Boston’s Latin Quarter

Monica Cohen / United States / 2019 / 21 min
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  • Boston Latino Int'l Film Festival

  • Unbound Visual Arts

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English and Spanish with English subtitles

Boston’s Latin Quarter tells the story of a resilient Latinx neighborhood in Jamaica Plain, Boston. It highlights a community that has faced violence, hard times, and now gentrification.

Compelling individuals share their stories in vibrant local spots like a dance studio, a bakery, a barber shop, and a library. These personal narratives immerse viewers in the authentic sounds, sights, and spirit of the community’s past, present, and future.

The film explores the neighborhood’s history, struggles, and its impact on the community, the city, and the next generation of Latinx.

Press

“Though Boston’s Latin Quarter has served as a powerful tool to advocate for the neighborhood, it also illustrates the importance of having a cultural space.” – Celina Colbu, The Bay State Banner

“The director examines issues such as the strengths of the immigrant communities, Latinx entrepreneurs, the role of Afro-Latin Arts/Culture, place-keeping, and problems of crime, violence and gentrification.” – Jamaica Plain News

About the Director
Monica Cohen is a passionate Colombian filmmaker and music composer dedicated to social documentaries focusing on art and culture. Monica is the founder of The Boom House Productions, a video and music production house based in Boston, MA.  She co-produced MY NAME IS PEDRO, an award-winning documentary film that premiered at Woodstock Film Festival in 2016. She moved to Boston where she Directed and Produced BOSTON’S LATIN QUARTER (2019), a short documentary film about the importance of the preservation of cultural enclaves within a city.

Monica’s first award-winning feature documentary film DREAMS OF CHONTA (2020), a story about the hopes and dreams of a talented musician from the Pacific coast of Colombia living undocumented in NYC, has been selected in multiple film festivals in the US and Latin America. Recently, Monica was one of the co-directors of CONNECTIONS: NO ONE IS AN ISLAND, a global multi-media interactive story about the connections and experiences people shared throughout the pandemic, a project that made its debut at CPH: DOX in April 2021. Monica continues to create powerful pieces rooted in storytelling sparking important conversations that put culture and art in the center of social transformation and human connection.

Notes on Film

“As an artist, a Colombian, an immigrant to this country, and a neighbor of Boston’s Latin Quarter, I was able to make a compelling visual piece that can make us proud of the history, the struggle, the fights, and the beauty of our community.

For me, this film was an opportunity to provide the community of Boston’s Latin Quarter with a visual tool to promote, reach out, and get what it takes to help develop one of the most beautiful and culturally rich places in Boston and it’s done just that; the film, “Boston’s Latin Quarter” has been shown in important meetings with grassroots organizations, State and National representatives and private stakeholders who in a very short period grasp the importance of the preservation of cultural enclaves like this one and are motivated to create policies or give significant funding to support the cause.

I believe in this project together with many of the residents and local business owners that I’ve had the incredible privilege to meet through my work. We’re excited and feel the urgency of this visual document to commemorate more than 60 years of this vibrant Latinx community and the well-merited designation of Boston’s Latin Quarter.”

– Monica Cohen, Director

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