Life & Debt: 25th Anniversary

In a post-independence speech condemning the International Monetary Fund (IMF), former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley declared, "The Jamaican government will not accept anybody, anywhere in the world telling us what to do in our own country. Above all, we're not for sale."

Twenty-five years after its release, award-winning filmmaker Stephanie Black’s Life and Debt remains a powerful examination of globalization’s lasting impact on Jamaica. This feature-length documentary explores how structural adjustment policies imposed by the IMF, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank reshaped the island’s economy and society, tracing the consequences of debt, trade liberalization, and international economic intervention for Jamaican workers and farmers. As Life & Debt returns to the screen, it offers a timely look at Jamaica’s ongoing struggle for economic sovereignty and self-determination.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A.