This panel explores Caribbean heritage cinema as a tool for resistance, community action, and historical documentation. Centered on the films in the THFF25 retrospective You Don’t Get Freedom, You Take Freedom: Caribbean Activist Cinema 1978–1985, this discussion will examine the socio-political landscapes that shaped these films, the often collective filmmaking practices behind them, and seek to situate the films within the current moment.
Through the perspectives of filmmakers, activists, and researchers involved in the making and restoration of the films—namely, Women of Suriname (1978), Bitter Cane (1983), Sweet Sugar Rage (1985), and West Indies (1979)—we will investigate the material conditions of Caribbean working people, past and present, and the ways these films engaged with themes of (neo)colonialism, capitalism, immigration, and collective struggle. Additionally, panelists will explore the challenges of film restoration, the question of preserving politically radical works, and what it means to reclaim this history for contemporary movements.
You Don’t Get Freedom, You Take Freedom: Caribbean Activist Cinema 1978–1985 is presented in partnership with Miami Workers’ Center.
This program is supported by: Dutch Culture USA at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Netherland-America Foundation & Miami Workers Center
