CaribbeanTales International Film Festival

CaribbeanTales International Film Festival 2025! The CTFF is celebrating 20
Years of continuing Storytelling, with Spirit, Joy, and Soul.

This September marks a significant festival milestone at the 20th anniversary of the
CaribbeanTales International Film Festival (CTFF). For twenty years, the CTFF has been
the heart of Caribbean and African storytelling. Serving as a home for films that speak
with rhythm, passion, and honesty. Amidst laughter and tears, history and pride, we
bear witness to stories that remind us not only of our origins but also of the beauty and
strength that our culture embodies.
This year’s 2025 lineup reflects that same spirit, a vibrant mix of bold dramas, joyful
celebrations, and music that touches the soul. Two decades in, the CTFF has continued
to be more than just a film festival. The festival is a celebration of identity, art, and
resilience for all who dare to dream. It stands as proof that Caribbean cinema isn’t just
surviving, but it’s also thriving.
Here are a few standout films that capture the brilliance and creativity of this year’s
CaribbeanTales International Film Festival season.

Bankie Banx: King of the Dunes
Director: Nara Garber | Country: Anguilla/USA | Runtime: 1h 58m

If you’re familiar with Caribbean music, you know Bankie Banx; if not, Nara Garber’s
Bankie Banx: King of the Dunes will make you wish you did. This feature-length
documentary tells the story of Banx’s extraordinary life, from his early days in Anguilla
to his rise as an international reggae and folk music icon worldwide. His travels through
Europe and America captured the hearts and minds of those who came into his orbit.
Director Garber tells Banx’s story with amazing videos and live memories from those
who knew Banx best. This film captures the spirit of one man who defied and surpassed
the limitations of his small island. To build a legacy that blended artistry, activism, and
independence. There is a wealth of stunning archival footage and raw interviews with
fans of Banx’s music and the man himself. Including fans such as Bob Dylan and Jimmy
Buffett. The film doesn’t just chronicle Banx’s career; no, it celebrates the unbreakable
creative spirit of the Caribbean. This film is a love letter to homes, to roots, and to the
kindness of determination that defines the Caribbean people.

Good Girl
Director: Sunita Miya Muganza | Country: Canada | Runtime: 13 min

Director Sunita Miya Muganza’s Good Girl is a small film, but it had a powerful impact.
Set within Calgary’s East African community, the story follows Halima, a single mother,
as she makes a last-minute decision that will forever change her daughter’s life. The

story voices the sensitive topic of female circumcision. A rarely discussed subject on
screen, with extraordinary grace, empathy, and courage. The storytelling feels truly
intimate and urgent. The story captures a mother’s fear and love as they intertwine
with cultural traditions and social pressures. Good Girl doesn’t shout; it resonates,
making it a memorable short that will stay with you long after it ends.

Shades
Directors: Lindsey Addawoo & Alexis L. Wood | Country: Canada | Runtime: 21 min

Shades is a visual and emotional exploration of shadeism — the discrimination based
on skin tone within the Black community. Told through the lens of five dancers, this
short uses interviews and movement to express pain, pride, and reclamation.
Addawoo and Wood craft something poetic here: a performance piece that feels like
both a confession and a celebration. The choreography becomes language, and the
screen becomes a mirror. In just 21 minutes, Shades says what essays and debates
have tried to for decades — that Blackness is not one shade, but a spectrum of beauty
and resilience.

Nomad in No Man’s Land
Director: Hester Jonkhout |Netherlands/Curaçao| Runtime: 58 min

Nomad in No Man’s Land is a moving tribute to the man and the artist, Felix de Rooy,
the kind of artist who doesn’t just make work; he lives it. Director Hester Jonkhout
captures him with tenderness and depth, revealing a man who refused to be confined
by category or convention. De Rooy, an Afro-Curaçaoan poet, writer, dramatist,
filmmaker, and visual artist, pushed boundaries long before the world was ready to
recognize his genius.
Through intimate interviews and beautifully curated archival footage, Jonkhout traces
the evolution of an artist whose rebellion was rooted in self-expression. We see de
Rooy’s triumphs — from winning the prestigious Cola Debrot Prize in 1979 to taking
home the Golden Calf for Ava & Gabriel in 1990 — but it’s the quieter moments that
linger.
This isn’t just a documentary about art; it’s about courage, loss, and legacy. Nomad in
No Man’s Land reminds us that true artists don’t wait for permission to tell their stories.
They carve their own space, sharing their experiences even as the world looks away.
It’s emotional, poetic, and deeply Caribbean at its core.

Capetillo
Director: Antonio Asencio | Country: Puerto Rico | Runtime: 21 min
Capetillo revisits the life of Puerto Rican labour activist and feminist icon Luisa
Capetillo, one of the first women in the Caribbean to wear pants, a radical act at the
time. The film dramatizes her confrontation with her factory boss, turning a historical
moment into a sharp, empowering exchange about gender, autonomy, and freedom.
Asencio’s direction gives Capetillo her due: fierce, defiant, and unapologetic. It’s a
historical short that feels startlingly current.

Final Thoughts
At 20 years strong, the CaribbeanTales Film Festival continues to prove why our
voices matter and why it presents a platform for them. These films aren’t only for
entertainment; no, they’re a testament to who we were, what we are, who we’re
becoming and where we’re going.
From Bankie Banx: King of the Dunes’ celebration of Caribbean artistry to Good Girl’s
bravery, Shades’ visual honesty, and Capetillo’s revolutionary heart, the festival’s
curation feels purposeful and alive.
CTFF isn’t just a film festival. The festival is a family reunion, a reflection, and a
revolution on screen.

Here’s to another 20 years of stories that sound like us, look like us, and
remind us we’ve always been the heartbeat of cinema.