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Puerto Rico's Plantation Economy: Snapshots from the Library of Congress

Related Films

Like photographs, films were essential for didactic illustrations of the proposed social and economic changes in Puerto Rican communities. The Puerto Rican government created the División de Educación para la Comunidad (in English Puerto Rico Division of Community Education), better known as DIVEDCO, to produce educational films to help people understand the transformations taking place. Jack and Irene Delano were deeply involved in these productions, often designing the posters to promote the films.

The actors, most of the time, were normal people, part of the rural communities, making the films more familiar within Puerto Rico. The Library of Congress holds these examples of DIVEDCO films. See the External Websites section of this guide to find links to other films about this important educational program.

The Roots of Happiness (Henwar Rodakiewicz)

Publication Date: 1953

​Dramatizes the case of a family in which the father respects and loves his wife and children, permitting each to develop as an individual, and contrasts this family with one where discord and hostility prevail.


Modesta (Benjamin Doniger and DIVEDCO)

Publication Date: 1956

Modesta (Antonia Hidalgo), a barrio woman, rebels against her husband's (Juan Ortiz Jimenez) authoritarianism. She and other women of her community who suffer the same treatment organize the Liberated Women League to fight for their rights.