The Black Film Center/Archive is proud to welcome Esther Figueroa, PhD, for a screening of her work Monday, March 25 at 6PM, hosted by the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive. Dr. Figueroa is an independent Jamaican filmmaker with over 30 years of experience in political documentary cinema.
A self-taught activist filmmaker, her work focuses on local knowledge, indigenous cultures, social injustice, community empowerment, and most recently, environmental issues. Her poignant documentaries give voice to those outside of mainstream media and aim to counter dominant narratives and practices that are driven by commercial and political interests.
This screening series at IU Libraries Moving Image Archive concentrates on Figueroa’s documentary work in Jamaica, particularly her feature-length documentary Jamaica for Sale, and discusses her filmmaking career in the context of Caribbean cinema and society. IU Cinema screened her latest work on Sunday at March 24 at 4PM, Fly Me to the Moon (2019), which examines the deep political-ecological and geopolitical connections between the polluted landscapes left by bauxite mining in Jamaica and other tropical locations, and the sleek icons of space travel and modernity. Focusing on aluminum’s transnational role in reshaping modern transport, warfare, homes, buildings, and everyday portable design, the feature length documentary Fly Me to the Moon unravels the toxic realities of past, present, and future “aluminum dreams.”
The series is supported by IU Cinema Creative Collaborations. Esther Figueroa will be present at both screening events.
Nontheatrical Ecologies will be held in the IULMIA March 25 at 6PM. The event is free but ticketed. Click here for tickets.
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