Patricia Connelly

Julia, a woman in her 70’s, has lived in a rent-stabilized building in the South Bronx for about fifty years when she receives notice that the building is being sold and redeveloped. She persuades her best friend Doris to go in with her to exercise a right of first refusal in their original leases to buy a unit together. They come up with a plan to pool their resources in order to qualify for a mortgage. Julia believes that together, along with Julia’s 47-year job at a local diner, they can make it work, qualify for a mortgage, and buy into the newly developed building. As soon as they make their plan, however, Julia learns she is being pushed out of her job: she is offered a separation agreement to leave with a hefty sum. Julia refuses to sign the agreement and threatens to sue the owner and she does not tell Doris. Julia is determined to stay in her home and maintain her independence, despite all of the obstacles she faces along the way. When Doris does not come home from a day-trip to Atlantic City, after two days, Julia is forced to share her plans with her daughter and hell breaks loose. Ultimately, Julia and Doris cannot stop the inescapable changes brought on by aging, new development, family needs, and lack of resources. In the end, Julia is forced to decide what home means and how to face this last chapter of her life.

Kwame and Baaba, husband and wife, have barely finished celebrating their son’s scholarship when he is accused of raping a girl who is now pregnant. Their son, Yoofi, denies the charge. Once the complaint is made to the local priest — the village leader and arbiter of justice — nobody can prevent him from placing a curse on the extended family in accordance with the centuries-old practice known as trokosi. The belief is that the curse will bring continual tragedy to the offender’s family, until the family atones by offering a young virgin girl to serve as a “wife to the gods.” In reality, the young girls become sex slaves to the priest. Realizing her 10-year-old daughter, Aku, is at risk to be named to serve, Baaba challenges the accusation and searches for a way around the curse. Kwame and the extended family want Yoofi to marry his accuser so her family will withdraw the accusation. Baaba, however, is unwilling to accept this solution because there is no guarantee the priest will remove the curse and they will have sacrificed Yoofi’s future for nothing. Baaba puts herself at risk to confront the priest and get help outside of the tribal community. In the end, as Baaba pits herself against family, religion, and tradition, she must decide how far she will go to save her daughter.

It’s 1969 in upstate New York, and eleven-year-old Margaret has been caught stealing milk from the local convent. Sister Anastasia takes pity on the impoverished girl, and admits her to the school. Sister Helen, a newcomer to the school with a dark past of her own, treats Margaret harshly, and takes great exception to Margaret being chosen to represent the school. Anastasia witnesses Helen’s shocking humiliation of Margaret, and Anastasia is forced to acknowledge her own role in hiding Sister Helen’s objectionable teaching record. As tensions in the school and community flare, Anastasia must decide whether to look the other way or take action and risk losing the school she has built.