Nuyorican Director Elaine Del Valle wants Latina women to know that our beautiful stories have always belonged on the big screen. With her debut film, Brownsville Bred, she’s also reminding Hollywood what authentic cultural representation looks like. The autobiographical coming-of-age tale chronicles the tumultuous life of a young girl growing up in a rough Brooklyn neighborhood. It’s about the struggles that shape us. In essence, it’s about love, loss, and healing.
Brownsville Bred hit Puerto Rico’s Caribbean Cinemas on October 9, bringing with it an eagerly anticipated connection con matria. Even the poster’s marketing took on a more local, island flavor, using the title, Brooklyn Boricua, to make the New York link crystal clear.
And that’s when I knew I had to go see it. As a Nuyorican who moved to Borinquen nearly four years ago, I make maintaining my connection to the diaspora integral to my work. So, it was especially touching to read Del Valle share with a local outlet, El Vocero, “The spaces also act as characters: a little girl from Brooklyn who discovers the beauty of Puerto Rico, its surroundings and its vibrant community.”
The road to the big screen was a long one. Del Valle married young, becoming a teen mother who shared with Los Angeles Times’ De Los how she took her daughter to auditions. Resources were tight, yet the young Brooklyn native persevered, eventually becoming a voice actor. Among her credits: playing Val the Octopus of Dora the Explorer fame for more than twenty years. In 2009, her one-woman play, Brownsville Bred debuted at the iconic Nuyorican Poets Café. Then it went to Off-Broadway audiences in July 2011 before she adapted it into a short film – which won the 2022 SXSW Audience Award.
The accolades continued. In 2024, Del Valle’s expanded script garnered the now-defunct ScreenCraft Film Fund‘s Best Feature-Length Drama Screenplay. At its 2025 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF) premiere, the full-length film won for Achievement in Original Music-Driven Film.
This is where Brownsville Bred sings to millions of us – and not just those of us from New York City. In the movie, there’s an emotional scene when Elaine (Nathalia Lares) arrives to spend the summer in Cataño, Puerto Rico (where her father moved after his drug-related prison sentence). It’s her first night on the island and to her unpleasant surprise, she’s obligated to go to church. At one point, Manny (Javier Muñoz) addresses the congregation and his daughter, “I wrote this song for you, knowing you were coming. This island helped heal me, and I hope it can help heal us too.”
The song, “Semilla de Fe” (Seed of Faith) is an inspirational ballad composed and written by Edwin Vázquez. Tears filled my eyes as Manny crooned, “Vente conmigo, no tengas miedo, vamos a abrigarnos contra este frío. Atrévete, conmigo a creer que cosas buenas pasan también. Mil maravillas van a crecer de una semilla sembrada de fe.” (Come with me, don’t be afraid, let’s take refuge against this cold. Dare to believe that good things also happen. A thousand wonders will grow from a seed sown with faith).
This scene marks a turning point in the movie where Elaine begins to let her dad back into her heart – it’s a chance for them to rebuild the fractured relationship he left behind.
Brownsville Bred is Del Valle’s love letter to her heritage, and also to the Latine community as a collective. In September, she told InterMedya’s Produ, “It’s my story, rooted in the streets of Brownsville and in the rhythms of Puerto Rico, but it’s also the story of so many who grew up wondering if their voices, their accents, and their homes were worthy of being on a big screen. I made this film for them – for every young person who deserves to feel that their culture is not only valid, but beautiful and cinematic.”
Gracias, Ms. Del Valle for boldly, unapologetically championing us.
