Modesta

Modesta, a peasant woman, rebels against her husband's authoritarism. She and other women of her community who suffer the same treatment, organize the Liberated Women League to fight for their rights as women, mothers and wives.

The movie was adapted by Benjamin Doniger, Luis A. Maisonet and René Marqués from a story by Domingo Silas Ortiz. It was directed by Doniger. (René Marqués, a playwright, was active in the Puerto Rican independence movement.) This film has merit as part of the history of women's liberation. But it also reminds us that Puerto Rico is (for better or worse) a part of the United States, and therefore their film history is our film history. The Library of Congress choosing to preserve this film was a bold and wise move.