Adriana Bosch is fantastic—humble, open, present, giving, loving, sincere, and elegant. Really. She came in as an equal and a woman artist sharing her journey.  Her latest documentary, Letters to Eloisa, is a lyrical must-watch profile dedicated to the late and great José Lezama Lima. It airs tonight—October 15— on PBS 10-11 p.m. EST (check local listings) under the New Season of Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES. She wants people to watch this film. You will not regret it. Adriana captures so much in so little time. Towards the end, my tears just flowed. She knew how to place Lezama’s letters to his sister Eloisa to reveal everything she wanted to say. I guess that’s what artistic prowess, agility, and humanity are. Letters to Eloisa is an ode about “an obscured artist.” And yet, the film is about the larger picture—Cuban history, dissenters everywhere, artistic freedom, and the fragility of brave people. She has a lot to say about a man who lived by his word—no small feat. I hope sometime soon, Adriana Bosch gets a retrospective. She has a lot to give and say, and we need her, todos los que somo poetas de corazón.    + 2021 for me, has had a Cuban theme, and all I can say is that I’m grateful for it.  Earlier this year, I helped Pedrito Martínez with his album Acertijos (Riddles), now nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Tropical Album category. Find his production details here and follow him on IG, because it’s full of good percussion bites, and he’s a master. Then came We Have Iré. You can read and learn about that project here—music by Yosvany Terry with special guest Xiomara Laugart, words by Paul S. Flores. Directed by Rosalba Rolón of Pregones/PRTT in New York, We Have Iré is a multimedia theater work that portrays real-life stories of Cuban emigré artists real-life stories framed by Flores’s exploration of his roots as a Cuban-American as he traveled back to Cuba with them. Through the medium of music -- always an essential element in the Cuban story – We Have Iré relives their struggles to relocate to the US and explores the new identities they constructed in the process.  We Have Iré was commissioned and sponsored by the National Performance Network, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco, Pregones/PRTT in New York City, GALA Theatre in Washington D.C., MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San José, MECA-Houston, Miami  That’s all for now/ Regreso pronto—Back soon. It's been a ride this pandemic year...LOL Sol

Notes From A Native Daughter

134: Episode 134 | Adriana Bosch, director, Letters to Eloisa

133: Episode 133 | Carlos Gutierrez, 20 years of Cinema Tropical

She’s been a part of some cool stuff, like serving as a Curatorial Assistant for Latinx Studies at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She has worked with El Museo Del Barrio, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Loisaida Center, among other institutions. She was a 2018 Smithsonian Latino Museum Studies Fellow, a 2017 Museum Education Practicum participant at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She is an Editorial Assistant at Small Axe Journal (since 2018). She holds an MA in Latino, Caribbean, and Africana Studies from the CUNY Graduate Center and a BA in Latin American Studies and Art History from Purchase College. 

132: Episode 132 | Oriana E. Gonzales, Cultural Worker

131: NFAND Episode 131 | Mino Lora, People's Theater Project +

Bernardo Ruiz, is a two-time Emmy® Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. 

130: NFAND Episode 130 | Bernardo Ruiz, documentary filmmaker, Latino Vote

129: NFAND Episode 129 | Nansi Guevara, Border Artist, Activist, Freelance Design

128: NFAND Episode 128 | Nico Rodríguez Melo, MICA Center for Student Engagement

127: NFAND Episode 127 | Allina Migoni, reference librarian at the Library of Congress, American Folklife Center

126: NFAND EPSIODE 126 | Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Creative Justice Initiative

125: NFAND Episode 125 | Cecilia Aldarondo, filmmaker LANDFALL

The 45-minute talk that covers a gamut of topics from how Puerto Rican society is based on enslavement to how ultimately, “people value a joyful life and they know that joy doesn't come necessarily, and not that it's unimportant, but it doesn't come from money.”

124: NFAND Episode 124 | Frances Negrón Muntaner, Valor y Cambio, Lessons Learned

What black and brown people go through to strive for a better life is for the books of champions. Which brings me to Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez, another champion from The Bronx. His story is moving and filled with a type of God sent blessing is hard to explain. But it is, the skinny is that here’s a kid that took to comics back in the day when the Bronx was burnt and is known today far-and-wide for his comic La Borinqueña. 

123: CODA XXVI | Edgardo Miranda-Rodríguez (Take Two) The Ethics of Work

Gisela is one of Puerto Rico’s most recognized filmmakers and performers. She blends in with themes universal as in humanity first and particulars of Puerto Rico as in Jayá (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2K__dfInfY) . An unveiling of sorts, a daring artistic proposal because it is absent of pretense, and that is elegant.

122: NFAND Episode 122 | Gisela Rosario Ramos, artist, performer, editor, filmmaker

121: NFAND Episode 121 | Ben DeJesus, award-winning documentary filmmaker, director, producer

120: NFAND Episode 120 | Carmen Cruz, founder and organizer Silent Procession

Raw conversations about life and culture with artists of and from the Pan-American experience. Creative worker and conversationalist, Soldanela Rivera hosts this weekly series.

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Notes From A Native Daughter

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