URBAN ORISHAS is a poetic cine-essay that introduces artist, scientist and spiritual medium of Templo Guaracy of Umbanda Luz Castañeda. Castañeda’s series of paintings called Urban Orishas (forces of nature, orixás in Portuguese) maps the traditional African nature-based spirits to various places in New York City. The documentary also peeks into the mysterious world of Umbanda ceremonies. Finally, the narrative will take us into the artist’s studio to observe her creative process.

Director: Alexander Minkin

Post production: João Tavares

Camera: Vincent Moon, Tay Nascimento

Music: Ligiana Costa

Runtime: 9 minutes 54 seconds

Country of Origin: United States

Country of Filming: Brazil, United States

Language: Portuguese

Subtitles: English

Alexander Minkin

Alex Minkin is a Brooklyn-based anthropologist and cultural activist, focusing his research on the intersections between Jewish and Brazilian cultures. Alex is the founder of Ticún Brasil, which offers volunteer opportunities for travelers to Brazil, as well as cultural activities in New York www.ticunbrasil.com.

Natália is a 75 year old portuguese craftswoman, who struggles to maintain the art of the bulrush mats. Ever since her early days, in a time and place that knew no abundance, the bulrush was a central piece of a simple way of living. Her life and her craft intertwine and blend in a magic realism documentary.

Director: Pedro Cruz, David Gomes

Runtime: 25 minutes 42 seconds

Country of Origin: Portugal

Country of Filming: Portugal

Language: Portuguese

Subtitles: No

Pedro Cruz, David Gomes

David Gomes and Pedro Cruz are a directing duo from Portugal. They’ve won best short film at the Festival Luso-Brasileiro de Santa Maria da Feira 2018, Portugal as well as an honorable mention at Caminhos do Cinema Português 2017, Portugal with the docudrama Vou-me Despedir do Rio / Farewell to the River. They ‘ve just finished a new docudrama short, Tália, while working in a new documentary on refugees, with the University of Coimbra.

The film “Des savoirs de la terre” (Knowledge from the earth) questions our relationship with the living world through the traditional uses of plants, which are food, remedies or spiritual protectors. Cape Verdean inhabitants and two ethnobotanists from the Occitane region testify to the links they have with plants through local rituals and gathering practices before alerting us to the disappearance of this cultural heritage. This documentary calls on us to reappropriate confiscated local knowledge in order to rethink our way of living in our territory.

Director: Lola Keraron , Anne Ratsimba

Runtime: 26 minutes 28 seconds

Country of Origin: France

Country of Filming: Cape Verde, France

Language: French, Portuguese

Subtitles: English

Lola Keraron

Lola Keraron is an AgroParisTech engineer, specialised in politcal ecology and director of the documentary series PAMacée. She became interested in medicinal plants when she entered engineering school. She joined a student project that took her to Senegal to train women in the cultvaton of annual mugwort, a plant with ant-malarial propertes. In 2019, as part of a year’s break, she and another agronomy student are creatng a web series enttled PAMacée with the aim of questoning our Western concepton of health and revaluing local knowledge about medicinal plants.
In a concern for ecological coherence, the apprentce director embarked on a sailing boat to Senegal and the health crisis led her to stay in Cape Verde for four months. She lived with local people and interviewed farmers, therapists, doctors and breeders who treat people with plants. On her return to France, she fnished her studies and trained as a journalist with the independent media Bastamag, which is commited to ecological and social issues. Since October 2021, she has dedicated herself to the directon and producton of the PAMacée series and to other ecological commitments.

Meraki, from Greek, means to do something with all your soul, creativity and love. Create from the essence with passion in your heart. On this trail we learn how a director from the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, a local Island herbalist, a dance teacher and a dive instructor, rely on their day to day practice to connect with nature. Seeking balance in ever changing worlds we visit lessons from sea turtles, listen for the guiding rhythms of plants and travel immersed in the transformative power of dance.

Director: Gustavo Neves

Writer: Gustavo Neves

Producer: Violeta Laopa

Key Cast: Apostolia Papadamaki, Vangelis Vassalos, Dimitris Synodinos, Rania Spyropoulou

Runtime: 24 minutes 45 seconds

Country of Origin: Portugal

Country of Filming: Greece

Language: English

Subtitles: No

Gustavo Neves

Editor, cinematographer, director, working on the production of travel and adventure cinema. Weaving stories about the Ocean and inspiring connection with nature. His work in film and photography has helped empower adventure and exploration projects from Portugal to the World.