Photo courtesy of The Boricua Community Building Center.
A space for Puerto Rican stories to be seen, heard and discussed is opening up on Saturday, June 6.
The Boricua Film Festival is returning for its second year, located at the Williams Center Underground Cinema at 15 Sylvan Street in Rutherford, New Jersey from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. The festival is using education, film and art “to connect Puerto Rican history, creativity, cultural programming and community in New Jersey.”
“The mission of the festival is to create a space where Puerto Rican stories are seen, discussed and respected through film, education and art,” Rev. Angel, founder of the nonprofit Boricua Community Building Center, who is hosting the annual festival, wrote to Slice of Culture in an email.
“These are films many people in New Jersey may not otherwise have the chance to experience on the big screen and the festival brings those stories into conversation with the community through panels, performances and cultural programming.”
“Boricua” derives from the native Taino population, who originally called the island “Borinquen.” Boricua is a person native to Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent.
The event is highlighting Boricua filmmakers and will be featuring films including:
- Golpe de Agua
- Un Pueblo de Coral
- El Arresto
- Yo Soy Lolita Lebrón
- De Tribus y Máscaras
- A Tale of Two Cities: Reclaiming Niagara Falls and Salinas
- Stewards of the Land
- The Cortadito 2025 short film block in collaboration with the Puerto Rico European Film Festival and Alliance Française de Puerto Rico.
Most films are in Spanish with English subtitles or include English narration.
Ranging from short and medium-length works, each covers topics including:
- Identity
- Colorism
- Environmental justice
- Public health
- Puerto Rican history
- Political memory
- Language
- Migration
- Cinematography from Puerto Rico and the diaspora
The Puerto Rican diaspora is often misunderstood, and many studies emphasize its due to years of colonization, suppression and complicated geopolitical relationship. And through the Boricua Film Festival, they’re aiming to see, hear and discuss all of that.
There’s also a lineup of guest speakers, filmmakers, authors and creative contributors for the program including:
- Inés Mongil, award winning filmmaker and documentary contributor
- Andre Lee Muñiz, author of “Vida y Hacienda: The Life and Legacy of Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos”
- Samantha J. García-Sherpa, author of “I Am Boricua” and founder of Nuyorican Books a Puerto Rican owned publishing house
- Walter Alomar, founder of OCHO and Casa de Alomar in Juana Diaz PR
- Daliana Alvarado, Filmmaker and representative ADocPR, and the Puerto Rican European Film Festival and Alliance Francise de Puerto Rico
- Braulio A. Quintero, PhD, co-founder of the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (ISER Caribe)
Attendees will also get to enjoy: a film panel, a free Bomba y Plena lesson and live performances by Cimarrones de Nueva Jersey, Spirits N Motion 3.0, poets Johnathan Gilcia Mendez and Nelly Nel plus vendors, community partners and awards. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
You can stay up to date with the festival through: www.boricuacommunitycenter.org/boricuafilmfestival and buy your tax-deductible passes here: https://bit.ly/BFFJUNE.
