El santero

El santero 1956

5.20

Zoilo Cajigas y Sotomayor is a carver of wooden models of saints. Don Zoilo is one of Puerto Rico's best-known artisans and was 96 years old at the time of the filming. The film shows the elaborate process behind his craftsmanship.

1956

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

La noche de don Manuel

La noche de don Manuel 1963

1

A generational conflict is reflected in the old-fashioned ideas of the landowner, who imposes himself as a dominant figure in the political activity of the rural communities of Puerto Rico.

1963

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

Brainless John

Brainless John 1959

5.20

A man believes all the advertising he hears.

1959

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

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

Intolerance

Intolerance 1959

1

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

1959

Modesta

Modesta 1956

5.00

Prize winner, Venice Festival 1956. 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 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

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

La guardarraya

La guardarraya 1964

1

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

1964

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

The Awaited Man

The Awaited Man 1964

1

A historic adaptation of the life of José Pablo Morales who fought against an exploitative system of payment to day laborers during the reign of the Spanish governor General Juan de la Pezuela in mid nineteenth century Puerto Rico.

1964

The Jug

The Jug 1964

1

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

1964

Doña Julia

Doña Julia 1955

1

The story revolves around the sickness of Dona Julia’s daughter Maria. After a bad experience at the local hospital, she seeks cures through non-traditional medical care. When the potions that she administers fail to cure her daughter, she is persuaded to return the girl to the hospital where she is properly diagnosed and cured.

1955