Chasing the Cure follows a group of young New Yorkers who come together to fight the effects of the pandemic on their community, including Tomas Ramos, a 2020 Congressional candidate who refocuses his efforts and community-building abilities towards tackling the challenges the Bronx faces that were being exacerbated COVID-19. Eventually, Ramos launches a nonprofit with the help of his friends, Jason Autar and Cyrille Njikeng, and together through the Bronx Rising Initiative, they tackle one of the biggest challenges of the pandemic – getting New Yorkers vaccinated.

The film gives an up-close and personal look at how the early days of COVID-19 impacted New York City, its poorest borough and the country’s historically marginalized communities. Taking us through the ups and downs of pandemic response, the film brings together activists, community members and healthcare workers fighting to vaccinate and heal their community. Chasing the Cure reminds us that, together, we can conquer all and rise together.

Cyrille Njikeng works as a Managing Director at the Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising Initiative. He has a passion for community engagement and hopes to continue positively engaging youth and inspiring the Bronx community through filmmaking.

Greg Parker is one of the co-founders of Top Notch Cinema. He is an Emmy award-winning producer who understands video production for business. Over the past two decades, he has dedicated himself to the complete understanding of Cinematography, Editing, and Sound.

Marco Vitale is an award-winning filmmaker with over 10 years experience in cinematography. During his career, which includes filming the Obama’s meeting with Castro in Cuba back in 2016.

Tomas Ramos is the founder and president of the Oyate Group and all its initiatives. Tomas founded the Oyate Group in July 2020 to address the effects of the pandemic on his community and has since fought food insecurity in the Bronx, created a sought-after scholarship for Bronx youth headed to college and launched the organization’s COVID-19 vaccination initiative, leading to over 40,000 New Yorkers being vaccinated in 2021.

Jason Austar is the chief operating officer of the Oyate Group and all its initiatives. He oversees the programmatic work of the organization and all of the nonprofit’s staff. Jason has been featured in local, national and international media and has been recognized as one of New York’s top Black leaders and executives by Crain’s New York and a Black Leader Worth Watching by Diversity Journal.

Lymarie Franciso is the Oyate Group’s project manager, overseeing the organization’s field work for its Bronx Rising Initiative and Uptown Rising Initiative. She and her team have knocked on over 10,000 doors to sign New Yorkers up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and fight vaccine hesitancy and led to 40,000 New Yorkers being vaccinated.

Richard Hernandez is an outreach coordinator for Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising and Uptown Rising Initiatives. In his role, he has conducted door-to-door outreach in public housing to sign up residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and fight vaccine hesitancy.

Israel Otero is an outreach coordinator for Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising and Uptown Rising Initiatives. In his role, he has conducted door-to-door outreach in public housing to sign up residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and fight vaccine hesitancy.

Melanie Pena is an outreach coordinator for Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising and Uptown Rising Initiatives. In his role, he has conducted door-to-door outreach in public housing to sign up residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and fight vaccine hesitancy.

Nelson Washington is an outreach coordinator for Oyate Group’s Bronx Rising and Uptown Rising Initiatives. In his role, he has conducted door-to-door outreach in public housing to sign up residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and fight vaccine hesitancy.

Showing dates coming soon.