Everything Seemed Possible: Luis Muñoz Marín and the Making of Modern Puerto Rico

FAIN: TR-280438-21

New York Foundation for the Arts, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY 11201-8301)
Oren D. Rudavsky (Project Director: January 2021 to present)

Production of a ninety-minute documentary film on the life and career of Luis Muñoz Marín, the first elected governor of Puerto Rico.

Everything Seemed Possible: Luis Muñoz Marín and The Making of a Modern Puerto Rico will be a ninety-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 (1898-1980). The charismatic Muñoz Marín, dubbed “the father of modern Puerto Rico” set aside the debates over political status that had paralyzed the island, in favor of U.S. led economic transformation. He simultaneously embraced an ambitious project of cultural nationalism and 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 production grant will enable us to travel to Puerto Rico, to film contemporary scenes and interviews, to complete archival footage acquisition, production and post-production, and create a substantive website, a carefully planned release of our film and an extensive outreach effort.