At Voices Rising Film Festival, Stories of Service and Survival Light the Screen

Marking ten years of impact, the 2025 Voices Rising Festival spotlights Lessons from 100 and Lluvia de Peces, powerful films on legacy and resilience.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, October 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Voices Rising Film Festival will make an impact in both Brooklyn (November 8, 2025) and on Long Island (November 15, 2025) this fall, with a lineup that rejects complacency and reclaims compassion. This year’s program pairs Lessons from 100: Reflections in My Centennial Year, a film by filmmaker Matthew Floyd, with Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fish), a film by Honduran-American director Andrés Mejía, two standout films that explore legacy, migration, and the endurance of spirit. Together, they form the emotional centerpiece of a festival marking ten years of stories that challenge, uplift, and unite.

In celebration of Love Wins platform’s 11th anniversary, Voices Rising has evolved from a grassroots Long Island showcase into a nationally recognized platform for filmmakers who challenge convention and champion truth. The festival extends the vision of founder Jaret Martino’s award-winning production company Love Wins Productions, honored at Chelsea, Soho, and a myriad of Festivals around the world for projects including Driven, DONNA: Stronger Than Pretty, The Worst Day of My Life, and more.

On November 8, Love Wins Productions will debut LLUVIA DE PECES, a cinematic expansion of Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fish) and winner of “Best Screenplay” at both the 2025 International Indie Film & Screenplay Festival and Salute Your Shorts Film Festival. Directed by Mejía and produced by Martino, the project deepens the original film’s surreal yet political world, exploring systemic trauma and generational resilience through the immigrant experience.

Presented in collaboration with the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC), the first undocumented youth-led organization in New York, this year’s Voices Rising Film Festival continues its tradition of pairing art with activism. NYSYLC empowers immigrant youth through education, policy advocacy, and organizing—equipping a new generation to lead campaigns that humanize the immigrant experience and drive systemic change.

Alongside NYSYLC, SEPA Mujer empowers Latina immigrant women through legal advocacy, leadership development, and civic action, turning survival into leadership and lived experience into justice. Their partnership with the festival echoes a shared belief that storytelling can shift public perception faster than legislation ever could.

Martino and Mejía will open the festival with a live discussion alongside NYSYLC and SEPA Mujer, examining how storytelling can reframe policy debates and reclaim narratives often told for, but not by, immigrant communities.

“Immigrants have always been told our pain must be palatable,” said Mejía. “This film rejects that. It’s our story—unfiltered, unedited, and finally our own.”

Voices Rising Festival Founder Jaret Martino says this year’s program arrives at a defining cultural moment. “This year’s festival asks a question we can’t ignore,” said Martino. “In a season where politics too often weaponize fear, these films fight back with humanity. They remind us what’s at stake, our decency, history, and the world we’ll leave behind for the next generation.”

Screening November 15 at the Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center, Lessons from 100: Reflections in My Centennial Year captures more than a century; it captures the soul of one. Directed by Floyd, the film chronicles the luminous life of Dr. Jack Weber, a 101-year-old Navy veteran, humanitarian, and lifelong member of Lions Clubs International, whose philosophy of “service over self” becomes the film’s heartbeat.
Through Floyd’s lens, Lessons from 100 becomes an intergenerational dialogue about resilience, humility, and purpose. The film has received early honors from the Santa Fe International Film Festival and is under consideration for Lions Clubs International’s Global Humanitarian Media Award.

“He’s proof that optimism is its own form of resistance,” said Floyd. “After a century of change, his greatest lesson is that joy is something we give, not something we find.”

As Voices Rising enters its next decade, it remains a collective of storytellers who turn truth into art and empathy into action, proving that, in the right hands, film can still move the world forward.

Festival Schedule:

November 8, 2025 — The Kumble Theater @ Long Island University, Brooklyn (1 University Plz, Brooklyn, NY)
Press Check-In: 2:15 PM | Red Carpet: 2:30 PM
Screenings & Panels: 3:15 PM – 10 PM
Afterparty: Story Bar (364 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY) directly following final panel

November 15, 2025 — The Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center (20 Terry St #121, Patchogue, NY)
Press Check-In: 10:45 AM | Red Carpet: 11 AM
Screenings & Panel: 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM

Press and media seeking festival passes or interview credentials may contact Jade Umbrella PR. Tickets start at $35 and are available on FilmFreeway.

About Voices Rising Film Festival: Founded by filmmaker and activist Jaret Martino, the Festival serves as a national platform for independent filmmakers whose work blends creativity with conscience. Alongside its sister event, the Love Wins Film Festival, Voices Rising curates films that elevate untold stories, promote inclusion, and spark meaningful dialogue across communities. Its mission extends beyond the screen, building partnerships and initiatives that nurture emerging artists while advancing Martino’s vision of a more compassionate, connected creative industry.

Stacey Barker
Jade Umbrella. PR
+1 323-833-8358
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