BxFW Digital: October

SONIA FRITZ is an award-winning Mexican filmmaker and longtime resident of Puerto Rico, with a body of work that smartly addresses issues of gender, migration, culture, and the environment. She began her filmmaking career at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and later earned her MFA in visual arts from the Vermont College of Norwich University. Sonia is Professor of Literature and Cinema Studies at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Santurce. She has directed and produced numerous documentary and fiction films, including Mona, tesoro del Caribe (2017), 15 Lighthouses of Puerto Rico (2015), América (2011), El beso que me diste (2000), and Luis Capetillo: Pasión de justicia (1995). Her film Después de María: Las 2 orillas (2018), a hopeful look at Puerto Rico eight months after the devastation of Hurricane María, was screened at for Bronx Film Wednesdays at Pregones Theater in 2019. Sonia is also a co-director of acclaimed PBS series Latin Americans, winner of both the Peabody and Imagen Awards.

FLOR DE TOLOACHE make New York City history as its first and only all­-women Mariachi group. Founded in 2008, the band is lead by singers Mireya I. Ramos (founder) & Shae Fiol (founding member). Reminiscent of the early days of Mariachi the group started as a trio, Harp, Violin and Vihuela. Today, Flor de Toloache performs as a full mariachi ensemble. The members hail from diverse cultural backgrounds such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Australia, Colombia, Germany, Italy and the United States. This defines their unique flavor and sound. The result of this cultural bouquet is an edgy, versatile, and fresh take on traditional Mexican music. They coalesce as would a band of sisters, with a grace and vibrant beauty that casts a spell over their audiences not unlike the legendary Toloache flower still being used in Mexico as a love potion. While working to preserve centuries old traditions of Mariachi, their melange of the traditional and the modern pushes the boundaries of the genre and brings Mariachi music to new audiences. Flor de Toloache’s performances have illuminated world renowned stages in Europe and India. In November 2015, the group embarked on an extensive European and U.S. tour as the opening act of Black Keys’ singer Dan Auerbach’s new band, The Arcs. After performances to sold-out audiences in the UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, France, they continued to captivate crowds in the U.S. at legendary venues such as First Avenue in Minneapolis, The Vic in Chicago, Terminal 5 in New York, DC’s 930 Club, and Nashville’s Ryman Theater (The Grand Ole Opry). A spring 2016 West Coast Tour with The Arcs included Coachella Festival. The band headlined the March Is Music series at Pregones Theater in 2019. www.mariachinyc.com

Special thanks to our media broadcast partners at BronxNet Community Television.

This program is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Southwest Airlines is the official airline of Pregones/PRTT. For a full list of our funders, visit www.pregonesprtt.org.