Films That Move Festival supports community healing
Published:Saturday | November 29, 2025 | 12:05 AM
Films That Move is hosting a winter edition festival dubbed ‘The Calm After the Storm’ to provide emotional, mental, and physical support to those affected by Hurricane Melissa. Dwayne ‘Stewy’ Stewart, director and co-founder of Films That Move, said that while the circumstances are unfortunate, he is grateful their platform can offer relief and support people in a holistic way.
“We’re gonna give part proceed of the funds from tickets [sales] and there’s an online site for donations in which all of that will go directly to those dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane,” Stewart told The Gleaner.
He said they have partnered with the Jamaica Psychology Society (JamPsych) and their psychologists to offer free online mental health group sessions for first responders and hurricane victims. Five therapists are already on board for sessions running from November to December, with plans to extend the programme into next year.
“Not diminishing the importance of the immediate help and essentials, but people are gonna need that mental help after losing some or everything. Kids also go through their own pain and sometimes they get push[ed] to the side. So, Christina Walker is on board as our main child psychologist,” Stewart noted.
With this year’s theme, ‘Growing Pains: Transitions and the Journey of Becoming’, reflecting the current challenges and losses in Jamaica, the director noted that the submissions are expected to transform messages, heal painful memories, and provide comfort to affected survivors.
Speaking on the decision of the theme, Stewart explained that, “When we decided on the theme of ‘Growing Pains’, we wanted to delve in people becoming who they are, what kind of journey [they’ve] went through ... and we asked filmmakers to give us some of the keys on the map to help people with that story.”
He added, “The hurricane just kinda made it timely because now folks are going through different kind of growing pains that they didn’t expect [to] happen. It’s the first hurricane I kinda had to binge watch and, though I believe most of the country were prepared, I don’t think we could be as prepared as we needed to be for this.” He urged everyone to stay united, not just now but in the years ahead, as the rebuilding process will not be easy.
Films That Move is a mental health film festival in Jamaica, focused on cultural therapy. Showcasing films from creators around the world, the festival uses community spaces and storytelling to heal, educate, and entertain, one movie at a time. The event will take place at the Palace Cineplex, Sovereign Centre, at 1 p.m. on December 7.
Submissions include powerful stories from the Caribbean, Asia, Iran, and beyond. The - features the lead film A Touch of Sugar, by Vennessa Hanshaw and Mark Anthony Deacon, and Harvest, written and directed by Sekai Smart-Macaulay. Eleven other films will also be shown, with six set to receive special awards during the event.
“With a disaster like this that’s affecting so many people, we owe that responsibility to impose on this audience and our future audiences, and to our country, as that’s what we set out to do,” said Stewart. Persons who wish to seek help, counselling are asked to make direct contact via email at filmsthatmove ja@gmail.com.