The Alma Film Festival Announces Partnership with iTravel for Culture on New Six-Part Cultural Travel Series, The Secret Is Samaná

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Las Terrenas, Samaná, Dominican Republic — The Alma Film Festival is proud to announce a creative partnership with filmmaker and cultural documentarian Reggie Gibbs and his platform iTravel for Culture on the release of The Secret Is Samaná, a six-part cultural documentary travel series exploring the people, history, food, and everyday life of the Samaná Peninsula.

The series will roll out in the weeks leading up to the 2026 Alma Film Festival, with five episodes premiering in advance and a featured screening of the final episode during the festival itself. The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to authentic cultural storytelling, place-based discovery, and meaningful engagement with the communities that shape the identity of the region.

Series Overview
The Secret Is Samaná is a cinematic cultural travel docu-series that moves beyond typical destination coverage to uncover the stories that define community life. Each episode explores the peninsula through lived experience—highlighting food, history, memory, and human connection while revealing how culture is expressed in everyday moments.

Episode Schedule (Season 2026)

  • S2026 E01 – Discovering Las Terrenas | Where Culture Meets the Caribbean
    Thursday, February 12 @ 3:00 PM

  • S2026 E02 – 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Visiting Las Terrenas
    Thursday, February 19 @ 3:00 PM

  • S2026 E03 – Eating Like a Local in Las Terrenas
    Thursday, February 26 @ 3:00 PM

  • S2026 E04 – Cultural Foods of the Samaná Peninsula
    Thursday, March 5 @ 3:00 PM

  • S2026 E05 – Santa Bárbara: The Cultural City on the Samaná Peninsula
    Thursday, March 12 @ 3:00 PM

  • S2026 E06 – America’s Lost Black Community
    Thursday, March 12 @ 3:00 PM

Featured Festival Screening
The final episode, The Secret Is Samaná: America’s Lost Black Community, will be showcased during the Alma Film Festival as part of the official program.

Set along the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic, the film uncovers a rarely told chapter of American history—the story of Black Americans who left the United States in search of freedom and built enduring communities on the Samaná Peninsula. Through conversations, location-based storytelling, and lived experience, the documentary explores migration, memory, identity, and belonging across generations.

A Shared Vision for Cultural Storytelling
Created and hosted by Reggie Gibbs, iTravel for Culture is a documentary platform dedicated to exploring global culture through the lens of everyday people doing extraordinary things. His work blends travel, history, and social observation in a cinematic style rooted in long-form documentary storytelling.

The partnership with the Alma Film Festival aligns closely with the festival’s destination-based, experience-driven approach—connecting visitors not only to films, but to the people, communities, and cultural landscapes that shape them.

Quote from Anthony R. Page, Founder & Festival Director, Alma Film Festival:

“We’re incredibly excited about this partnership with Reggie Gibbs and iTravel for Culture. What he has created with The Secret Is Samaná speaks directly to the spirit of the Alma Film Festival and to our shared belief in the necessity of something new—new ways of seeing, new ways of engaging, and new ways of honoring the stories that live within communities.

This series embodies our pillars of purpose in action. It sparks conversation, builds connection, strengthens community, and opens the door for deeper collaboration rooted in cultural understanding. Through this kind of storytelling, we move toward cultural diplomacy and collective growth, allowing people to experience Samaná not as spectators, but as participants in a living narrative.

We’re grateful for Reggie’s partnership, and we truly value his long-term commitment to this work. His approach aligns beautifully with our vision of the festival as a destination-based, experience-driven cultural convening—one that centers real people, lived experience, and shared discovery. We appreciate the care and intention behind this series and are proud to grow this collaboration into the future.”

As the episodes release in the weeks leading up to the festival, The Secret Is Samaná will serve as an entry point for audiences around the world to connect with the region before arriving—offering context, understanding, and a deeper appreciation for the people and stories that define the peninsula.

The collaboration reflects Alma’s broader commitment to cultural diplomacy, destination storytelling, and building meaningful creative partnerships that extend well beyond the festival itself.

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