STEWARDS OF THE LAND
Sunday, March 3, 2024, 6:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery
St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present
STEWARDS OF THE LAND
90-minute documentary film
Filmmaker JUANMA TEITELBAUM and Producer MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ
will be present for Q & A
WATCH THE TRAILER
FILM SYNOPSIS:
Stephanie, Ian and Alfredo are landless ecological farmers striving to produce healthy food for local consumption in Puerto Rico. In this economically depressed US-territory–highly dependent on food imports and a frequent target for hurricanes–producing food locally is urgent. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
“Puerto Rico is fertile land. I grew up in a land-occupation settlement in Vega Baja, surrounded by all the tropical fruit trees that my family could dream of. Seeing so much abundance and generosity from nature around us, I wondered how was it possible that Puerto Rico imported over 85% of our food? That question has determined my audiovisual work for almost 20 years.
Stewards of the Land is our first feature-length documentary. In this film we follow the day to day of three young Puerto Rican agro ecological farmers as they confront the natural and unnatural challenges of cultivating food sovereignty with grace and dignity.”
– JuanMa Teitelbaum, Director
JUANMA TEITELBAUM – DIRECTOR:
JuanMa Pagán Teitelbaum is a documentary filmmaker and ecological farmer. He holds a master’s degree in Caribbean Studies from the State University of New York-Buffalo and a wide-ranging experience in the world of cinema, including lighting and sound work, music video cinematography and editing, and work on movies and documentaries. Alongside Mariolga Reyes Cruz, JuanMa has produced over 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture in Puerto Rico. His mini-documentary series Harvest Today (Cosecha Hoy) was broadcast on The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and received an Emmy Suncoast nomination. The Stewards of the Land is his first feature-length documentary which showcases the efforts of three Puerto Rican ecological farmers working in the main island of Puerto Rico.
MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ – PRODUCER/SCREENWRITER:
Mariolga Reyes Cruz is co-founder and executive director of the Fideicomiso de Tierras Comunitarias para la Agricultura Sostenible, the first agricultural community land trust in Puerto Rico. Prior to founding the organization, Mariolga taught at the University of Puerto Rico and worked on coalition building for social and climate justice. She co-produced 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture that were broadcast on public television, for which she received an Emmy nomination.