''Garifuna in Peril'' is a low-budget independent fiction

docufiction Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary film, documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or ciné ...

feature film directed, written, and produced by Alí Allié and Rubén Reyes. The film depicts historical and contemporary issues within the

Garinagu The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna a ...

(plural of Garifuna)

Afro-Honduran Afro-Hondurans (), also known as Black Hondurans (), are Hondurans who have predominantly or total Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Research by Henry Louis Gates regards their population to be around 1-2%.However more accurate research sources fro ...

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

community and features a cast of actors from

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. The film was shot in

Garifuna The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and is notable for being one of the first, if only, contemporary feature films shot in the

Garifuna language Garifuna (Karif) is a minority language widely spoken in villages of Garifuna people in the western part of the northern coast of Central America. It is a member of the Arawakan language family but an atypical one since it is spoken outsi ...

. The

and culture depicted in the film is also noteworthy as it was proclaimed by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 2001 as a

Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage—such traditions, rituals, dance, and knowledge—and ...

, under threat of extinction as at that time there was almost no surviving record of the language and it was not formally taught outside of the countries of Honduras and

. The language and this film features music that is an oral tradition of storytelling of song and dance that is a unique blend of African and

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

cultures that are often quite

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

in nature.

Plot

The movie follows the journey of a

teacher Ricardo, played by co-director Rubén Reyes, in Los Angeles as he struggles to be a good father, husband, and brother while taking responsibility to preserve his native language, traditional culture and community lands against the expansion of tourism. Ricardo's plans to build a Garifuna language school on the north coast of

become complicated by the expansion plans of a tourist resort in the area. Personal betrayal pushes him to travel to Honduras and directly confront land issues in tandem with his educational mission. Meanwhile, Ricardo's son Elijah, played by E.J. Mejia Jr., rehearses a theater play dramatizing an episode from the life of Garifuna Paramount Chief

Joseph Chatoyer Joseph Chatoyer, also known as Satuye (died 14 March 1795), was a Garifuna ('' Carib'') chief who led a revolt against the British colonial government of Saint Vincent in 1795. Killed that year, he is now considered a national hero of Saint Vi ...

/ Satuyé and his last stand against the British on the island of

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...

, the same historical events dramatized in William A. Brown's now-lost play '' The Drama of King Shotaway,'' a play that is credited as being the first

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

play in the United States. Ricardo's daughter Helena, a teenager also must deal with her parents' disapproval of her relations with a man considerably older than her.

Cast

* Rubén Reyes as Ricardo, a

teacher who lives in Los Angeles * Julián Castillo as Miguel, Ricardo's brother who has business dealings in Honduras, where the brothers are trying to build a school to teach Garifuna * Gloria Garnett as Becky, Ricardo's wife * Etsil Arnold as Jimmy * E.J. Mejía Jr. as Elijah / Elías, Ricardo's son who portrays Garifuna Paramount Chief Joseph Satuye, also known as

, in the play-within-the-play featured in the film * Yessica Álvarez as Helena, Becky and Ricardo's daughter, who is dating Gabriel * Luisito Martínez as Gabriel, Helena's boyfriend, of whom her parents do not approve * Arleny Escobar as Vera * Aubrey Wakeling as Richard * Bill Flores as Hillbuck, who writes the play-within-the-play, ''Garinagu in Peril,'' that is featured in the film * Araceli Núñez as Yanisi * Saira Amaya as Wendy

Production and development

Originally part of a trilogy called the ''Garifuna Film Trilogy,'' the film was shot in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and

Triunfo de la Cruz Tela is a town, with a population of 39,920 (2023 calculation), and a municipality in Honduras on the northern Caribbean coast. It is located in the department of Atlantida. History Colonial era Tela was founded by the Spanish conquistador ...

, Honduras after being in development for over 10 years. The project began after Alí Allié and Rubén Reyes met at the 1999

Pan-African Film Festival Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a non-profit corporation in Los Angeles, California, United States, that states its goal is to promote "cultural understanding among peoples of African descent" through exhibiting art and film. It hosts a film ...

in Los Angeles. Co-director, co-writer, co-producer, and cinematographer Alí Allié is an American filmmaker who is known for his work directing the 1999 independent film, ''Spirit of My Mother'' ('' El Espíritu de mi Mamá''), a Spanish-language film distributed by Vanguard Cinema about a Garifuna woman from

. Co-director, co-writer, co-producer, and actor Rubén Reyes is a

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

and expert on the history and culture of the

Garifuna people The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and Amerindian ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and traditionally speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language. The Garifuna ...

, who created the world's first tri-lingual dictionary of Garifuna, ''Garudia: Garifuna Trilingual Dictionary (Garifuna-English-Spanish).'' Bill Flores, a co-writer of the film, wrote the initial play of the same name upon which the film was based and is a member of the Garifuna Writers Group that is based in Los Angeles. The traditional Garifuna dance was choreographed by Georgette Lambey. The film had both a grassroots base of investors as well as 11 private investors, many from the Garifuna community in Los Angeles, with the Garifuna Coalition USA Inc in New York City providing assistance and guidance with publicity and marketing while the Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United (GAHFU) organization of Los Angeles helped outreach for casting of the film. All members of the cast and crew had jobs, so the film was scheduled around their jobs and was dependent upon funding streams. As the filmmakers began to cast the film, they faced the realities of a language in decline. Co-director Alí Allié said that they were "shocked that there was almost no one under 18 years old who spoke the language, and that was something we were kind of in denial about. And that's when the film took on more urgency, and that's when we came up with the title, ''Garifuna in Peril.''" All of the cast members were of

descent from

and

, with the film being their first time performing for the majority of the cast. The film is unique in that it is one of the first narrative fictional films to tell the story of a little known ethnic group with Caribbean origins with the filmmakers attempting to use film to preserve and rescue what was a critically fast-fading culture. The film dramatizes and highlights the challenges indigenous people across the world face as they fight "to keep their lands against larger economic interests while struggling to preserve their culture amid globalization and migration."

Critical reception

Response to the film was positive. Film critic Mark Bell of ''

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

'' noted that ''Garifuna in Peril'' has a "unique and distinct vibe". When writing about the strength of the film's characterizations, performances and film-making he explains that, "there's something matter-of-fact about the movie that makes it feel natural...the scenes play out as if they would in real life, if we were suddenly interrupting a moment." Journalist Steve Furay of the '' Michigan Citizen'' called ''Garifuna in Peril'' provocative. Co-director Alí Allié described audience responses during screenings: "It's 'Garifuna in Peril''related to indigenous cultures. At different screenings we've had people stand up and make comments. We've had a Native American woman stand up and say 'thank you for telling this story; this is my story.' Mayan women in Honduras said 'this is also our story.' It's specific to Garifuna in one sense, but these are the issues — the cultural loss, the economic problems and the land grab — really relevant to all indigenous peoples." According to co-director (and lead of the film) Rubén Reyes the film speaks to a matter that is timely, the Garifuna people, "are now facing imminent danger. We could eventually lose our land, our culture, our identity and just become simple workers."

Awards

* 2013:

Arizona International Film Festival The Arizona International Film Festival is the oldest and longest running independent film festival in Arizona. Taking place yearly, film programs include a mix of shorts, children's films, feature-length films, documentaries and animation films. ...

– Best Narrative Feature * 2013:

Boston International Film Festival The Boston International Film Festival is a film festival in the United States held in Boston, Massachusetts which showcases over 90 films annually. Established in 2003 by film producer Patrick Jerome, the festival features independent films from ...

– Indie Spirit Special Recognition Award * 2013: WorldFest Houston – Golden Remi for Docu-Drama * 2013: Festival de Cinema Latino American di Trieste – Audience Choice

Release and distribution

After the film's premier at the London Latin American Film Festival on November 25, 2012, the film was self-distributed, and was mostly shown at many international film festivals that had themes and focus on the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

and

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

and

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

culture, which highlighted the difficulty of distributing an independent film about Garifuna history. The film was further screened as part of a film tour of Central America focusing on villages and towns with Garifuna populations in

(as part of the Belize International Film Festival),

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, and

. It was also screened in universities in both the United States and Central America. An American on-demand theatrical distribution platform called TUGG was used to screen the film in select U.S. cities. * London Latin American Film Festival in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England (November 25, 2012) * New York African Diaspora Film Festival in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

(December 2 and 5, 2012) *

Santa Fe Film Festival The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, school ...

(December 8, 2012) in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

* African Diaspora International Film Festival in

(January 18, 2013) *

San Diego Black Film Festival The San Diego Black Film Festival is an annual film festival held in San Diego, California. The festival recognizes African American movies and production. It was founded in 2002 as the Noir Film Festival. It is one of the largest black film festiv ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

(February 3, 2013) * Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival in

(February 16, 2013) *

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

(April 13, 2013 and April 28, 2013) * Athens International Film + Video Festival in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city in Athens County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 United States census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Athe ...

(April 14, 2013) *

Chicago Latino Film Festival The Chicago Latino Film Festival is a U.S. film festival, focusing on Latin America and Latinos. Held annually in Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midweste ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

(April 14, 2013 and April 16, 2013) * Festival International du Film Panafricain in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

, France (April 19, 2013) * Langston Hughes African American Film Festival in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

(April 19, 2013) *

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

(April 20, 2013) * Worldfest Houston (April 21, 2013) * Berlin Black Cinema International in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany (May 11, 2013) * Garifuna Film Festival International in

(May 25 and 26, 2013) *

Zanzibar International Film Festival Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization establis ...

(July 4, 2013) * Caribbean Tales Toronto Showcase in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada (September 11, 2013) * Capital City Black Film Festival in

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(September 27, 2013) * Cine+Mas San Francisco Latino Film Festival in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(September 27, 2013) * New England Festival of Ibero American Cinema in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

(October 3, 2013) *

Festival de Cine de Bogotá A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes ...

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, Colombia (October 16, 2013 through October 24, 2013) * Festival de Cinema Latino American di Trieste in

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, Italy (October 25, 2013) * Englewood International Film Festival in

(October 26, 2013) * Uptown Film Festival in

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(November 9, 2013) * BronzeLens Film Festival in

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(November 9, 2013) * Festival Cine//B in

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, Chile (November 28, 2013) *

Bahamas International Film Festival The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) is a non-profit film festival held in the Bahamas. Open to both locals and international visitors, the festival was founded by Leslie Vanderpool in 2004. BIFF also hosts a youth film workshop that ...

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(December 5, 2013 and December 6, 2013)

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=tt2265315, title=Garifuna in Peril 2012 films American docufiction films Films shot in Central America Films shot in Los Angeles Garifuna 2010s Spanish-language films Indigenous cinema in Latin America Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity 2010s English-language films 2010s American films