Orleans, LA) featured in the New York Times, Peréz Art Museum Miami and New Orleans Film Festival Prospect 5 (2021).  “Negra, Yo Soy Bella” (Puerto Rico) is a short featured on BET + and screened at film festivals in Latin America and the Caribbean. Other works, such as A Prayer (2022), were shown at The Kitchen and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.   Awards and accolades for her works include Best Documentary Short at the 2021 London Independent Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at the 2021 New Orleans Film Festival, as well as the 2021 Reel South Award, the 2021 Best Documentary Short Indie Memphis Film Festival & Audience Award, and a Best Documentary Short Nomination in the 2021 Blackstar Film Festival.   Bajo El Sol Gallery is located in Mongoose Junction, St. John it is home of the Gri Gri Project.  The Gri Gri Project’s mission is the creation of interpretive exhibitions, critical writing, events and archives related to the cultural patrimony of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the broader Caribbean region. More information about the film screening and about future films can be found by contacting Raven Philips at the gallery at 340-693-7070 or bajoelsolgallery@gmail.com.

2009/2010 Films

Tony Pagano Screening – A Great Success!

Thanks to all the film lovers of St John and St Thomas, we had a fantastic turnout of around 120 people! It was great to have filmmaker Tony Pagano present. The discussion afterwards added a lot to the experience, and the thoughtful questions from the audience sparked interesting stories about the making of the film. A special thanks to the Virgin Islands Council for the Arts for helping underwrite this event.

2008/2009 Films

March 3rd 2009

                                                                            Global Economy and the Developing World   LIFE AND DEBT – A documentary by Stephanie Black; narrated by Jamaica Kincaid (80 min.) “If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see…”     This award winning feature length documentary, screened at the 2001 Human Rights Watch Film Festival, explores the complexity of international lending and free trade in the developing world. It focuses on individual Jamaicans who struggle to survive amid US and multinational economic agendas. Jamaica Kincaid’s narration is based on her nonfiction book, “A Small Place”.  As the film begins, she contrasts what the visitor to Jamaica sees with what is kept hidden, and her voice is coolly alluring as she says, “When you sit down to eat your delicious meal, it’s better that you don’t know that most of what you are eating came off a ship from Miami.” Michael Manley, Jamaica’s former prime minister, was interviewed for the film. He speaks openly yet sadly about mistakes his administration made that led to the devastation of the country’s economy. The film outlines the path of economic decline after the first International Money Fund loan that was meant to improve development yet resulted in increased debt and dependency. It visits the Free Trade Zone with its deplorable working conditions, where workers are paid US $30 a week. “…the overall impression left by this devastating film is of the global economy as a dog-eat-dog world where the usual culprits, the United States and its multinational corporate clients, have the advantage.” – The New York Times                 Related Film BANANA SPLIT – A lesson in the history of the banana: its production, transportation and challenges. This lighthearted film stands in stark contrast to the devastation of Jamaica’s banana industry depicted in “Life and Debt”.