NUYORICAN POETS CAFÉ

AWARD WINNER - 1995 New Voices Film Festival Puerto Rican Studies • New York Literary Scene Latin • U.S. Poetry & Literature • Urban Voices Date of Completion: 1994 | Run Time: 14 minutes​​ | Language: English with sparse Spanish subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript | Director: Ray Santisteban | Producer: Ray Santisteban This award-winning short film highlights the rich history and vibrant present of New York’s acclaimed NUYORICAN POETS CAFÉ. Featuring veteran/founding poets like Miguel Algarin and Pedro Pietri, the film also showcases a new generation of wordsmiths, featuring Willie Perdomo and Carmen Bardeguez-Brown and includes poetry reading in the raucus Cafe’s open mic night and stylized renditions of iconic poems like Perdro Pietri’s “Puerto Rican Obituarty”. Puerto Rican cultural and literary traditions are explored, as is the unlikely mentorship of a young Willie Perdomo by a school custodian into the world of poetry.