The 17th annual Fist Up Festival was held from Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 1 to 4, 2026 at the La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. As unique and special festival, the event provided a space for both ingenuity and a welcoming community.
The Fist Up Film Festival was originally founded in 2010 by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, familiarly referred to as the “Fantauzzi brothers.” They started out as filmmakers themselves, and were often disappointed with traditional film festivals.
“We put all our love and energy and money into the film, and then film festivals would ask us to pay them for submission fees,” Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi said. As a result, the Jacobs-Fantauzzi’s made the decision to create a film festival that was accessible, fun, and promoted diversity and inclusivity.
The first film to play was “Enraizando,” a documentary connected to the Enraizar (Rooting Within) project, which brings young women of color from the Bay Area and Puerto Rico together through Puerto Rican Bomba (a traditional Afro-Puerto Rican music and dance genre). After the screening, members of the documentary team came onstage for a question-and-answer session.
The second film, “Beach Inna Bondage: The Fight for Jamaica’s Coastline,” was directed by Emiel Martens and Elsie Vermeer in collaboration with the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement. The documentary examines the struggle over public beach access in Jamaica, where private and tourist interests have increasingly restricted access to the coastline.
“(Fist Up Festival) sets itself apart from other events that La Peña has. It’s so community based, and every creator is hispanic,” Berkeley High School sophomore Julieta Pani Lugo said. Pani Lugo’s family runs the restaurant next door to the cultural center, Los Cilantros, which stays open late so that film festival-goers can eat.
The third film was titled “Call of the Jab,” by filmmaker Fletch Powers. To understand this film, it’s imperative to understand the concept of the JabJab, a Grenadian masquerade and carnival character rooted in historical resistance. “It’s a living breathing folklore,” Powers said. Others in the audience chimed in after Powers’ film was screened, sharing how their own culture had similar devils.
The fourth and final film to play that night was titled “Mataron A Pedro” (They Killed Pedro). It was a powerful film about the Puerto Rican activist leader, Pedro Albizu Campos. The film followed Campos’ love for his family, his influence in Puerto Rico, and the backlash he received for fighting for the rights of sugar cane workers. Encouraged by the Jacobs-Fantauzzi brothers, audience members stood up at times throughout the film, openly expressing their anger and frustration.
“Over these 17 years, what I’ve loved most is seeing films that I know my community would love,” Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi said, “Tonight was amazing, the energy in the room just filled my spirit. These films help us reimagine the world we want to live in.”