Todo Parecía Posible (2025)

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Ramón Rivera Moret’s compelling archival documentary, Todo parecía posible (Everything Seemed Possible), revisits a utopian chapter in Puerto Rico’s history through dozens of short films made in rural communities from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Rivera Moret explores a visionary chapter in Puerto Rico’s history through the lens of the Division of Community Education’s ground-breaking film unit. Born from Governor Luis Muñoz Marín’s Operation Bootstrap in the late 1940s, the unit produced dozens of short films with and for rural communities, aiming to educate, empower, and inspire social change. These poetic documentaries defied simple propaganda, often challenging the government’s industrial push and rural displacement. Blending family memories with rare archival footage, Rivera Moret crafts a moving tribute to grassroots creativity, resistance, and the enduring spirit of the Puerto Rican people. Preceding the screening, Ramón Rivera Moret will engage in a workshop—aimed at filmmakers, scholars and students, as well as the general public—that focuses on working with heritage film material. Drawing upon Todo parecía posible and the short films of the Puerto Rican film unit, Rivera Moret will explore the ways in which archival film footage, more than simply providing a window onto the past, can be effectively repurposed to tell stories with a contemporary resonance. 4:00-5:30pm Workshop 7:00-9:00pm Film screening + talkback with the filmmaker The purchase of a ticket for this event gets you entry to both the screening and workshop.

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