[Home movie: Recovering American and Puerto Rican Narratives from the Caribbean, 1999, Jorge Saralegui, Amara, rolling skates]

About

Synopsis

A home movie from 1999 by Keyvan Antonio Heydari in Carmen Vázquez's house. He documents film producer and friend of the family, Jorge Saralegui, and his daughter Amara. Keyvan gives Amara a pair of rolling skates, which she tries for the first time.

Collection description

This film (Heydari_0004) is part of the collection Recovering American and Puerto Rican Narratives from the Caribbean.

This media belongs mainly to the Vázquez family. Much of the footage was captured by Lt. Col. Juan Vázquez, and his family. He acquired movie and photo cameras during his military career and on the way to the Korean War, where he was a commander with the Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG). He had also been with the decorated Borinqueneers (65 de Infantería) regiment, and then returned to Puerto Rico.

His was one of the first citizen movie cameras on the island. Lt. Col. Vázquez was given the honor of being the translator and liaison for President Franklin Roosevelt when he visited Puerto Rico in the 1930s. There are Army brass and political figures in the material. His son Dennis Vázquez also served in the Army, specifically in Vietnam and he testified in the My Lai trial. Carmen Vázquez is the family historian and has done a good job of archiving and preserving the media, and over generations added to the collection.

The recorded media reflects cultural and historic significance in the Caribbean and the mainland. U.S. Army families in Puerto Rico in the 1940s, the Army's Fort Brook in San Juan, Fort Buchanan, Korea and more (8mm). These portray San Juan before it was developed fully. Also, of the Latino experience in the U.S. as families moved to the States. They portray family life, music, culture and sport of Puerto Rican families - stateside and on the island - which show the dual language, culture of the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico.

There are images of the present-day clearing between El Morro and San Cristóbal, a tourist hot spot which was Rodríguez Army Hospital, named for the Puerto Rican dentist who discovered the bacteria which causes caries/cavities while with the U.S. Army. Carmen and Dennis Vázquez were born there.

Cassette and video recordings also exist, which show the sports history of the island and mainland. American influences, culture and troops, and contributions have come via Puerto Rico. But it's been a two-way street. because the American influences and contributions include baseball, basketball, American cars, lifestyle and products. And there's evidence of the dual influence of Spain and the United States on Puerto Rico's history, architecture and life.

But the lone U.S. territory that speaks Spanish has also made sizable contributions to life, history and culture in the United States. There's military documents, photos and negatives, audio and video recordings, films and videotapes. Included are street scenes, sports events, family scenes, military installations, 'fiestas' and iterations of "Bomba y plena," improvisational music genres from the island, a form, which fed rap in New York and later influenced the creator of Hamilton [the musical].

This collection was conserved and digitally captured through the 2020 Al Larvick National Grant awarded to Keyvan Heydari by the Al Larvick Conservation Fund in partnership with its lab partners Secure Media Transfer and Pro8mm.

For more information about this collection, visit: https://www.allarvickfund.org/recovering-american-narratives-of-puerto-rico

Archive

Internet Archive, in Home movies

Licence or status

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as the Internet Archive states it.

Credit

Keyvan Antonio Heydari

Language

Spanish

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed