The Barbara Goldsmith Preservation & Conservation Department, working in collaboration with NYU Libraries Archival Collections Management and Special Collections, recently digitized and have made available unique videos from the Estela and Ernesto Bravo Film and Video Collection (TAM.616). With funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Collections grant program, over 300 analog video tapes were reformatted. The original analog tapes were compromised due to their condition and, thus, required extensive conservation treatment to prepare the tapes for reformatting. Conservation treatment was outsourced to the inimitable SPECS Bros. who has steadfastly supported this project’s progress. 

Filmmaker Estela Bravo

Estela and Ernesto Bravo, a documentary filmmaking duo who have worked together for the last forty years, donated their rich archives to NYU’s Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Archives in 2012.  Their films address issues related to Latin American politics and culture; the videos digitized by this CLIR grant focused report broadly on Cuba after the revolution and its relationship with the United States and other countries.

Digitized video assets from this collection are available to stream via the collection finding aid. Recently digitized, this featured video features part of an interview with author Alice Walker. Walker discusses her memories of Castro’s 1995 speech at Riverside Church in Harlem, and her experience meeting Castro in person. She addresses American media portrayals of Castro as a dictator, which she says contrasts with her perception of him. Walker also discusses Castro’s knowledge of agricultural issues, and concludes that his longevity as a leader in Cuba comes from the support he has from many Cuban citizens. The end of the video features still images of Walker with Castro and during her travels in Cuba.

Writer Alice Walker

Interview with Alice Walker (part 1 is TAM.616_ref208; part 2 available as TAM.616_ref1040)

This project was supported by a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.