Nuyorican Cinema: Films of the Puerto Rican Diaspora

NEW YORK (www.mcny.org) - Spanning nearly three decades, the fictional narrative films produced by Puerto Ricans born or raised in New York City vividly depict the transformation of El Barrio's Puerto Rican community better known as El Barrio. Judith Escalona, Director of PRdream.com, offers an overview of the community through film. Welected film clips also illustrate the development of this important but still unknown part of American independent cinema.

"Screening these features and short films in chronological order allows one to grasp the transformation of the Puerto Rican from rural immigrant to urban denizen with all of its complexity and pain." notes Escalona. "It also represents the first decades of Latino filmmaking in the eastern part of the United States and continues to speak to the soul of today's New York City Latino community which, while predominantly Puerto Rican, has become more diversely enriched by Cubans, Dominicans, Mexicans, and Central and South Americans."

Early on, the Puerto Rican diasporic narratives included racially and ethnically diverse characters in leading roles. Bilingual or multilingual, Nuyorican Cinema organically develops meaning from its linguistic diversity. Spanish and English are interchanged for affective value.
Emotionally intense scenes are rendered in Spanish or Spanglish. Distinctions of origin, class, education and background are codified through the choice of Spanish, Spanglish, English and slang.

Clips: The Krutch directed by Judith Escalona with Jaime Sanchez; Vote for Me by Nelson Denis; The Sun and the Moon w/ Jose Ferrer with a cameo by Pedro Prieti; House of Ramon Iglesias; and La Carreta where it all began.

WHEN/WHERE: @ the Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue btwn 103rd &104th Streets
Saturday, April 2nd. 2005
3 p.m. - 5 p.m.