Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin

Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin

Nino Martínez Sosa, Liborio (film still), 2021. Courtesy the artist.

February 3 – March 7, 2025

PRESS: The Film Stage

Mishkin Gallery is pleased to present Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin, a five-week long series of film screenings and live events. The series highlights films that delve into the Afro-Caribbean basin’s historical, social, and cultural experiences, showcasing their intellectual reach, creativity, and profound contributions to global culture. Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin invites Baruch College students, faculty, and the public to immerse themselves in Afro-Caribbean and Latin American cinema and experience the stories that shape Blackness in the region.

The selection of films spans genres, offering distinct perspectives on identity, gender, spirituality, migration, resistance, and the enduring legacies of colonialism, slavery, and marronage. Through these stories, the series aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexities and beauty of Afro-Caribbean life.

The series explores the intersections of race, culture, and history through the lens of talented contemporary filmmakers across the Caribbean basin. In addition to film screenings, a series of special events will invite audiences to engage in thought-provoking discussions, meet special guest speakers, and connect with a community of film enthusiasts dedicated to celebrating and elevating Afro-Caribbean voices and visions.

Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin is curated by Dr. Rojo Robles, Assistant Professor of Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College. The exhibition is made possible by the Schindler-Lizana Fund for Latin American Arts and Culture, Friends of the Mishkin Gallery, and the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College (CUNY).

Booklet

A booklet published for exhibition, including film descriptions and an essay by the curator, is available here.

Schedule of Programs

*Films will loop continuously in gallery throughout the day. All screenings and events are free and open to the public. All events are held at Mishkin Gallery, except where noted.*

February 3-7
Luis Arnías, Bisagras
(2024, Senegal/Brazil/Venezuela, 18 minutes)

Special Event
Thursday, February 6, 6-8pm
Filmmaker Luis Arnías in conversation with Dr. Rojo Robles
Online Only

Please join us for a conversation between filmmaker Luis Arnías and Dr. Rojo Robles, in conjunction with Mishkin Gallery’s film festival Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin, curated by Dr. Rojo Robles. Luis Arnías’ film Bisagras (2024, Senegal/Brazil/Venezuela, 18 minutes) screens at Mishkin Gallery from February 3-7.

Luis Arnías is a filmmaker from Venezuela who currently lives and works in Boston, MA. In 2009, he completed the diploma program at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and in 2020 he received his Masters in Film/Video from Milton Avery Graduate School at Bard College. He has screened at New York Film Festival, TIFF, Punto de Vista, Berlin Critics’ Week (Woche Der Kritik) and BlackStar Film Festival. He was a Fellow at The Film Study Center at Harvard University, the recipient of the Herb Alpert/MacDowell Fellowship 2022 and most recently 2023 Boston Artadia Awardee.

February 10-14
Mariana Rondón, Pelo Malo
(2013, Venezuela, 93 minutes)

February 18-21
Juan Andrés Arango García, La Playa D.C.
(2012, Colombia, 90 minutes)

Special Event
Tuesday, February 18, 6-8pm
Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin: Expanding the Black Gaze
With Dr. Elena Martinez, Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, Baruch College, and Dr. Rojo Robles

Join Dr. Elena Martinez (Modern Languages and Comparative Literature) and Dr. Rojo Robles (Black and Latino Studies) for a discussion on the “Black Gaze” as a critical and political act of spectatorship. Often theorized within the context of African American cinema, the Black Gaze challenges the whiteness of mainstream media, fostering confrontation, intimacy, and accountability in portraying Black lives.

This event seeks to expand the concept of the Black Gaze beyond the US to the Caribbean basin and Latin America, examining how affirming Black cinema in the region can provide an Afro-diasporic perspective of its societies and geographies. Key questions include: How can the Black Gaze engage with the visualities of the Caribbean basin? How are Latin American and Caribbean cinemas incorporating—or displacing—Blackness in their narratives? Explore Black cinema’s historical, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions and its role in reclaiming agency, dignity, and authenticity in storytelling across the diaspora.

February 24-28
Nino Martínez Sosa, Liborio
(2021, Dominican Republic, 99 minutes)

Special Event
Thursday, February 27, 12-2pm
Encounters Magazine Zine Launch

Join us for the launch of Mosaics, a new Zine inspired by Roots and Tides: Black Cinemas in the Caribbean Basin, published by Baruch College’s student-run Encounters Magazine in collaboration with Mishkin Gallery.

March 3-7
Rosamary Berríos Hernández, Santiago de las Mujeres
(2023, Puerto Rico, 63 minutes)

Special Event
Tuesday, March 4, 6-8pm
Documentary Filmmaking and Black Spirituality in Puerto Rico
With filmmaker Rosamary Berríos Hernández, Dr. Margarita Rosa, Visiting Assistant Professor of Black and Latino Studies, Baruch College, and Dr. Rojo Robles. Presented with Baruch’s Black and Latino Studies Department and Black Studies Colloquium

Join us for a Women’s History Month Community Event hosted by Baruch’s Black and Latino Studies Department with filmmaker Rosamary Berríos Hernández in conversation with Dr. Margarita Rosa, Visiting Assistant Professor of BLS, and Dr. Rojo Robles, Assistant Professor at BLS and curator of the Roots and Tides film festival. Rosamary Berríos Hernández’s film Santiago de las Mujeres screens at Mishkin Gallery from March 3-7.

This bilingual conversation with Berríos, organized by the Black Studies Colloquium, offers audiences a compelling opportunity to engage with documentary filmmaking in a dynamic and participatory manner. The event will focus on ethical filmmaking practices, Black spirituality and culture in Puerto Rico, and women’s narratives, drawing inspiration from Berríos’s film Santiago de las Mujeres (2023). Attendees will have the chance to interact directly, providing feedback on film sequences and engaging in discussions about Afro-Puerto Rican topics with Berríos.