El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico
"El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico" immerses viewers in the world of Puerto Rican coffee, revealing how this cherished crop serves as both economic lifeline and cultural heartbeat. Through intimate portraits of generational farmers, dedicated harvesters, and innovative processors, "El Motor" uncovers the profound relationship between the land, its people, and the coffee that has shaped Puerto Rico's identity for centuries.…
Contributor:
Pardue, Douglas - Pintado, Ignacio - Caraballo, Gessellie - Beauchamp, Gabriel - Roig, Tato - Masini, Angela - Atienza, Roberto - Morales, Bernardo - Roig, Luis - Suárez, Mariana - Rodriguez, Remy - Muñoz, Rafael - Muñoz, Pablo - Giuliani, Joseph - Arroyo, Gustavo
Date:2025-06-25
Film, Video
Bayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways
"Bayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways" is a two-part documentary that delves into the rich culinary traditions of the Lao Buddhist immigrant community in Louisiana. Through vibrant storytelling and intimate interviews with first, second and third generations, the film uncovers how these unique foodways are woven into the fabric of an existing Cajun and Creole culture, highlighting the fusion of flavors and…
Conversation with Susana Behar
Susana Behar sat down with Stephen Winick to discuss her concert at the Library. For almost 20 years, she has focused her artistic career on the preservation and performance of the Sephardic musical repertoire. Passionate about the richness of traditional music and its connection to cultural memory and storytelling, she has performed across the U.S., Latin America, Canada, Israel, and Japan. In 2017 she…
Contributor:
Behar, Susana - Winick, Stephen
Date:2025-05-22
Film, Video
Susana Behar Ensemble
Susana Behar was born in Havana to a Cuban family with roots in the Sephardic community of Turkey. From an early age, she was immersed in the traditional music of her homeland as well as the evocative kantikas in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) passed down by her grandparents. In 1965 she emigrated to Venezuela, where she started to explore and perform the music of her adoptive…
Contributor:
Behar, Susana
Date:2025-05-21
Film, Video
Conversation with Lisa Gabbert
This entry in the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series offers an overview of the occupational folklore that exists among physicians in the United States today. Much of this folklore is humorous, but it can also be earthy and quite dark. Lisa Gabbert is a Professor of Folklore Studies in the Department of English and Director of the Folklore Program at Utah State University. Her…
Contributor:
Groce, Nancy - Gabbert, Lisa
Date:2025-05-20
Film, Video
The Medical Carnivalesque: Folklore Among Physicians with Lisa Gabbert
This lecture provides an overview of the occupational folklore that exists among physicians in the United States today. Much of this folklore is humorous; it can also be earthy and even quite dark. Gabbert focuses on folklore that emerges in physician-to-physician communication, arguing that the content and themes that emerge are strikingly parallel to the ones identified by Mikhail Bakhtin in his concept of…
Contributor:
Gabbert, Lisa
Date:2025-05-20
Film, Video
Conversation with Ensemble Sangineto
Ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the Italian scene, comprised of three talented singers and instrumentalists. Adriano and Caterina Sangineto are twins; Adriano plays Celtic harp and Caterina plays bowed psaltery and flute. Jacopo Ventura rounds out the trio on guitar and bouzouki. The group sings in three-part harmony, with Caterina's clear voice taking the lead. The Sanginetos are…
Ensemble Sangineto: Traditional Music from Italy
The ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the Italian scene, comprised of three talented singers and instrumentalists. Adriano and Caterina Sangineto are twins -- Adriano plays Celtic harp and Caterina plays bowed psaltery. Jacopo Ventura rounds out the trio on guitar. The group sings in three-part harmony, with Caterina's clear voice taking the lead. The Sanginetos are children of…
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 4)
The fourth of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured JW Newson, Douglas Taylor, Tameshia Rudd-Ridge and Jourdan Brunson.
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 3)
The third of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Tammy Greer and Boots Lupenui.
Contributor:
Lupenui, Boots - Greer, Tammy
Date:2025-04-11
Film, Video
Kohala Mountain Boys: Traditional Music from Hawai'i Island
Led by Boots Lupenui, the Kohala Mountain Boys are committed to uncovering and preserving musical treasures that helped to define the moku of Kohala on Hawai'i Island. Old-time Kohala music is soulful, playful, poetic and fierce, the manifold voice of a vibrant and extraordinary people. We want to recover and share the heirloom songs currently known only to a few isolated and precious old…
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 1)
The first of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Myron Jackson and Sandra A.M. Bell.
Contributor:
Bell, Sandra A. M. - Jackson, Myron
Date:2025-04-10
Film, Video
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 2)
The second of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Kamilah Thurmon, Junious Brickhouse and Phanat Xanamane.
Conversation with Boots Lupenui
Led by Boots Lupenui, The Kohala Mountain Boys are committed to uncovering and preserving musical treasures that helped to define the moku of Kohala on Hawai'i Island. Lupenui was selected as a 2022 awardee of the AFC Community Collections Grant to document unrecorded or "heirloom songs" of the Kohala region of the Big island of Hawai'i.
Contributor:
Lupenui, Boots - Fenn, John
Date:2025-04-09
Film, Video
Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla from Louisiana
Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla performed traditional French-language music from Louisiana. Louis Michot is a fiddle player and lead singer for the Grammy-award-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers. He is passionate about Louisiana French and local folklore. These interests fuel his career as a musician. In addition to fiddle and vocals, Louis plays guitar, bass, ti-fer (triangle), and accordion--all the instruments of a typical Cajun band.…
Contributor:
McCalla, Leyla - Michot, Louis
Date:2025-03-26
Film, Video
Conversation with Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla
Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla sit down with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center to discuss their personal musical histories prior to their concert at the Library. Louis Michot is best known as the fiddle player and lead singer for the Grammy-award-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers. He is passionate about Louisiana French and local folklore, and about sustainability in the fastest disappearing landmass in…
Contributor:
McCalla, Leyla - Winick, Stephen - Michot, Louis
Date:2025-03-26
Film, Video
Documenting COVID-19
Every American was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But every American's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was different. On March 11th, exactly five years since COVID-19 was designated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, this panel discussion will bring together four documentarians of the COVID-19 pandemic to explore what it means to undertake cultural documentation in various communities during a public health…
Contributor:
Vergara, Camilo Jose - Musgrave, Nicole - Martin, Allie - Peach, Douglas - Dellinger, Midge
Date:2025-03-11
Film, Video
Colleen Power: Cod Liver Oil
Newfoundland singer/songwriter Colleen Power performing "Cod Liver Oil," from a field recording of singer John Myrick, recorded by MacEdward Leach in St. Shott's, Newfoundland, Canada, in 1951. From the MacEdward Leach collection of Newfoundland recordings, 1951 (AFC 1968/013). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled archive of ethnographic recordings of traditional folk music.…
Contributor:
Power, Colleen
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Thea Hopkins: Red Wing
Boston-area singer/songwriter Thea Hopkins, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, performing her original new lyrics for "Red Wing," from a field recording of singer Lillian Short, recorded by Vance Randolph in Galena, Missouri, in October, 1941. From the Vance Randolph collection, 1941-1972 (AFC 1941/001: AFS 5294 A3). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists…
Contributor:
Hopkins, Thea
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Blessing Tangban: Horned Owl
Halifax-based Nigerian singer/songwriter Blessing Tangban performing the song "Horned Owl" with her original lyrics, based on a melody taken from a field recording of John Josh, recorded by Carita Doggett Corse and Robert Cornwall at the Cow Creek settlement, Seminole Indian Reservation, Florida, on July 1, 1940. From the Florida WPA Recordings collection (AFC 1940/011: AFS 03892 B01). The American Folklife Center at the…
Contributor:
Tangban, Blessing
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Amanda Pascali with Addison Freeman: Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire
Houston-based singer and guitarist Amanda Pascali, with mandolinist and harmony vocalist Addison Freeman, performing the song "Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire," from a field recording of Maria Bergamashchi and Maria Patritti, recorded by Alan Lomax in Gurro, Piemonte, Italy, in 1954. From the Alan Lomax collection (AFC 2004/004). This field recording was published on the Rounder Records Alan Lomax Collection series Italian Treasury: Piemonte…
Contributor:
Pascali, Amanda - Freeman, Addison
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Elexa Dawson: The Riddle Song (I Gave My Love a Cherry)
Kansas-based Potawatomi singer/songwriter Elexa Dawson performing "The Riddle Song (I Gave My Love a Cherry)," from a field recording of Mrs. W.L. Martin, recorded by Herbert Halpert in March 1939 in Hillsville, Virginia. From the Herbert Halpert 1939 Southern States Recording Expedition collection (AFC 1939/005: AFS 2756 B04). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from…
Contributor:
Dawson, Elexa
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Buggy Jive: Good God Almighty
Albany, New York-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Buggy Jive performing the song "Good God Almighty" from a field recording of Lightnin' Washington and an unidentified group, recorded by John and Alan Lomax in December 1933 at Darrington State Prison Farm. From the John A. Lomax Southern States Collection (AFC 1935/002: AFS 184 A). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists…
Contributor:
Jive, Buggy
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
SaulPaul: Wade in the Water
Austin-based singer and guitarist SaulPaul performing the song "Wade in the Water," from a field recording of John Dee Holeman, James "Junior" Thomas, and an unidentified man, recorded by Alan Lomax and his crew at Algia Mae Hinton's home in Johnston County, North Carolina, July 29, 1983. From the American Patchwork recording project. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical…
Contributor:
Neal, Adam
Date:2025-02-22
Film, Video
Iona Fyfe: The Baron of Brackley
Scottish traditional singer Iona Fyfe performing "The Baron of Brackley" from a field recording of singer Alexander McEwan, recorded by James Madison Carpenter in Craigievar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on January 11, 1927. From the James Madison Carpenter collection (AFC 1972/001: AFS 14,843 Disc Side 027, sr014). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled…
Contributor:
Fyfe, Iona
Date:2025-02-22
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Film, VideoEl Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico "El Motor: Coffee and the Heart of Puerto Rico" immerses viewers in the world of Puerto Rican coffee, revealing how this cherished crop serves as both economic lifeline and cultural heartbeat. Through intimate portraits of generational farmers, dedicated harvesters, and innovative processors, "El Motor" uncovers the profound relationship between the land, its people, and the coffee that has shaped Puerto Rico's identity for centuries.…
Film, VideoBayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways "Bayou, Buddha, and Padaek: Southern Louisiana's Lao Foodways" is a two-part documentary that delves into the rich culinary traditions of the Lao Buddhist immigrant community in Louisiana. Through vibrant storytelling and intimate interviews with first, second and third generations, the film uncovers how these unique foodways are woven into the fabric of an existing Cajun and Creole culture, highlighting the fusion of flavors and…
Film, VideoConversation with Susana Behar Susana Behar sat down with Stephen Winick to discuss her concert at the Library. For almost 20 years, she has focused her artistic career on the preservation and performance of the Sephardic musical repertoire. Passionate about the richness of traditional music and its connection to cultural memory and storytelling, she has performed across the U.S., Latin America, Canada, Israel, and Japan. In 2017 she…
Film, VideoSusana Behar Ensemble Susana Behar was born in Havana to a Cuban family with roots in the Sephardic community of Turkey. From an early age, she was immersed in the traditional music of her homeland as well as the evocative kantikas in Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) passed down by her grandparents. In 1965 she emigrated to Venezuela, where she started to explore and perform the music of her adoptive…
Film, VideoConversation with Lisa Gabbert This entry in the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series offers an overview of the occupational folklore that exists among physicians in the United States today. Much of this folklore is humorous, but it can also be earthy and quite dark. Lisa Gabbert is a Professor of Folklore Studies in the Department of English and Director of the Folklore Program at Utah State University. Her…
Film, VideoThe Medical Carnivalesque: Folklore Among Physicians with Lisa Gabbert This lecture provides an overview of the occupational folklore that exists among physicians in the United States today. Much of this folklore is humorous; it can also be earthy and even quite dark. Gabbert focuses on folklore that emerges in physician-to-physician communication, arguing that the content and themes that emerge are strikingly parallel to the ones identified by Mikhail Bakhtin in his concept of…
Film, VideoConversation with Ensemble Sangineto Ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the Italian scene, comprised of three talented singers and instrumentalists. Adriano and Caterina Sangineto are twins; Adriano plays Celtic harp and Caterina plays bowed psaltery and flute. Jacopo Ventura rounds out the trio on guitar and bouzouki. The group sings in three-part harmony, with Caterina's clear voice taking the lead. The Sanginetos are…
Film, VideoEnsemble Sangineto: Traditional Music from Italy The ensemble Sangineto is one of the most popular folk groups on the Italian scene, comprised of three talented singers and instrumentalists. Adriano and Caterina Sangineto are twins -- Adriano plays Celtic harp and Caterina plays bowed psaltery. Jacopo Ventura rounds out the trio on guitar. The group sings in three-part harmony, with Caterina's clear voice taking the lead. The Sanginetos are children of…
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 4) The fourth of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured JW Newson, Douglas Taylor, Tameshia Rudd-Ridge and Jourdan Brunson.
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 3) The third of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Tammy Greer and Boots Lupenui.
Film, VideoKohala Mountain Boys: Traditional Music from Hawai'i Island Led by Boots Lupenui, the Kohala Mountain Boys are committed to uncovering and preserving musical treasures that helped to define the moku of Kohala on Hawai'i Island. Old-time Kohala music is soulful, playful, poetic and fierce, the manifold voice of a vibrant and extraordinary people. We want to recover and share the heirloom songs currently known only to a few isolated and precious old…
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 1) The first of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Myron Jackson and Sandra A.M. Bell.
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 2) The second of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library's Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Kamilah Thurmon, Junious Brickhouse and Phanat Xanamane.
Film, VideoConversation with Boots Lupenui Led by Boots Lupenui, The Kohala Mountain Boys are committed to uncovering and preserving musical treasures that helped to define the moku of Kohala on Hawai'i Island. Lupenui was selected as a 2022 awardee of the AFC Community Collections Grant to document unrecorded or "heirloom songs" of the Kohala region of the Big island of Hawai'i.
Film, VideoLouis Michot and Leyla McCalla from Louisiana Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla performed traditional French-language music from Louisiana. Louis Michot is a fiddle player and lead singer for the Grammy-award-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers. He is passionate about Louisiana French and local folklore. These interests fuel his career as a musician. In addition to fiddle and vocals, Louis plays guitar, bass, ti-fer (triangle), and accordion--all the instruments of a typical Cajun band.…
Film, VideoConversation with Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla sit down with Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center to discuss their personal musical histories prior to their concert at the Library. Louis Michot is best known as the fiddle player and lead singer for the Grammy-award-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers. He is passionate about Louisiana French and local folklore, and about sustainability in the fastest disappearing landmass in…
Film, VideoDocumenting COVID-19 Every American was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But every American's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic was different. On March 11th, exactly five years since COVID-19 was designated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, this panel discussion will bring together four documentarians of the COVID-19 pandemic to explore what it means to undertake cultural documentation in various communities during a public health…
Film, VideoColleen Power: Cod Liver Oil Newfoundland singer/songwriter Colleen Power performing "Cod Liver Oil," from a field recording of singer John Myrick, recorded by MacEdward Leach in St. Shott's, Newfoundland, Canada, in 1951. From the MacEdward Leach collection of Newfoundland recordings, 1951 (AFC 1968/013). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled archive of ethnographic recordings of traditional folk music.…
Film, VideoThea Hopkins: Red Wing Boston-area singer/songwriter Thea Hopkins, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, performing her original new lyrics for "Red Wing," from a field recording of singer Lillian Short, recorded by Vance Randolph in Galena, Missouri, in October, 1941. From the Vance Randolph collection, 1941-1972 (AFC 1941/001: AFS 5294 A3). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists…
Film, VideoBlessing Tangban: Horned Owl Halifax-based Nigerian singer/songwriter Blessing Tangban performing the song "Horned Owl" with her original lyrics, based on a melody taken from a field recording of John Josh, recorded by Carita Doggett Corse and Robert Cornwall at the Cow Creek settlement, Seminole Indian Reservation, Florida, on July 1, 1940. From the Florida WPA Recordings collection (AFC 1940/011: AFS 03892 B01). The American Folklife Center at the…
Film, VideoAmanda Pascali with Addison Freeman: Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire Houston-based singer and guitarist Amanda Pascali, with mandolinist and harmony vocalist Addison Freeman, performing the song "Mamma Mia Dammi Cento Lire," from a field recording of Maria Bergamashchi and Maria Patritti, recorded by Alan Lomax in Gurro, Piemonte, Italy, in 1954. From the Alan Lomax collection (AFC 2004/004). This field recording was published on the Rounder Records Alan Lomax Collection series Italian Treasury: Piemonte…
Film, VideoElexa Dawson: The Riddle Song (I Gave My Love a Cherry) Kansas-based Potawatomi singer/songwriter Elexa Dawson performing "The Riddle Song (I Gave My Love a Cherry)," from a field recording of Mrs. W.L. Martin, recorded by Herbert Halpert in March 1939 in Hillsville, Virginia. From the Herbert Halpert 1939 Southern States Recording Expedition collection (AFC 1939/005: AFS 2756 B04). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from…
Film, VideoBuggy Jive: Good God Almighty Albany, New York-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Buggy Jive performing the song "Good God Almighty" from a field recording of Lightnin' Washington and an unidentified group, recorded by John and Alan Lomax in December 1933 at Darrington State Prison Farm. From the John A. Lomax Southern States Collection (AFC 1935/002: AFS 184 A). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists…
Film, VideoSaulPaul: Wade in the Water Austin-based singer and guitarist SaulPaul performing the song "Wade in the Water," from a field recording of John Dee Holeman, James "Junior" Thomas, and an unidentified man, recorded by Alan Lomax and his crew at Algia Mae Hinton's home in Johnston County, North Carolina, July 29, 1983. From the American Patchwork recording project. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical…
Film, VideoIona Fyfe: The Baron of Brackley Scottish traditional singer Iona Fyfe performing "The Baron of Brackley" from a field recording of singer Alexander McEwan, recorded by James Madison Carpenter in Craigievar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on January 11, 1927. From the James Madison Carpenter collection (AFC 1972/001: AFS 14,843 Disc Side 027, sr014). The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled…