Her semi-autobiographical novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, was published in 1991, followed in 1994 by In the Time of the Butterflies, which sold over a million copies and raised global awareness about life under Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. Spanning multiple genres and audiences, Alvarez’s work includes three nonfiction books, three poetry collections, 11 books for children and young adults and seven literary novels. This new documentary opens a window into her extraordinary journey from an idyllic, privileged childhood in the Dominican Republic to a life of exile in New York City to a brilliant literary career that shows no sign of slowing down. At 74, she recently published the critically acclaimed novel The Cemetery of Untold Stories.
Filmed in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined features extensive interviews with Alvarez, her family, and her literary contemporaries. The documentary is produced and directed by Adriana Bosch, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who served as series producer on the PBS series Latino Americans (2013) and Latin Music USA (2009). Born in Cuba, Bosch has produced and written a number of films for the PBS series American Experience, including a film on Fidel Castro and several acclaimed presidential biographies.
“We’re delighted to partner with American Masters to tell the story of one of the most influential Latina writers of our time,” said Sandie Viquez Pedlow, LPB Executive Director and Executive Producer of VOCES. “Alvarez’s poetry and novels offer a unique perspective on the melding of her two cultures — American and Dominican — and are among the finest works about the American immigrant experience.”
Says filmmaker Adriana Bosch: “In our film, Dominican poet Elizabeth Acevedo introduces Julia by say that ‘Julia belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Women Latino writers, along with Isabel Allende and Sandra Cisneros. She was among the pioneers in creating a new literature that expanded the meaning of the ‘American Mainstream’ and reminds us of the famous line by Langston Hughes – I too sing America.”
Presented by American Masters and LPB’s series VOCES, Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined premieres Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 9pm ET (check local listings) on PBS, pbs.org/americanmasters and the PBS App in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
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