In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, a screening of La Manplesa ~ An Uprising Remembered is scheduled at 6:30pm on Monday, October 3, 2022 in the Gerry Forum, room 010 of the Rowley Center for Science and Engineering, SUNY Orange. The film has been described as a film portrait of the Salvadoran diaspora and its contribution to social change. It has been chosen as the official selection of the 2022 Hispanic International Film Festival.

The film depicts how and why resistance movements start. It chronicles the rebellion on May 5, 1991 on the streets of Washington D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The obvious reason was to protest the police shooting of Daniel Gomez, a young man from El Salvador. But more deeply rooted is the complicated relationships between people marginalized by our country’s systems and the police, and the roots of immigration with the eventual formation of home and belonging in a new country.

Immediately following the screening, a Q & A will take place with the producer, Cindy Centeno. Centeno is a social justice-minded filmmaker, photographer, and media producer specializing in documentary storytelling. A daughter of Salvadoran immigrants and a first-generation American, her work is dedicated to ethically supporting and amplifying the voices and stories of people and communities that have been historically oppressed.

                                                                                                                                                Cindy Centeno

In addition, singer- songwriter Lilo Gonzalez will play guitar while singing his songs on immigrant struggles. Gonzalez has poured his life into his music and his daily interactions of building community, finding our common human threads, instilling hope, and fighting for justice. So well-respected is Gonzalez, he has performed at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Lincoln Center, and President Clinton’s Inauguration. He has also received five Washington, DC Area Music Awards.

                                                                                                                  Lilo Gonzalez

The Rowley Center for Science and Engineering is located at 10 East Conkling Ave, across from the parking garage and near the large parking lot adjacent to Orange Hall on Wawayanda Ave, Middletown. 

This evening event is free and open to the public and co-sponsored by Cultural Affairs and the Committee for Diversity and Equity. Questions may be directed to cultural@sunyorange.edu.