This Thursday night at the literary café Busboys and Poets in D.C., the Smithsonian Latino Center will present two of the few DIVEDCO films addressing blackness in Puerto Rico, “El Resplandor” and “Nenén de la Ruta Mora.”
Relatively unknown, “El Resplandor” is one of the island’s most powerful films, telling a story of insurrection on a sugar plantation on the eve of the abolition of slavery. In a surreal adaptation of the island’s folklore, “Nenén de la Ruta Mora” is a poetic tale of a young boy from Loíza and his imaginary playmate. Discussion about these films will be led and facilitated by Marvette Pérez, Curator of Latino History from the National Museum of American History.
These films are available only in Spanish; a written, English-language overview will be available for viewers who do not speak Spanish. Please see the attached flyer for more information about this program, including start time and location.flyer-nenen-and-el-resplandor2
For more information and a full calendar of events for the series “Puerto Rico at the Smithsonian,” be sure to visit www.latino.si.edu.