CSIFF26 (Oct 9–11, 2026) in New York features five Jamaican and Jamaican-American filmmakers with nominations across documentary, screenplay and cinematography categories; a special Jamaican Stories screening in Queens gathers several Jamaican-themed films.
Hanif James earned three nominations — Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography — for A Shade of Indigo, a narrative about colorism and generational trauma.
Three documentaries by Jamaican filmmakers are nominated: Jamar Cleary’s Raizal: The Jamaican Connection, Simon Mais’s Bob Marley Beach: The Fight for Your Right, and Laurie Lambert’s Tambu.
CSIFF26 opens Oct 9 in Manhattan with industry panels, moves to Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills on Oct 10–11, and features a Jamaican Stories screening on Oct 10 at 7:00 PM.
Festival (CSIFF26) runs October 9–11, 2026, in New York and includes multiple filmmakers of Jamaican descent among its nominees. Five filmmakers — Hanif James, Jamar Cleary, Simon Mais, Laurie Lambert and Safiyah Chiniere — have films up for awards in categories that include Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
Hanif James received three nominations for A Shade of Indigo: Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. The narrative follows a six-year-old, Kerine, whose creation of a rag doll sparks a family exploration of colorism, beauty and generational trauma.
Connection, which traces the historical and cultural links between Jamaica and the Raizal people of San Andrés, Colombia, and examines migration, language, music and traditions.
Right, a film that looks at public access to Bob Marley Beach and the site's cultural, environmental and historical importance.
Jamaican-American filmmaker Laurie Lambert is nominated for Best Documentary for Tambu, a film about TambuFest and the drumming and dance traditions on the island, connecting them to African diasporic memory and histories of slavery and indenture.
Safiyah Chiniere, also Jamaican-American, is nominated for Best Cinematography for the narrative short If Only You Knew, which follows a woman confronting her father about his absence.
The festival opens Friday, October 9 at HB Playwrights Theatre, 124 Bank Street in Manhattan's West Village. Opening day programming includes industry panels and professional development sessions. The festival moves to Regal UA Midway, 108-22 Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, for October 10–11. Program elements include film screenings, filmmaker conversations, red carpet events and an awards celebration.
A Jamaican Stories screening is scheduled for Saturday, October 10 at 7:00 PM at Regal UA Midway in Forest Hills. That event will gather several films and stories connected to Jamaica and Jamaican heritage.
Organizer background and festival focus
Conch Shell Productions, the New York City nonprofit that founded CSIFF in 2021, develops and presents theatre and film by Caribbean heritage artists. The organization cites its first production, The Hunting Season, in 2018 and reports having supported more than 120 Caribbean heritage film and theatre artists and reached over 15,000 audience members in person and online. The festival's 2026 theme is "Our Culture Lives in Our Stories."
What this means for Jamaican filmmakers
Multiple nominations across narrative and documentary categories indicate festival programming that foregrounds migration histories, cultural memory, public-access issues and family dynamics tied to Jamaican experiences. The Jamaican Stories screening offers a concentrated presentation of Jamaican-themed work and a chance for audiences and industry attendees to see those films together.
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