50
Tickets: (812) 855-1103
50 Roots/Routes: Contemporary Caribbean Film
Tickets: (812) 855-1103
Le Bonheur d'Elza
(2011) Directed by Mariette Monpierre
February 24 - Monday - 7:00 p.m.
After graduating from university in Paris, Elza defies her mother's wishes and returns to the island of her birth.
She wants a break from her hectic city life and to reconnect with the father she barely remembers. In this lushly
shot film, Monpierre captures the intricacies of class, skin color, and family ties in Guadeloupe. Winner of FES-
PACO's Paul Robeson Award for Best Film of the Diaspora, and the Pan African Film Festival's Special Jury Prize,
Programmers' Award, and BAFTA/LA Festival Choice Award, Le Bonheur d'Elza was also a New York Times Critics'
Pick.
Director Mariette Monpierre is scheduled to be present. In French language with English subtitles. The film
will be preceded by the short film Auntie (2013), directed by Lisa Harewood. (HD. 93 min. Not Rated.)
Inspired by the reflections of scholars Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy on the roots and routes of black identity, this series is a glimpse
into the vibrancy of contemporary Caribbean filmmaking. These films deal with the legacies of migration to and from the region,
as well as the tug of close familial and distant ancestral links. Representing the Caribbean's linguistic and cultural diversity,
Roots/Routes especially emphasizes woman-directed and women-centered films as integral to a truly dynamic Caribbean cinema
culture. Sponsored by the Black Film Center/Archive, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Minority Languages and
Cultures Program, and IU Cinema. Special thanks to Nzingha Kendall. Screenings are free, but ticketed.
La Hija Natural
(2011)
Directed by Leticia Tonos
March 10 - Monday - 7:00 p.m.
Spurred by the sudden death of her mother, Maria embarks on a
quest to find her absent father. Her travels take her to an abandoned
banana plantation in a neighboring town where she encounters taci-
turn widower Joaquin, and his Haitian domestic worker Polo Montifa.
Justiniano, a mysterious stranger from Puerto Rico, complicates
matters in this magical realist melodrama. The first Dominican
feature film directed by a woman, La Hija Natural was the Dominican
Republic's official submission to the 84th Academy Awards
®
for best
foreign language film. The film will be preceded by the short film
Chimbumbe (2008), directed by Antonio Coello. In Spanish language
with English subtitles. (HDCam. 109 min. Not Rated.)