Dominica: Charting a Future for Paradise

In the mid 19th century, Yankee whalers taught the sailors on the tiny island of Bequia in the West Indies how to catch whales. The once proud American tradition has been kept alive and cherished by Bequians generation after generation. For the last few decades outside pressures, overt and covert, have conspired against the whale hunters and those who rely on them. The stouthearted whalers simply seek sustenance for their community but also provide something else: identity.

A documentary about the domination of Caribbean television by programs from the North, primarily the US. Proceeding from the observation that television in the Caribbean is overwhelmed by US and French programs, this film ambitiously weaves together interviews, indigenous poetry and music with clips from imported French and US television programs to show how Caribbean viewers receive a distorted view of the world that alienates them from their own cultural heritage. Also included is a glimpse of how Cuba has tackled the problem, featuring an interview with Cuban film director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, and the US response in the form of Radio and TV Marti. This is part of the Developing Stories Series on Environment and Development. Starweek Magazine called it "An astonishingly searing look at TV."

Juxtaposed to the hustle and bustle of city life on the diminutive Caribbean island of Dominica, Jerry Maka West works his garden in the island's lush interior, his Zion, growing and preparing his food just as his grandparents once taught him. Jerry is Nom Tèw, Man of the Soil.

On July 18th of 1995, Montserrat's sleeping volcano rumbled back to life after hundreds of years of dormancy. This is the ten year story of that eruption and it's effects on the people of, 'The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean'.

What is the value of ocean biodiversity? Bloody Bay Wall is the top of a five thousand foot underwater cliff. A group of divers - including scientists and photographers - gather at Little Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea to explore this spectacular underwater feature. Motivated by questions of human biology, coral reef ecosystems, and the stunning imagery of this marine park, their collaborations help illuminate the range of what rich marine life offers to humanity: now, and in the future.

Pikilina is a Dominican-born woman of Haitian descent. Racial and political violence erupts when the country of her birth, the Dominican Republic, reverses birthright citizenship and she and 200,000 others are left stateless.

Coral biologists are concerned about the genetic health of many endangered coral. This short film follows a team of Smithsonian scientists as they attempt to use cryopreserved coral sperm to introduce DNA to new populations of elkhorn coral. If this technique works, it could have lasting impacts on how we are able to protect and restore endangered coral species from near extinction.

The true story of naturalist Dean Bernal and his efforts to protect his friend JoJo: a wild, sociable dolphin in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In the late 1990s, massive volcanic eruptions destroyed Montserrat’s infrastructure and leveled the island’s capital, Plymouth. Today, Montserrat’s 4,000 citizens are still coming to terms with this traumatic event. "Montserrat: Emerald of the Caribbean" explores how shared values—community, hope, faith—and traditions serve as sources of strength and identity for Montserratians as they rebuild their lives together. The film culminates in a portrayal of the sights and sounds of Montserrat’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival, a commemoration of African slaves who rebelled against their Irish slave masters on Saint Patrick’s Day, 1768. A unique blend of African, Caribbean, and Irish traditions, the Saint Patrick’s Day Festival represents the past, present, and future of a resilient people.

Halouver is a small community in the Northern Caribbean of Nicaragua. In November of 2020, two hurricanes divided the village in two and destroyed its infrastructure. Now, its villagers must decide between coming back and rebuilding their homes from the rubbles in spite of the risks that conveys or starting their lives somewhere else, leaving behind their lives in front of the sea. This documentary was made by Hora Cero.

Wild Caribbean is a four-part BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural and cultural history of the Caribbean Islands and Sea. 1. "Treasure Islands" 2. "Reefs and Wrecks" 3. "Hurricane Hell" 4. "Secret Shores"

Tamara Drakulić sets off with her fiancé on a cargo ship headed to Hawaii to scatter her friend Tony’s ashes into the Pacific Ocean. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, ancient limit to what was once the known world, the ship reaches the Caribbean Island of Guadalupe.

Two top baseball prospects in the Dominican Republic face fierce competition and corruption as they chase their big league dreams.

21 Days, based on the story of six young fishermen who left Gros-Islet fishing village on a routine fishing expedition and simply vanished. The young men disappeared on February 15, 1985, after they set out on a fishing expedition.

A rampant, street level story of mentorship and everyday heroism in tough circumstances. An inner city coach's son, estranged in his youth from his father, spends five years on ball fields in inner city Oakland and Havana, following the lives of two extraordinary youth baseball coaches, Roscoe in Oakland and Nicolas in Havana. The coaches meet on videotape and two years of red tape later, Coach Roscoe and nine Oakland players travel to Havana to play Coach Nicolas' team. For one week, the players and coaches eat, dance, swim, argue and play baseball together. But when the parent of an Oakland player is murdered back home, it brings back the inescapable reality and challenges of life in an American inner city.

In this inspirational documentary we witness the contributions of nine remarkable women to the island of Aruba. Driven by their love of family and a passion for making a difference, they strive relentlessly to improve the socio-economic and cultural landscape of their beloved homeland. All without expecting anything in return.

The waterfront and agriculture of the Caribbean island of Grenada in the 1940's.

Adaptation of the Broadway musical. The story is set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea and tells of a peasant girl who falls in love with an aristocrat. Against this backdrop, social class differences play out while the island gods wager a bet of what is stronger, love or death.

Agent 007 battles mysterious Dr. No, a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster begins, Bond must go to Jamaica, where he encounters beautiful Honey Ryder, to confront a megalomaniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.

Shakespeare’s romantic comedy is re-told in the Caribbean and brought into the 21st Century when Theseus and Hippolyta, returning Nationals, come home to Barbados to be married during Crop Over festival time. The island’s early history, folklore, culture and stunning landscape, lends itself perfectly for the mysticism, comedy and chaos that ensues, the night before the nuptual celebrations.