Puerto Rico Senator with Hostos Professor

On Friday, October 5, Hostos professor Joelle González-Laguer was presented with a proclamation from the Senate of Puerto Rico in recognition of his work as a filmmaker and the artistic director of the MABO Short Film Festival, an annual event dedicated to promoting Puerto Rican cinema and talent in the arts.
 
The proclamation was presented by Senator Evelyn Vázquez Nieves on the opening night of the 4th Annual MABO Short Film Festival at the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla. 
 
“I’m really honored because all of my films have dealt with the Puerto Rican subject—from my early films to the one now,” González-Laguer said. “I feel very honored that my job gets recognized by others.”
 
González-Laguer, who hails from Isabela, Puerto Rico, was accompanied by his parents and slated to present his award-winning documentary “Amor Con Tufo A Colonia” at the festival. The film focuses on marriage equality in Puerto Rico, as well as the Island’s relationship with the U.S. mainland, and has won the Director’s Choice Best Documentary Award at the 2017 Rincon International Film Festival. González-Laguer said it was particularly meaningful for him to both screen the film and have received the proclamation on the Island, surrounded by family and some of the subjects of his film. He called it an “extraordinary” experience.
 
González-Laguer is a Hostos graduate and holds an MFA in Film and Media Production from the University of New York. He taught Cinema and Media classes at Hunter College for eight years and is currently a professor in the Behavioral Social Sciences Department at Hostos, where he teaches Sociology. Gonzalez-Laguer has received four educational development scholarships during his tenure at CUNY, which have allowed him to continue his studies and present films in Argentina, Cuba and Mexico. He has written and directed several short films and documentaries, and he was awarded Best Short at the Rincón International Film Festival in 2013.