Join us this Sunday October 30th at 3pm at El Maestro for a fundraiser supporting the documentary film Who is Albizu Campos? – Later that night you can see clips from the film at Camaradas Movie Night @8pm.
See flyers for more details
El Maestro – October 30th at 3pm
Camaradas – October 30th at 8pm
Illustration by Editorial El Antillano
“When tyranny is law revolution is order.” – Pedro Albizu Campos, 1932
Like most of the nearly 2 million Puerto Ricans growing up in New York City in the 1980s, I had never heard the name Pedro Albizu Campos. It wasn’t until 1998, at a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the United States’ takeover of Puerto Rico, that I found a photocopied, out-of-print biography: Albizu Campos: Puerto Rican Revolutionary. I was amazed; A Harvard-educated lawyer and the self-proclaimed president of Puerto Rico?! A martyr to some and a terrorist to others?! The mastermind behind an attempted assassination of President Truman, yet a man described repeatedly as a “saint” by those who knew him? How could I not have known about this man? Why has he been erased from history? It was at that point that I decided to one-day answer the question: Who is Albizu Campos?
Regarded as the “Puerto Rican Malcolm X” – El Maestro – The Teacher; as he was affectionately known, would become the symbol of Puerto Rican identity, culture and resistance. A father, a husband and a tragic idealist, he was an incorruptible figure, who shunned riches, and defended the poor. A “stick of dynamite in suspenders”, who would spend over 25 years of his life rotating in an out of U.S. prisons, never compromising his vision of a free and sovereign Puerto Rico.
Albizu is a documentary film poised to revitalize the legacy of Puerto Rico’s most prominent freedom fighter. The compelling story of Albizu’s unswerving mission to liberate Puerto Rico will also resonate with a global community wrestling with issues of terrorism, cultural identity, and national self-determination today.
My mission as a filmmaker has been to create art that educates and inspires social change, and this film has extensive educational possibilities. Despite the immensity of Albizu Campos’ legacy and the impact that he had in the United States and Puerto Rico, there are no English language books currently in circulation about the subject. This project will be a main source of information for an entire generation of English speaking Latinos, public school educators, and students of every level of study in political science, philosophy, history and sociology. This film has the potential to impact both national and international audiences, as it simultaneously explores key moments in the social, political and cultural histories of the United States, Puerto Rico and Latin America.
Taking on this project has been a joy for me, and I’ve been working virtually on my own for the last 3 years, but a project of this magnitude doesn’t get completed without a talented crew of Producers, Editors, Camera Operators, and Musicians. We have finally reached the point where its time to hire a crew and head into production. The project will be filmed in High Definition – Reenactments will be shot in 16mm film and many scenes in the project will be animated – Travel, Crew, Animation, Licensing Footage, Photos and Music make projects like this expensive.
We are fundrasing for the FINAL production trip in November.
All donations over $20.00 will receive a thank you credit in the DVD version of the documentary. Donations over 100.00 are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor From The Heart Productions. 5% of all contributions will be donated to the J/P Haitian Relief Organization.
How can you contribute?
1. Via Paypal. Click on the donate button in the upper right hand corner of this page or go to paypal.com, sign in, and then donate to the account mtorres@whoisalbizu.com
2. Via check made out to Albizu Documentary, and mailed to
Albizu LLC 3641 Motor Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90034
3. Via The Community Film Project, where you can choose from a variety of contribution packages.
