CUBAN ROOTS/BRONX STORIES and WITH A STROKE OF THE CHAVETA are valuable resources for those teaching courses in Latin American & Latino/a Studies, Caribbean History and Diaspora, Cuban and Puerto Rican History and Culture, African Diaspora Studies, Immigration and Border Studies, The1960s, Labor History, Literature, Literacy and Popular Education.

CUBAN ROOTS/BRONX STORIES highlights the historical journey of an Afro-Cuban-American family, from Jamaica, to Cuba, to the Bronx, revealing that the Cuban-American experience is more diverse, racially and ideologically, than we are often led to believe. Diana, Ruben, and Pablo reveal stories of growing political awareness, overcoming the dangers of the streets, and coming into their own as Afro-Latinos in the 1960s and 70s. The experiences of one family speak to the larger issues of immigration, race, class, and diaspora that help to shape the identities and political consciousness of everyday people.

Miriam Jiménez Román of the afrolatin@ forum says: “CUBAN ROOTS/BRONX STORIES presents us with a historically contextualized and moving personal portrait of one family’s experiences, in which class, race, ethnicity and gender always play a role but result in different individual perspectives and choices. This film is an important and unique contribution to our understanding of Afro-Latino realities.”

CUBAN ROOTS has English subtitles and is 57 minutes long.

WITH A STROKE OF THE CHAVETA tells the untold story of cigars and literature in Cuba. From the mid-1800s to the early 1900s lectores, or readers, were an integral part of the world of cigarmakers. José Martí called the readers’ platforms “advanced pulpits of liberty.”

WITH A STROKE OF THE CHAVETA takes viewers into the legendary cigar factories of Cuba to witness the unique practice of la lectura de tabaquería, the collective reading of literature, while tabaqueros roll habanos. From lectores Odalys, Aguila, and Gricel we learn about the challenges of meeting the expectations of a knowledgeable and demanding workforce and the satisfaction of receiving the applause of hundreds of chavetas struck in unison. This poetic film leaves us wondering where to draw the line between "worker" and "intellectual."

The film is 28 minutes long and has English subtitles throughout. Robert Ingalls, Professor Emeritus of University of South Florida, and Co-author, Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial History calls WITH A STROKE OF THE CHAVETA: “An engaging documentary that provides a revealing contemporary view of a thriving cultural institution, created by and for workers long before the Cuban revolution.”

For more information about CUBAN ROOTS/BRONX STORIES, WITH A STROKE OF THE CHAVETA, and other films from Grito Productions, visit our website: www.gritoproductions.com.