Blog | Bringing Back “Realidades”
On September 29th, we invited the community to set.
Taking a page from the “Realidades” playbook, our goal in making BARRIO TELEVISION has always been to create a hard-hitting discussion about what communities of color want to watch, make, and influence in media. The preservation and recognition of the “Realidades” story with the original 1972 crew is long overdue. We were able to bring together producers of color who broke into television in the 1970s and youth in journalism and non-fiction film today, sharing our BARRIO TELEVISION teaser, playing “Realidades” clips, and hosting a Q&A with “Realidades” creators.
On September 29th, we invited the community to set and kept filming. Our taped event emphasized audience questions and reactions to fuel and visualize the community feedback loop that drives BARRIO TELEVISION – as it drove “Realidades” in the 1970s.
By documenting “Realidades” and sharing its legacy as we film, we’re proudly continuing the fight for racial justice in media—connecting new audiences with all that these first-time media makers of color tenaciously won. At this event, including Reel Works and Bell Voices, “Realidades” creators gave their advice and answered the questions of youth–emboldened in the current struggle for community-driven, multilingual, and culturally relevant news.
This event was made possible by small individual donations and a $5,000 grant from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, which allowed us to reunite “Realidades” creators living out of town back to in New York City, rent a community space, and film the event and an exclusive interview with Julio Rodriguez, a founder of the Puerto Rican Media Action and Educational Council and the National Latino Media Coalition – which helped keep “Realidades” on the air through the 1970s.
With your continued support of BARRIO TELEVISION, we will continue to reinvigorate debates about Latino influence across the media and how to better serve audiences of color by working with non-profit groups, schools, libraries, archives, and museums across the country to continue to screen, to listen, engage and inspire.
Past Events and Press
Independence Public Media Foundation
The Independence Public Media Foundation (IPMF) awards $25,000 to Barrio Television through its Local Filmmaker Fund.
The Gotham
In her Q&A with The Gotham, DiPasquale reflects on her journey from politics to filmmaking, how The Gotham community, through fiscal sponsorship, workshops, and connections, has provided an ecosystem supportive of her work, her discovery of the Realidades program after 10 years of research, and her experience developing Barrio Television.
Library of congress
The Library of Congress used filmmaker Christina DiPasquale’s research for Barrio Television in their their virtual exhibit “Latino Empowerment in Public Broadcasting” to reveal more details about the Realidades series.
Film Independent
Barrio Television feature in “Fiscal Spotlight: Three Docs About Claiming Space in the World and in History“
Friends of puerto rico Initiative
Members of the original Realidades 1972 crew and documentary director, Christina DiPasquale, sit for a roundtable discussion on the show and Barrio Television, the film working to tell the story of these activists-turned-television-producers for the first time.
Center for puerto rican studies
Documentary filmmaker, Christina DiPasquale, and Centro Library Manager, Aníbal Arocho, discuss the groundbreaking PBS series executive produced and hosted by Humberto Cintrón, Realidades.
NALIP
The National Association of Latino Independent Producers names Barrio Television’s Christina DiPasquale as a 2022 Latino Media Market Fellows.
UnionDocs
Barrio Television announces that it is now one of two projects—chosen from a global pool of applicants—to be awarded a full scholarship for UnionDocs’ Early Production Lab
Free Press
Free Press is joined by Christina DiPasquale, Heads Up!, Ivanhoe Sol, La DePaulia, Lyons Recorder and more for a conversation about the ways community members are coming together to address gaps in local news.
University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy
Barrio Television Director Christina DiPasquale Named Senior Fellow at University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy
American archive of public broadcasting
The American Archive of Public Broadcasting reviewed filmmaker Christina DiPasquale’s request to make more episodes of Realidades public and added dozens more of the series programs free and streaming online.