Margarita Aponte

In 1939, in a French prison camp, José Garcés of the defeated Spanish Republican army raises the spirits of his fellow prisoners by telling the story of the year he was 8 years old, 1911, in a small town in northeastern Spain. He was a rascal, baffling his father, always in trouble, and in love with Valentina, a neighbor girl. On his roof top at night he sends semaphore messages to her. He writes poems. He gets them into trouble, killing her father's breeding pigeons. When the two families camp at a decaying castle, his tutor, a sympathetic priest, tells him about the most valiant men, the saints, the heroes, and the poets. Already a poet, he learns a lesson about being a hero.

Rafael Ríos Rey painted more than 40 large murals in Puerto Rico, many of them in important public buildings. This documentary showcases some of his murals, which captured the peasant fiestas, the carnival, the gathering of coffee beans, the sugar cane harvest, the local Ponce traditions, and cockfights.

The papier-mâché mask is part of the costume used by the vejigante, one of the characters of the Ponce Carnival, which is held every year during the month of February. Don Miguel Caraballo learns as a child to craft these masks. Over the years, he creates his own style and develops a method of meticulous work, achieving the recognition of being called Ponce's best craftsman of masks.

How fair is it for the government to control its citizens? Four Puerto Ricans confront their past when they open their “files”, the records obtained of the illegal surveillance and persecution that the Puerto Rican government held against citizens and organizations that disagreed with the establishment. Through their daily life, they will tell us their stories, experiences and intimate feelings of the persecution they suffered. Taking their past as an example, we will confront the present.

The testimonies of some artists on mural painting in Puerto Rico, as well as art historians and curators, offer multiple perspectives of the mural paintings in different geographical areas of the island.

The testimonies of some artists on mural painting in Puerto Rico, as well as art historians and curators, offer multiple perspectives of the mural paintings in different geographical areas of the island.

Amalia is extremely shy, keeping her from socializing with people around her. The music that her neighobr interprets is her way of relaxation. An event brings the threat that the piano will be gone, putting at risk her intimate space of security.

Amalia is extremely shy, keeping her from socializing with people around her. The music that her neighobr interprets is her way of relaxation. An event brings the threat that the piano will be gone, putting at risk her intimate space of security.