The fabulous, fascinating FREDA SIDEROFF joins us to describe the GARIFUNA FILM FESTIVAL ( http://garifunafilmfestival.com/2015/03/may-22-25-4th-annual-garifuna-film-festival/ )upcoming May 22-25 in Venice, California. Freda is a member of the indigenous Garifuna culture, one million humans strong, based largely in the Caribbean regions of St. Vincent, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras….but with “diaspora” representatives through the western hemisphere.
Currently a resident of Topanga Canyon, Freda tells us in transcendent detail about the ethereal nature of the Garifuna culture, which dates back way before Columbus, has been mixed with African immigration, and continues to thrive throughout the Americas.
Her festival is a celebration of indigenous cultures, featuring the likes of ALUNA, a gorgeous exploration of native resistance to the destruction of our planet. GARIFUNA MEDICINE tells us about an indigenous hospital in rural central America, completely off-grid, powered entirely by solar energy.
The festival also features a talk from Joseph Paulino, the police chief of the San Bernardino City School System, himself a Garifuna. And a performance by Danza Temachtia Quetzalcoatl, the resident Aztec dance group at Tia Chucha’s Centro in the San Fernando Valley.
Needless to say, Freda is a brilliant representative of a beautiful nature-based culture with much to offer to a mass society poised on the brink of self-destruction.