- Judith Escalona
Judith Escalona is a filmmaker, writer, and web site producer.Fact|date=February 2007
She is the founder and executive director of
Puerto Rico and the American Dream (www.prdream.com), an online resource on the history, culture and politics of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican Diaspora, and MediaNoche (www.medianoche.us), a new media gallery and digital film studio offering exhibition space and residencies for artists and filmmakers working with digital media. Escalona's has a background in new media, film, television and print.Fact|date=February 2007Escalona is a member of the
National Association of Latino Independent Producers , and of theNew York New Media Association .Fact|date=February 2007Award
She was designated, in 2000, a "Distinguished Latina" by "
El Diario/La Prensa "; this ranks among the oldestSpanish language newspapers in theUnited States .Fact|date=February 2007Work
In the Summer of 2007, Judith Escalona completed principal photography for a new film entitled "Bx3M", the story of three Latinos youths coming of age in a city going up in flames. Escalona wrote and directed "Bx3M" which is now in postproduction. "
The Krutch " is a 30-minute, narrative film which she also wrote, directed, and edited. It is the surreal story of a Puerto Rican psychoanalyst with a long-suppressed identity problem that erupts with some dire consequences. The film is unique in exploring the mental anguish and shame associated with racism. Stylistically akin to German Expressionism, with an eye towards Buñuel, it occupies an absurdist space that keeps it from descending into the maudlin clichés of realism. With Jaime Sánchez, who previously starred in "The Wild Bunch" and "The Pawnbroker", as the mysterious Dr. Gúzman. "The Krutch" screened in 2004 and 2005 at theHarlemwood Film Festival , NY and Japan; theHavana Film Festival ;Loisaida Cortos , NY; and African American Women in Cinema, NY, as well as other festivals. In 2007, "The Krutch" was featured in the Hispanic New York Film Festival 2007. Fact|date=February 2007 In celebration of Women's History Month 2008, Cemi Underground will screen the film on March 7, at 7PM. For more info: http://www.prdream.com/wordpress/?cat=5 .Escalona contributes regularly to VIVA, a publication of the "Daily News", and to the "
Quarterly Black Review ". She is the former film critic of the online publicationWomensnet.net . In addition, Escalona curates film programs, both on-line and off-line. She curated theNuyorican Cinema film program, which has been screened in various venues and as part of different film festivals in New York, such as LaCinemaFe and the New York Latino Film and Video Festival. Nuyorican Cinema can be seen online at www.prdream.com, along with two essays by Escalona about this little known part of American independent cinema.Fact|date=February 2007Escalona teaches film and television production at
The City College of theCity University of New York .Fact|date=February 2007Television
Escalona has worked in broadcast, cable, and corporate television, having both produced or directed more than 50 productions of various genres. She was project director in the creation of Starrett City Television (SCTV), a television broadcast facility located in
Brooklyn , NY.As Studio Director of SCTV, she trained students in the craft of television broadcasting, and developed numerous programs for Starrett City's community of over 15,000 residents. These programs included "Sessions", a jazz and Latin jazz television series, which she both produced and directed. Musicians citywide participated in live jam sessions at the studio.Fact|date=February 2007
"A Poet’s Visit", produced and directed by Ms.Escalona, was one of the first television series to feature urban poets.Fact|date=February 2007} }Recently, Escalona served as a consultant to the government of Bermuda for their new IPTV station, an internet-based television station that launched in September 2007.
Translator
As authorized translator, she translated the popular Puerto Rican literary work of
Luis López Nieves , the work entitled, "Seva: The History of the First U.S. Invasion of the Island of Puerto Rico, May 1898".Fact|date=February 2007See also
*
Luis López Nieves External links
* [http://www.prdream.com/founders1.html Puerto Rico and the American Dream]
* [http://www.prdream.com/film-index.html Nuyorican Cinema]
* [http://www.medianoche.us medianoche]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
