3:00PM-5:30PM | Dundas West Studio
The films in Ancestral Echoes explore the enduring presence of the past in shaping Caribbean identity, creativity, and resistance. Drawing from folklore, spirituality, oral tradition, and artistic practice, these stories reveal how ancestral knowledge continues to guide the present and inspire the future.
Directed by Megan Channell, USA, 2025
Logline: After her younger sister uncovers a secret she has been hiding, a grieving woman must decide whether to embrace a cherished family tradition or remain trapped by fear, loss, and the comfort of routine.
Synopsis: Black Cake follows Sherry Sankar, whose life has settled into a quiet routine following the death of her mother. Still grieving and reluctant to step beyond her comfort zone, Sherry moves through each day disconnected from the traditions that once brought her family together. On Christmas Day, everything changes when her younger sister, Meena, discovers a secret Sherry has been keeping. Forced to confront her fears and the expectations of those she loves, Sherry faces a pivotal choice: retreat further into herself or honor her mother’s legacy by carrying forward a treasured family tradition. Warm and heartfelt, the film explores grief, family, and the courage to embrace change.
Runtime: 12m 36s
Directed by Gabri Christa, Suriname, 2024
Logline: When a woman enters a sacred place of worship, she is drawn into an ancestral realm where generations of spirits compel her to embrace their rituals before she can return transformed.
Synopsis: A woman enters a sacred place of worship and finds herself transported into a parallel universe inhabited by her ancestors. Unable to leave, she is drawn deeper into their world through ritual, dance, music, and spiritual ceremony. As generations of ancestral spirits surround her, what begins as fear slowly transforms into surrender and understanding. Through each encounter, she reconnects with forgotten histories, inherited memory, and the cultural traditions that shaped her lineage. Immersed in a dreamlike spiritual journey, she emerges transformed—integrated with the wisdom, pain, and resilience of those who came before her. The film becomes a poetic meditation on ancestry, identity, and belonging.
Runtime: 0:25:00
Directed by Joseph Hillel, Canada/Haiti, 2024
Logline: Amid political turmoil, poverty, and uncertainty in Haiti, artists and organizers fight to sustain a theatre festival, proving that art can be an act of resistance, survival, and hope.
Synopsis: During this time of cholera and street violence, artists in Haiti are using the performing arts as a means of resistance. Even faced with hunger and fear, theatre allows them to highlight the dignity and courage of all Haitian people. Their stories combine fiction with reality. There is theatre everywhere: in the streets, in vodou, and even in politics.
Runtime: 1hr 24m