Serán las dueñas de la tierra
Stewards of the Land
Puerto Rico // 2022 // Documentary // LOS FEATURES
WORLD PREMIERE
Stewards of the Land is a feature documentary about Stephanie, Ian, and Alfredo, three young landless ecological farmers in Puerto Rico striving to produce healthy food for local consumption. In this economically depressed US-territory, producing food locally is urgent. The archipelago sits on the path of powerful hurricanes, an increasing threat as the climate crisis worsens. Puerto Rico is highly dependent on food imports and a third of its population lives food insecurity. The story begins when the protagonists arrive for the first time to the public lands they rent. The farms have been abandoned for decades and lack the most basic infrastructure to get started. The story follows the protagonists as they struggle to get the farms running before and after powerful hurricanes devastate the archipelago. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital.
Director: JuanMa Pagán Teitelbaum
Producer: Mariolga Reyes Cruz
Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles
92 minutes
Only available to audiences in Pennsylvania.
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 Cosecha Hoy (Harvest Today) was broadcast on The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and received an Emmy Suncoast nomination. 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. JuanMa lives with his family in a housing cooperative and he co-manages a farm in Utuado, Puerto Rico.