Diego Echeverria

Los Sures

A documentary on the inhabitants of South Williamsburg, New York, whose lives are explored through the testimony of five inhabitants of the Brooklyn neighborhood. In the late 70s and early 80s, Los Sures was one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City. In fact, it had been called the worst ghetto in America. Diego Echeverria's film skillfully represents the challenges of its time: drugs, gang violence, crime, abandoned real estate, racial tension, single-parent homes, and inadequate local resources. The complex portrait also celebrates the vitality of this largely Puerto Rican and Dominican community, showing the strength of their culture, their creativity, and their determination to overcome a desperate situation.

Puerto Rico: A Colony the American Way

A report on the political, social, and economic problems of Puerto Rico in the early 1980s and on the impact of the island's eighty-four-year-old link to the United States. Features interviews with leaders of the Puerto Rican Socialist and Independence parties, Governor Romero Barcelo, U.S. Congressman Ronald Dellums, and the Puerto Rican people themselves.