Canadian Premiere
History, religion, and colonialism collide with spiritual awakening, miracles, and poverty in Portobelo, Panama, where locals worship a black Jesus Christ. Culminating in the rapturous yearly festival, his most devout followers share how they came to their faith.
Supported by
Community Partner
Canada/Panama
2022
In Spanish with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Producer
Paul Stavropoulos, Brendan Mills
Cinematography
Paul Stavropoulos & Dean Gold
Editor
Paul Stavropoulos & Brendan Mills
Directors
Paul Stavropoulos
Paul is a Canadian director based in LA. His work focuses on challenging yet connective stories of love and light. He was a member of Werner Herzog’s 2018 Filmmaking Bootcamp. Paul was raised in Panama for most of his childhood.
Filmography: Sexual Being (2018); Cristo Negro (2023); De-Streamed (2023)
Brendan Mills
Brendan Mills is a Canadian director & editor whose work has been presented internationally at Venice Giornate degli Autori, Cannes Semaine de la Critique, SXSW, TIFF, NYFF, IFFR, Hot Docs, and more.
VIFF Short Forum
See more shorts in this series
1: Call your mother
Shorts from: Canada, China, UK.
2: Memory & mediation
Shorts from: Canada, France, Lebanon, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Syria, USA.
3: The peripheral core
Shorts from: Brazil, Canada, Japan, Norway, USA.
4: Um, womanhood
Shorts from: Canada, Columbia, France, Netherlands, Sweden.
5: The absurd & spiritual
Shorts from: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal.
6: City slickin’
Shorts from: Canada, France, Jordan, Spain, USA.
7: All day I dream about
Shorts from: Canada, India, Spain, Taiwan, USA.
8: Love and despair
Shorts from: China, France, Germany, Portugal, USA.
9: The scary one
Shorts from: Canada, Korea, Romania, USA.
10: The new socialism; ceasefire now!
Shorts from: Belgium, Canada, China, India, Myanmar, UK.
Short Fuse
An eye-opening collection of shorts exploring memories, experiences and relationships between friends, family, and across generations. From powwows in North America, to the rivers of Ethiopia and beyond, these shorts offer memorable stories on screen.