NATIONAL PBS DOCUMENTARY ‘WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE’ ILLUMINATES THE BIRTH OF LATINO CULTURE
Pasadena, CA --- Latino Heritage and KPCC, in partnership with Cherry Blossom Festival, the NAACP Pasadena and Altadena Branches, and the YWCA Pasadena-Foothills Valley, present a screening of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE: The Untold Story of the Americas After Columbus at 7:00 p.m. on January 21st at the Crawford Family Forum.
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE presents a vivid exploration of the first century after the “Old World” encountered the “New World.” Host Rubén Martínez, Emmy® Award-winning journalist, takes a new look at the origins of today’s Latino culture through the largely untold story of what happened in the Americas after Columbus.
The story begins on the streets of Los Angeles in 2010 and travels to Spain and Latin America, where contact first occurred between Spanish conquistadors and native peoples. This epic odyssey traces the impact that these and many other “New World” innovations had on the “Old World” during an era almost always described as “the conquest.” In reality, the most important consequence of the era was the radical change that both worlds experienced, resulting in an entirely new “mestizo” or mixed culture, an important part of the heritage of more than 30 million Latinos in the U.S. today.
“This film is a modern journey through the centuries that traces the roots of Latino culture,” says Martínez. “Although the term ‘Latino’ is used almost exclusively in the United States, we discover how combined elements of the Old World and New World, two civilizations that developed completely independent of one another, merged into a richly complex ‘mestizo’ or mixed culture. Many fundamental aspects of our daily lives are the result of the enormous impact these two cultures had on each other – from religious traditions to culinary techniques to questions of identity.”
“I’m excited about the screening”, shares Pasadena resident Wendy Fujihara Anderson. “Sometimes I think that things are unique to our culture, but they’re not. When you step back you see that our cultures may be different, but historically we’ve dealt with many of the same issues”.
Doors open at 6:30 and screening begins at 7:00. Following the screening co-writer and narrator Rubén Martínez and Adolfo Guzmán López, reporter for Southern California Public Radio (KPCC), will have a post-screening conversation.
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE is a co-production of KCET Los Angeles and Red Hill Productions. Carl Byker is executive producer and director; writers are Rubén Martínez and Carl Byker. For more information and additional press materials on WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, please visit www.pbs.org/pressroom.
The Crawford Family Forum is located at 474 South Raymond Avenue,
Pasadena, CA 91105 Admission is FREE, but RSVPs are required. Reservations will begin on Friday, January 7th.
Call Phone: 626.583.5215 or click on the following link to secure your seat(s):
http://www.scpr.org/events/2011/01/21/when-worlds-collide/
Latino Heritage is the arts and culture organization of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley dedicated to promoting knowledge of the Latino experience and history through cultural and educational programs. Please visit latinoheritage.blogspot.com for more information on Latino Heritage.
