Luis Muñoz Marín: The Making of a Modern Puerto Rico
FAIN: TD-271447-20
New York Foundation for the Arts, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY 11201-8301)
Oren D. Rudavsky (Project Director: January 2020 to October 2022)
Development of a ninety-minute film on the life of Luis Muñoz Marin(1898–1980), the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico.
Luis Muñoz Marín: The Making of a Modern Puerto Rico will be a 90-minute documentary in English and Spanish about an era of radical transformation in Puerto Rico, led by the first elected Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín. The charismatic Muñoz Marín, dubbed “the father of modern Puerto Rico” embraced a plan of U.S. economic investment for the island. He set aside the roiling debates over political status that had paralyzed the island, in favor of an economic transformation tied to the U.S. He simultaneously embraced an ambitious project of cultural nationalism. As part of this effort, he formed an internationally award-winning film and education division, seeking “a new spiritual identity”, a way to create foundational myths for the Puerto Rican people. This development grant will enable us to travel again to Puerto Rico, to record interviews, to continue archival footage research and to write an NEH production proposal, including full scripting, and the editing of a trailer.