This Island / Esta Isla

Winner of Best New Narrative Director, Special Jury Mention for U.S. Narrative Feature, and Best Cinematography after its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival, Puerto Rican directing-producing duo Lorraine Jones Molina and Cristian Carretero’s debut feature riffs on classic cinematic tropes of forbidden love and coming of age to deliver a deeply personal and poignant portrait of the Puerto Rican experience that dives deep into the complexities of identity, resilience and colonial legacy.

Siblings Charlie and Bebo maintain a humble but freewheeling lifestyle living in a public housing complex in their coastal Puerto Rican town. They drink and party together — often on the beach, at night, with friends — and by day, they try to make ends meet as fishermen with the occasional side hustle. Against this backdrop, teenage Bebo meets and falls in love with Lola, a young woman from a privileged family. But when Charlie becomes embroiled in shady dealings running up against the business of a local drug dealer, the young lovers flee and seek shelter deep in the island’s untamed and isolated mountains… biding their time to evade peril.