Synopsis:
Whose Barrio? is an emotionally charged look at the changes in Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem as real estate speculation pushes rents and property values past the point of affordability for most area residents. Author and journalist Ed Morales tells the story of his personal relationship to El Barrio, as well as the neighborhood's history and the real estate forces that threaten it. By digging deep into the flavor of a neighborhood long regarded as a cultural homeland for Latinos and other ethnic groups, the film reveals a complex web of individual and community interests.

The stories of individual choices and concerns for the future give way to a vocal debate between different constituencies of the community. While everyone seems to agree that change is inevitable, the struggle intensifies over who gets a say in what some call the neighborhood’s development, and others its gentrification.

Trailer:
http://deltafoxtrot.tumblr.com/post/162965049

Bio:
Ed Morales is a native Bronxite who has covered New York as a print journalist for publications like the Village Voice, the Nation, The New York Times, and the progressive media project. He has written a column on Latino music for Newsday for the last seven years. He is the author of two books, living in Spanglish (st Martins) and The Latin Beat (Da Capo Press). He was a touring member of Nuyorican Poets Café live in the 1990’s and a Revson Fellow at Columbia university in 2006-7. Whose Barrio? Was inspired by Spanish Harlem on His Mind,” an essay published in 2003 in The New York Times, edited by Connie Rosenblum (NYU press)

Laura Rivera is a news reporter at Newsday. She received a Master’s degree in Journalism from NYU in 2006, where her thesis was on the gentrification of East Harlem. Her journalistic work has appeared in the New York Times, El Diario La Prensa, and the Star – Ledger. She previously worked as a produce/ on camera reporter for Cultura Viva, a nightly hour long news show about culture and fine art broadcast on WIPR, channel 6 in her native San Jan, Puerto Rico.

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