Maysles Documentary Center + Black Cinema Collective present
RiZe Up
A Film Screening + Hurricane Relief Fundraiser Event for Jamaica
LIFE & DEBT film still, courtesy of artist, Stephanie Black
This fundraiser event has passed but you can continue to donate via vetted relief efforts here:
Saturday, December 13th, 2025, 7PM
7:00-9:30PM – Film screening + conversation
9:30PM-Midnight – After Party with DJ Belinda Becker + surprise musical guest
A group of artists, organizers, and scholars come together to raise awareness about the emergency relief needs in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa, and how to rebuild sustainably in a region threatened by more frequent and powerful storms due to climate change.
LIFE & DEBT , 2001, 87 minutes
A film by Stephanie Black
Utilizing excerpts from the award-winning non-fiction text “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Life & Debt is a woven tapestry of sequences focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the U.S. and other foreign economic agendas. Life and Debt addresses the impact of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and current globalization policies on a developing country such as Jamaica.
Narration written by Jamaica Kincaid, based on A Small Place
Cinematography: Malik Sayeed, Kyle Kibbe, Richard Lannaman & Alex Nepomniaschy
Editor: John Mullen
Associate Producer: Sarah Manley
Original Music by Mutabaruka
Kincaid Text read by Belinda Becker
Utilizing excerpts from the award-winning non-fiction text A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, LIFE & DEBT is a woven tapestry of sequences focusing on the stories of individual Jamaicans whose strategies for survival and parameters of day-to-day existence are determined by the US and other foreign economic agendas. LIFE & DEBT addresses the impact of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and current globalization policies on a developing country such as Jamaica.
100% of ticket sales goes to Hurricane Relief in Jamaica!
Ticket tiers:
$100 - Film & Refreshments and surprise gift
$75 - Film & Refreshments and surprise gift
$50 - Film & Refreshments
$35 - Film & Refreshments
Proceeds to benefit relief organizers, Donisha Prendergast, Nikki Z, and more, providing supplies to individuals impacted in the most devastated parishes and remote areas of St. Elizabeth, St. James, Trelawny, and Westmoreland.
LIFE & DEBT film still, courtesy of artist, Stephanie Black
Post-Conversation
Leo Douglas, Environmentalist with expertise in Jamaica; Clinical Associate Professor at Liberal Studies, NYU; and the 2023-2025 Director of the Caribbean Initiative within NYU's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Nadine McNeil, Humanitarian, healer and logistics veteran, merging 23+ years of UN crisis response with somatic wisdom and yoga teaching, currently serving on the ground in Westmoreland, St. James and St. Elizabeth, immediately after Hurricane Melissa.
Denise Thompson, Development Studies scholar with expertise in disaster risk reduction, management, and public policy in the Caribbean; Director of the MPA in Inspection and Oversight; and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Management, John Jay College, CUNY
