Modesta

Modesta 1956

5.00

The DivEdCo’s most important attempt to depict women’s rights in the context of modernization processes in Puerto Rico. Modesta leads a group of women in Barrio Sonadora, Guaynabo, in a strike against their husbands to demand their rights in a domestic context.

1956

El yugo

El yugo 1959

6.00

The exploitation of fisherman in Fajardo, Puerto Rico and how the laborers reached their economic independence through operative alliances.

1959

Fragmento

Fragmento 1970

1

The effects of emotional neglect on an only child.

1970

La plena

La plena 1966

1

One of the DivEdCo's films that best depicts the history and evolution of another genre of popular music from the coasts and of African origin: the plena. It presents sequences of interpreters of those rhythms in Ponce, in the dances of the coastal areas, and the fusion of popular and refined genres in presentations by Ballets de San Juan of the ballet-plena by Amaury Veray, "Cuando las mujeres" ("When the Women").

1966

Desde las nubes

Desde las nubes 1949

1

The first documentary produced by the Division of Community Education (DivEdCo) featuring modern and experimental audio techniques with aerial shots of Puerto Rico showing its topography, educationally inserting the island within a world-wide historical context and highlighting its agricultural and social landscape.

1949

Pueblito de Santiago

Pueblito de Santiago 1970

1

Adapted from Mexico's "The Forgotten Village". It deals with the fight that develops from the superstitious and ignorant interpretation of a problem and its real, scientific solution.

1970

El gallo pelón

El gallo pelón 1961

1

In the community of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, the main character, played by the esteemed comedian José Miguel Agrelot, buys a washing machine for his wife. However, the town has no electrical power. The movie’s depiction of the jíbaro as naive and comical created a rift among the DivEdCo personnel, especially its community organizers. It was censored by the government and shelved for many years.

1961

I, Juan Ponce de León

I, Juan Ponce de León 1957

1

Details of the life of Juan Ponce de León, founder of the city of San Juan and first governor of Puerto Rico.

1957

La guardarraya

La guardarraya 1964

1

The location of the dividing line between two farms causes friction between two families.

1964

Splendor

Splendor 1961

7.50

It tells the story of a slave rebellion on a sugar plantation in the days leading up to the official abolition of slavery on the island on March 22, 1873.

1961

Los peloteros

Los peloteros 1951

6.00

A group of kids in a poverty-stricken Puerto Rican rural town need money to purchase baseball uniforms for little league.

1951

Brainless John

Brainless John 1959

5.20

A man believes all the advertising he hears.

1959

The Jug

The Jug 1964

1

A cautionary film about what were thought to be rural superstitions and practices in Puerto Rico.

1964

Intolerance

Intolerance 1959

1

A melodramatic romance that tells the story of a community that shuns the arrival of a new neighbor.

1959

Nenén of the Moorish Way

Nenén of the Moorish Way 1955

5.50

A young boy becomes intrigued by one of the characters in his village's celebration of its patron saint.

1955

El secreto

El secreto 1958

1

Illustrates the dilemma of a sugarcane worker who has a child out of wedlock without his wife’s knowledge.

1958

The One with White Shanks

The One with White Shanks 1955

1

The blacklisted American documentarian Willard Van Dyke filmed this tale about tobacco workers in the heart of the Puerto Rican countryside. Heeding their wives’ advice, individuals join forces in a cooperative so they can sell their crop of tobacco leaves at fair market value.

1955

Huracán

Huracán 1958

1

Aimed to educate the people, and especially those who lived in the most vulnerable areas, about important safety measures to be taken before, during, and after a storm. The film takes a decidedly modern, scientific approach in its discussion of hurricanes, and it goes to great lengths to dispel popular lore that many of the island’s under-educated inhabitants still relied on for weather predictions.

1958

Olas y arenas

Olas y arenas 1968

1

Posthumous homage to Sylvia Rexach, considered one of the best composers of popular Spanish music. Her daughter, Sharon Reily Rexach, plays the musical composition "Olas y Arenas".

1968