Cecilia Aldarondo's LANDFALL Has its National Broadcast Premiere on PBS' POV

Posted by Sean Tucker

American Documentary | POV is proud to announce the national broadcast premiere of Landfall, the second film to show on POV’s 34th season. Director Cecilia Aldarondo’s latest feature documentary, which was produced by Ines Hofmann Kanna, will premiere Monday July 12, 2021 on PBS at 10 p.m. ET (check local listings) and at pov.org. The film will also be available to stream for free at pov.org until August 11, 2021. Aldarondo was a 2021 Independent Spirit Award "Truer than Fiction'' nominee. The award recognizes outstanding emerging talent in nonfiction film direction.

An official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival and winner of the Viewfinders Grand Jury at 2020 DOC NYC, Landfall is Aldarondo’s second documentary film to broadcast on POV after her Season 30 title, Memories of a Penitent Heart. Offering a prismatic portrait of collective trauma and resistance and set against the backdrop of the 2019 protests in the wake of Hurricane María in Puerto Rico that toppled the governor, the film assembles scenes from all over the island, spotlighting the different ways each community addresses its own recovery.

Landfall speaks to the often competing visions of post-María Puerto Rico’s future. Foregrounding the 72-billion-dollar debt crisis that predated the storm and worsened its impact, Aldarondo’s film explores the intertwining legacies of colonialism, exploitative industries and disaster capitalism and the barriers to recovery they create. As opportunists looking to make a profit descend upon the island, the Puerto Rican diaspora comes together to create unprecedented forms of community-led mutual aid when assistance from the federal government and traditional NGOs fails to appear.

"As a Puerto Rican from the diaspora, I watched Hurricane María unfold from afar while cut off from loved ones, including my grandmother who would die six months after the storm. Reeling from the debt crisis, which unleashed a wave of austerity, poverty and migration that María only intensified, the Puerto Rico depicted in Landfall is a laboratory for greed, privatization, gentrification, the dismantling of social services, and the devastating effects of climate change," said director Cecilia Aldarondo. She continued, "We may have a new President and Puerto Rico a new governor, but little has changed since María hit, as evidenced by the recent privatization of Puerto Rico's electric grid. The Puerto Rican people are still fighting to end the profit-driven policies that have proved disastrous ever since President Obama signed them into existence. In Landfall I wanted to balance a cautionary tale for our times, while also prioritizing a dignified image of Puerto Ricans who have banded together to fight for their sovereignty.”

"It was an absolute privilege to support Cecilia on this remarkable project. Her collaboration with Puerto Rico-based activist Lale Namerrow Pastor was a model of Puerto Rican solidarity, from the colony to the diaspora. By combining considerate and equitable filmmaking with artistic storytelling that challenges what is currently expected of documentaries, Landfall is setting the bar for our field," said producer Ines Hofmann Kanna.

As activists flood the streets to protest government corruption, Landfall finds an archipelago on the brink. While the future remains uncertain, Aldarondo captures the communal power of people fighting for autonomy over their lives. In posing the question of how we move forward in the wake of disaster, the celebratory mood in the streets offers the beginnings of an answer, one emerging from a growing demand for self-determination and a collective spirit.

“Cecilia’s masterpiece is both a sharp condemnation of the continued colonial exploitation of Puerto Rico and a warm embrace of the land and people. Rendered with a singular vision and deep affection, you’ll be swept into solidarity with these Puerto Ricans who resist and rebuild,” said Chris White, executive producer, POV.

Landfall is a co-production of POV and ITVS, in association with Latino Public Broadcasting.

Tribeca Film Fest 2021 (Podcast Wrap Up)

By Justin D Williams

Here is my thoughts and wrap up for Tribeca Film Festival 2021

Tribeca Games Spotlight: All the extraordinary Video Games at the 2021 Tribeca Games Showcase

The Tribeca Official Showcase included eight games from small developers (including some that have the backing of large publishers) coming to both PC and consoles. Festival-goers can virtually demo these games, and watch the entire showcase in the Tribeca Games Spotlight stream! (see video below)

Tribeca Games at the Tribeca Festival celebrates the convergence of games, entertainment and culture, highlighting the storytelling, art and innovation of games. Tribeca champions every frontier in the art of storytelling, and video games are at the forefront of pushing narrative to ever greater heights. 

Our advisory board of visionary leaders in both the film and games industry champion Tribeca’s power in shaping the future of games as a powerful form of storytelling.

The festival kicked off with the Tribeca Games Spotlight featuring a line-up of creator interviews, appearances by special guests, and exclusive gameplay from the eight official selections:

Harold Halibut, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Lost In Random, NORCO, Sable, Signalis, The Big Con and Twelve Minutes. Game fans had the opportunity to virtually catch the new Kena: Bridge of Spirits’ trailer, and hear from such celebrities and gaming industry luminaries as Guillermo del Toro, Khalief Adams, Neill Blomkamp, Japanese Breakfast, Tanya DePass, Reggie Fils-Aimé, Bing Gordon, Melissa Joan Hart, Geoff Keighley, Hideo Kojima, Sam Lake, James McAvoy, Norman Reedus, Kiki Wolfkill, Elijah Wood and Jen Zee.

Catch the Spotlight Here!

Tribeca Games Spotlight digital showcase on Friday, June 11 at 2pm ET! We’re celebrating Tribeca Games’ first-ever full games lineup. The digital showcase will feature creator interviews, appearances by special guests, and exclusive gameplay from our 8 Official Selections. Stream it right here on YouTube, as well as Twitch and Facebook. Learn more about Tribeca Games, sign up for demo sessions, and check out how we’re celebrating the innovative art and storytelling of games. https://tribecafilm.com/games For everything Tribeca, head over to https://tribecafilm.com and follow us: https://twitter.com/TribecaFilmFest https://instagram.com/tribeca