Caribbean Films to Watch: Six Voices Reshaping Diaspora Cinema at CSIFF26

Forest Hills, NY, September 17, 2026 --(PR.com)-- Caribbean cinema doesn't sit still. It moves between Havana and Los Angeles, Kingston and Brooklyn, London and Georgetown — carried by filmmakers who grew up between two places at once and are putting that in-between-ness on screen. Conch Shell International Film Festival (CSIFF) is spotlighting six such films, all nominated for Best Film at CSIFF26, running October 9–11, 2026, with screenings at Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills and panels at HB Playwright Theatre in Manhattan.

I F*cking Hate You! — Dir. Gabriela Paciel (Cuba / Los Angeles) Paciel, who was born and raised in Havana, built this film out of her own relationship with her sister — fighting and fierce loyalty in the same breath. "I always said that I will give her a kidney," she said. "I hope she doesn't need it ever, but I will give her a kidney. And I know she will do the same."

A Shade Of Indigo — Dir. Hanif James (Jamaica) A young girl grows up hearing that "anything Black not good" — a phrase James says is common in Jamaica — and the film follows what that message costs, generation after generation. James traces the instinct back to his own grandmother's advice never to marry anyone darker than himself, and asks what it would take to break the pattern instead of passing it on.

Stand Clear 'The Closing Doors — Dir. Stacey Sargeant (Trinidad & Tobago / Brooklyn) Sargeant wrote, directed, and stars in a film built from an incident on the New York subway — shot guerrilla-style on an active train in six hours. "I made this film for Black women first and foremost," she said, "to feel seen and also to let us know that we have a right to take up space unapologetically in this world."

Pan Gyul — Dir. Juliette Jeffers (Nevis / Los Angeles) Jeffers grew up in the Bronx fascinated by the steel pan drum, and eventually turned her one-woman stage show into what she says is the first professional film to tell a Nevisian story. It's screened at Cannes and the Pan African Film Festival, where she says audiences unfamiliar with Nevis came away wanting to visit. "Come get to know Nevis," she said. "Come get to know us."

Mummy? — Dir. Noella Letitia Mingo (Guyana / London) Based on her cousin's own story, Mingo's drama sits with the tragedy that can shape women's lives — and the strength it takes to keep going anyway. "As a Black woman who lives in Britain, who's of Guyanese heritage, I didn't feel I was being heard at all," she said. "That's why I started making films."

Trinidad Remains — Dir. Karen Martinez (Trinidad & Tobago / London) British-born Nikki reluctantly travels to Trinidad to scatter her estranged grandmother's ashes, accompanied by her free-spirited cousin Jade and an unreliable old car. A hold-up by an unhinged stranger upends their trip — and ends up shifting Nikki's understanding of the island, and of herself.

“What excites me about these six films is that there is no single way they are telling us what it means to be Caribbean. These filmmakers are talking about colorism, sisterhood, belonging, Black women taking up space, grief, family, and the complicated relationship we can have with the places we come from. Some are telling stories from home, others from the diaspora, but all of them are expanding what audiences get to see when they think of Caribbean cinema. That is why CSIFF exists—to make room for the full range of our stories. -Magaly Colimon-Christopher, Founder & Festival Director, Conch Shell International Film Fest

Full schedule, screening times, and tickets are available at www.conchshelliff.com.

About Conch Shell International Film Festival Conch Shell International Film Festival is a program of Conch Shell Productions, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. CSIFF is an established annual festival based in Queens, NY, celebrating Caribbean and Caribbean diaspora cinema with a mission centered on social change through film.

(Image: filmmakers starting top left Gabriela Paciel, Hanif James, Stacey Sargeant, Juliette Jeffers, Noella Letitia Mingo, Karen Martinez)