the past is present at collected works

1/6/17 update: We're a TOP PICK of the WEEK, at the Albuquerque Journal! More here 

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The Past is Present: Folkorist Nasario García remembers the Río Puerco
At: Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo St. Santa Fe, NM
Thursday, January 12 at 6 pm​

The new oral history documentary, Nasario remembers the Río Puerco had an unlikely beginning - at Santa Fe's Collected Works Bookstore when director Shebana Coelho heard author and celebrated folklorist Nasario García tell stories of his boyhood in the now ghost towns of New Mexico's Río Puerco valley. That meeting led first to a play, When The Stars Trembled in Río Puerco, written and directed by Ms. Coelho, that was performed in 2014 to full house audiences at Santa Fe's Teatro Paraguas and Albuquerque's National Hispanic Cultural Center.
 
And now, the journey continues with the film: Nasario remembers the Río Puerco - a new documentary that follows Nasario García doing what he loves: wandering through landscape and memory amid the ghosts towns of New Mexico's Rio Puerco valley, reviving recuerdos tales of his youth when the ranching villages thrived and viejitos elders told stories beside a river that once ran.
 
On Thursday, January 12, at 6 pm, Collected Works will celebrate the encounter between the storyteller and the screen, with a special event that features a trailer and clips from the documentary, speakers such as Nasario García, director Shebana Coelho, poet Anne Valley-Fox, DP Kelvin DuVal, editor Shelene Bridge, and the production team, storytelling opportunities for you to share your recuerdo/memory, and an update on the status of the film, which New Mexico PBS has expressed an interest in broadcasting. The film is presented by the new multimedia oral history project, Recuerdos Vivos New Mexico, Living Memories that re-imagines encounters with the past – transforming oral histories into vivid presentations through plays, videos, and other mediums. The fiscal sponsor is New Mexico Film Foundation.
  
The crowdfunding campaign to raise editing funds for the film runs through January 31 and offers you many perks for donating, including a chance to Be a Credit, receive a vintage photo of Nasario García and be listed in the Credits of the film under a special title, Crowdfunded by Communities who Care about Land and Story (deadline 1/31).  The campaign is hoping to reach 400 people by the end of January and make this film a true "crowdfunded" project, where many people giving little can make a project possible. A guided trip with Dr. García to villages of the Rio Puerco valley is also available.  For more info about the film, please visit the the Indiegogo site http://bit.ly/NasarioFilm, or website www.nasarioremembers.com.
 
Join us at Collected Works where the story began - hear our recuerdos, our tales and let yours flow. Listening makes stories live - our story, your story. Be part of the journey to continue the story of a forgotten part of New Mexico and a storyteller who is entering his eighth decade of speaking recuerdos about land, loss, and community.


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ABOUT NASARIO GARCÍA
Folklorist and native New Mexican Nasario García grew up in the small village of Ojo del Padre or Guadalupe in the Rio Puerco valley, northwest of Albuquerque. Over the last few decades, he has published over 30 award-winning oral histories, children’s stories and fiction about his beloved Río Puerco valley. His memoir: Hoe Heaven and Hell: My Boyhood in rural New Mexico was awarded First Place for best autobiography at the International Latino Book Awards and “Best Book on New Mexico” at the New Mexico/Arizona Books Awards . Dr. García is the recipient of the first ever Lifetime Achievement award from the Historical Society of New Mexico.  He currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  His website is www.nasariogarciaphd.com
 
ABOUT SHEBANA COELHO
Shebana Coelho is a writer and director, originally from India, now living in New Mexico. She received a Fiction Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), and a Fulbright grant to Mongolia. Her documentary work has been broadcast on American Public Television, National Public Radio, The Discovery Channel, and BBC Radio Four and has received a Telly award and a South Asian Journalists' Association (SAJA) Best Documentary Award.   She wrote and directed When The Stars Trembled in Río Puerco, an oral history play, adapted from the work of Nasario García about life in four now ghost towns in the Rio Puerco valley (April 2014, Teatro Paraguas, September 2014, National Hispanic Cultural Center.) Her website is shebanacoelho.com
 
ABOUT COLLECTED WORKS
Collected Works is an independent and locally-owned business, located on the corner of Galisteo & Water Streets in downtown Santa Fe, just blocks from the historic Plaza. We're a full-service general bookstore with a huge inventory of titles, including a large selection of local travel, Southwest and Native American history, art and architecture, poetry, and children's books. Co-owners Dorothy Massey and her daughter Mary Wolf hope to see you in the store soon! www.collectedworksbookstore.com
 
INFO: 
Contact: Shebana Coelho, cell 609-651-5840, e: [email protected]