Filiberto Ojeda Film Festival November

The Filiberto Ojeda Rios Film Festival 2008 is an initiative of the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign to showcase films that speak to our experience as a colonized people fighting for independence and self-determination!

We have named the film festival after assassinated Machetero leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios because his death raised consciousness throughout the Puerto Rican Diaspora; his murder illustrated the colonial oppression Puerto Rico faces and has radicalized a generation of young activists to continue the fight for independence.

We hope these films will do the same. Join us on our three consecutive Fridays!

Don’t support the Hollywood machine that feeds you nonsense, sex, violence and cheap humor! Learn about yourself, your people, and your struggle!

$5 donation/Best offer at each film!

Friday November 7th, 2008 @ 7pm @ Hunter College West Building 2nd floor room 217 (E68th St. and Lexington Avenue)

¡Palante Siempre Palante!

From Chicago streets to the barrios of New York City and other urban centers, the Young Lords emerged to demand decent living conditions and raised a militant voice for the empowerment of Puerto Ricans and other Latino/as in the United States and for the independence of Puerto Rico. Through on-camera interviews with former members, archival footage, photographs and music, the documentary surveys Puerto Rican history, the Young Lords' political vision and actions, and the organization's legacy. Take the 6 train to E68th St. and Lexington Avenue

Friday November 14th, 2008 @ 7pm @ John Jay College of

Criminal Justice 889 10th Ave. Room 3305N (between W58th-W59th St. on 10th Ave.)

The Double Life of Ernesto Gomez Gomez

What happens to the parents, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of those willing to sacrifice everything for their beliefs? This film uniquely blends forms to tell the singular story of a son of Puerto Rican revolutionaries — his mother in prison, his father in exile — sent as a baby to Mexico to be raised in safety and anonymity. As a teenager Ernesto/Guillermo learns of his past and collaborates with filmmakers Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg to magically chronicle his turbulent journey of self-discovery, offering a striking account of the costs of fiercely held convictions and the binding force of a son's love. (56 minutes) Take the A,B,C,D, 1, and 2 to 59th St. and Columbus Circle

Friday November 21st, 2008 @ 7:30pm @ The Brecht Forum 451 West Street (that's the West Side Highway) between Bank & Bethune Streets

La Operacion/The Operation

This documentary brings to the foreground the problem of widespread sterilization among Puerto Rican women through the use of personal testimony, newsreels, and government propaganda excerpts. The procedure is so common that more than one-third of all Puerto Rican women of childbearing age have been sterilized. Begun in the 1930's as a means of curbing the surplus population, it continues to be reinforced politically and socially in the Puerto Rican communities. Directions: A, C, E or L to 14th St. & 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the river, turn left. 1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th St.& 7th Ave, get off at south end of station, walk west on 12th Street to 8th Ave, left to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the river, turn left. PATH Train to Christopher Street, north on Greenwich St to Bank Street, left to the river.

What is the ProLibertad Freedom Campaign?

The ProLibertad Freedom Campaign has been working for the release of the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners for over 10 years.

With the release of 11 of the Political Prisoners in September 1999, we have re-dedicated our efforts to securing the freedom of the remaining Puerto Rican political prisoners.

Through educational events, lobbying and public pressure work and activities it is our goal to secure the freedom of these patriots whose only “crime” has been the love of their home land, Puerto Rico.

We support the release of All U.S. held Political Prisoners, oppose the U.S. colonial control of Puerto Rico, U.S. imperialism throughout the world, and the U.S. military presence in Vieques.

CONTACT US AT ProLibertad@Hotmail.com or call the ProLibertad Hotline at 718-601-4751. Check out our website for campaign updates: www.ProLibertadweb.com