Black History Month – Afro-Latino Films Series

As Black History Month unfolds during the centennial year of organized Black history commemorations, the African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) presents its 2026 Black History Month Film Series, February 27–March 1, at Teachers College, Columbia University. This year’s edition highlights Afro-Latino historical memory, cultural influence, and continuity, situating films from Latin America and Spain within a broader global dialogue around Black History Month.

Afro-Latino / Hispanic Legacies: African Memory in Spain and Uruguay

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Opening the series on Friday evening, the Afro-Latino / Hispanic Legacies program highlights the African retention in the cultures of Spain and Uruguay.

Candombe (Uruguay, 1993), directed by Rafael Deugenio, traces how the Afro-Uruguayan community preserved Candombe, the Black music of Uruguay, as a resilient symbol of African identity through centuries of marginalization. The film captures music not simply as folklore, but as continuity.

Gurumbé: Afro-Andalusian Memories (Spain, 2016), directed by Miguel Ángel Rosales, unearths the “hidden” African roots of Spanish culture, tracing the profound influence of enslaved Africans on Flamenco and reclaiming the Black contribution to Iberian musical and social history.

Together, these films reposition Europe and Latin America within the African diaspora, challenging narratives that erase Black presence in Latino / Hispanic cultural history.

Black Images on Film and TV in Brazil

Sunday’s program examines representation and power across media history in Brazil.

Denying Brazil (Brazil, 2000), directed by Joel Zito Araújo, analyzes decades of Brazilian telenovelas, exposing the systematic exclusion and stereotyping of Afro-Brazilian actors and revealing how the “white gaze” shaped national identity through television.

Marighella (Brazil, 2019), directed by Wagner Moura, offers a visceral political portrait of Afro-Brazilian revolutionary Carlos Marighella. The film restores the image of a leader whose political legacy was marginalized, standing as the embodied counterpoint to the distortions explored in Denying Brazil.

The program also includes the classic film Intruder in the Dust (USA, 1949), directed by Clarence Brown. Starring Juano Hernández — the first Afro-Latino star in Hollywood — Intruder in the Dust presents a Black landowner who refuses subservience in the face of mob violence. Hernández’s performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 1950, marking a historic breakthrough in American cinema.

Gurumbé and Marighella available for streaming

In addition to the theatrical screenings, Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories and Marighella, are now available on [ArtMattan TV], expanding access to these vital Afro-Latino narratives beyond the festival.

Event Information

What: ADIFF Black History Month Film Series 2026
When: February 27–March 1, 2026
Where: Teachers College, Columbia University
525 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027
Tickets: www.nyadiff.org

FRIDAY, FEB 27 – TC
6:00 PM | Afro-Latino / Hispanic Legacies

Candombe — Dir. Rafael Deugenio (Uruguay, 1993, 16 min)
Gurumbé: Afro-Andalusian Memories — Dir. Miguel Ángel Rosales (Spain, 2016, 1h12)

8:00 PM | Restored African-American Classic

Will — Dir. Jessie Maple (USA, 1981, 1h20)

SATURDAY, FEB 28 – TC

The Power of Political Engagement

12:30 PM: Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker — Dir. Joanne Grant (USA, 1981, 1h03)
2:00 PM: The Stuart Hall Project — Dir. John Akomfrah (UK, 2013, 1h38)
4:00 PM: Lumumba: Death of a Prophet — Dir. Raoul Peck (France / Haiti, 1990, 1h09)

South African History Program

5:30 PM: Shaka iLembe — Dir. Angus Gibson, Zeno Petersen, and Adze Ugah (South Africa, 2023, 2h)
8:00 PM: Legacy: The Decolonized History of South Africa — Dir. Tara Moore (South Africa, 2024, 1h49)

SUNDAY, MAR 1 – TC

Black Images on Film and TV in Brazil and the USA