PUERTO RICAN SHORT FILM NIGHT

A Fundraiser for the Diaspora of the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

Join us for a night of film, art, and Puerto Rican pastries with the DIASPORA OF THE PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE PARTY and LA ANTILLANA. We will be showcasing three short films that highlight the effects of colonialism in different manifestations throughout Puerto Rico’s history and remind us why we fight for the independence of Puerto Rico.

MATARON A PEDRO (2026, Kristian Mercado)

In 1930s Puerto Rico, Pedro Albizu Campos and his wife Laura Meneses navigate the island-wide sugar cane workers' strike, the brutal machinery of colonial repression, and the fierce, sustaining love between two people who refused to surrender their dignity or their dream of freedom.

MELAO (2024, Val Vega)

Nando, a desperate worker on a sugarcane plantation in 1950s Puerto Rico who struggles to care for his pregnant wife, until he fixes on a plan that he hopes will secure their future and lead them out of poverty, no matter how crazy it may seem.

MAREAS A LA DERIVA (2026, Camila Sofía Rodríguez López)

Maite, a young graffiti writer in Puerto Rico, faces a life-altering choice: leave the island for a promising career opportunity abroad or stay and navigate the challenges of a nation in crisis. During her mother’s birthday weekend, with her sister visiting from New York, Maite sees two possible futures reflected in them, one rooted in resilience and staying, the other shaped by the opportunities of leaving. Grappling with these paths, she is forced to reckon with a paradise built for tourists and outsiders to enjoy but for locals to labor in and endure, shaped by systemic neglect, colonialism, and a broken power grid that keeps its bliss just out of reach for its own people.