On Wednesday, August 21, KLRN hosted a preview screening of the new VOCES episode “Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage” at the Santikos Bijou Cinema. The screening is part of a community engagement project around VOCES, the acclaimed four part series from Latino Public Broadcasting, featuring the best of Latino arts, culture, and history, while shining a light on current issues that impact Latino Americans.
“Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage” focused on the life and career of the groundbreaking actor’s journey from his native Puerto Rico to the creative hotbed of 1960s New York City, to prominence on Broadway and in Hollywood. Although Juliá’s brilliant and daring career was tragically cut short by his untimely death at 54, the use of archival interviews allows Juliá to tell his life story in his own words, alongside conversations with those who knew him best.
Community Advisory Board member Lydia Alegria White assisted KLRN with the check-in process, then our screening began with an introduction from students at SAY Sí, a nationally recognized creative youth development program, to an audience of about 65 guests; the students detailed what the influence of Raúl Juliá meant to them. We were surprised and honored to have a relative of Raúl Juliá join us for the preview. We had the chance to interview him before the screening began – check it out here!
“Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage” aired on September 13, but if you missed our preview or the airing of the episode, you can watch the episode here.
KLRN hosted another preview screening of the new VOCES season on October 2; the episode “Porvenir, Texas” aired at the Santikos Bijou Cinema. “Porvenir, Texas” tells the true story behind the little-known 1918 massacre of 15 Mexican men in a tiny border town, and how the tensions sill remain along the border a century later. This film aims to expose the killers, who were revealed to be a state-sanctioned vigilante group of Texas Rangers, and examine how the massacre led to the restructuring of the Texas Rangers that we know today.
Community Advisory Board member Olga Kauffman assisted KLRN with the check-in process, then our screening began with an introduction from students at SAY Sí, a nationally recognized creative youth development program, to an audience of about 80 guests; they also created a podcast reviewing the documentary. We were surprised and honored to have producer Christina Fernandez Shapter and several descendants of Porvenir victims join u for this screening. You can check out our conversation with Christina and two of the descendants here.
“Porvenir, Texas” aired on September 20, but if you missed our preview or the airing of the episode, you can watch the episode here.
