The Puerto Rican film recovers the voice of those confined. It’s a film project that could lead a change of perspective. The documentary will be screened as of February 20, 2020 at Caribbean Cinemas at Plaza Las Américas and Western Plaza in Mayagüez.
“The transformation of the human being through speech and cultural enrichment is possible”. That is the conviction behind the feature film “Todos íbamos a ser reyes” (We were all going to be kings), which arrives at the movie theaters in Puerto Rico on February 20, 2020.
The film directed and produced by Márel Malaret, with the executive production of Professor Edna Benítez, also has the participation of co-directors Arí Maniel Cruz, Álvaro Aponte Centeno, Alba Gómez and David Moscoso.
At the end of a scriptwriting workshop taught at a correctional institution in 2011, participants asked if they would ever see their writings on the large screen.
Since then, director Márel Malaret and Professor Edna Benítez have visualized this film project that mixes documentary and fiction. The main objective was to show an important rehabilitation process through writing and give the participants the tangible result of their work.
Malaret sought to bring different views to the different life stories she encountered during the workshop. Therefore, she invited four directors who believed in the importance of joining the project, to direct the short films written by the prisoners.
The final result manages to recreate creative work based on life experiences; crimes or innocence, regrets, long sentences and hopes of the participants: Juan Velázquez, Aníbal Santana, José Armando Torres, Luis Serrano, Emmanuel Torres, Joel García and José Delgado Dones.
“Todos íbamos a ser reyes” is not only a writing effort by a community deprived of liberty, but it shows the conviction of many people that change, the transformation of human beings is possible.
The documentary will be screened as of February 20, 2020 at Caribbean Cinemas at Plaza Las Américas and Western Plaza in Mayagüez.
For more information, you can access Facebook and Instagram of “Todos Íbamos a Ser Reyes” and the website www.todosibamosaserreyes.com.
