WORK IN PROGRESS
At the turn of the twentieth century, four men from Valencia began, in very different ways, to transform how Americans experienced and imagined Spain. Rafael Guastavino reshaped the architecture of New York with vaults of brick and tile, Joaquín Sorolla captured America through the brilliance of light, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez captivated readers and audiences with his novels and ideas, and Joaquín Rodrigo brought a new vision of Spanish music to the concert hall.
Their intersecting journeys reveal an extraordinary dialogue between architecture, painting, literature, and music, and uncover a larger story of cultural exchange between Valencia and the United States. Together, Guastavino, Sorolla, Blasco, and Rodrigo illuminate how four Valencians, each arriving at a different moment and through a different medium, helped shape American cultural life and the image of Spain that continues to resonate today.
WORK IN PROGRESS
PAUL CHALEFF
Thinking in Clay
A new documentary follows Paul Chaleff at work in Ancram, New York, exploring his profound connection with clay and the creation of monumental ceramic sculpture. The film examines the ideas, influences, techniques, and accumulated experience behind a lifetime devoted to his craft, while capturing the physical process through which raw material is transformed into finished work. It also explores Chaleff’s collaboration with British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro and considers his place within contemporary American art. Chaleff’s work is represented in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
Follow the documentary as production continues on YouTube
For more information, contact montesbradley(at)gmail.com
LIFE AND MUSIC IN THE AGE OF
GEORGE F. BRISTOW
Life and Music in the Age of George Frederick Bristow explores the emergence of a distinctly American musical voice through the life and work of one of the nineteenth century’s most ambitious composers. Moving through Bristow’s New York and the cultural forces that shaped his generation, the film traces the gradual breaking away from European models and the struggle to define what American classical music might become. Through music, history, and performance, the documentary restores Bristow to a larger story of artistic independence and the making of an American musical identity.
IN DEVELOPMENT
THE LOST REPUBLIC
A documentary on the Cuban Republic (1902–1959), the vibrant and contradictory nation that flourished between independence and revolution — and the memory of a world that vanished. An exploration of Music, Fine Arts and Literature in the Republican period. Produced with the support of the University of Miami's Cuban Heritage Collection and FIU's Casa Cuba, with Carolina Calzada serving as Executive Director. YouTube Playlist.
UPDATE
THE PICCIRILLI FACTOR
The Piccirilli Factor had its European premiered on August 4, with a full and enthusiastic house at the gardens of Villa Rinchiostra, in Massa with Montes-Bradley in attendance. Book your screening by reaching directly to us. Coming Soon:
October 8, 2026 | Peoria Fine Arts Society, Illinois. Screening of The Piccirilli Factor, followed by a Q&A with director .
September 11, 2026 | Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri. Screening of The Piccirilli Factor, followed by a Q&A with director.
Photo: Fragilina, by Atilio Piccirilli. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Montes-Bradley
October 4, 2026 Black Fiddlers | Light House, Vinegar Hill Theatre. Charlottesville, Virginia.
October 8, 2026 | Peoria Fine Arts Society, Illinois. Screening of The Piccirilli Factor, followed by a Q&A with director Montes-Bradley.
September 27 , 2026| Richmond Int'l Film Festival, Virginia. The Art of Joy Brown. Official Selection
September 11, 2026 | Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri. Screening of The Piccirilli Factor, followed by a Q&A with director Montes-Bradley.
August 20, 2026 | Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami. A Tribute to Humberto Calzada.
August 4, 2026 | Villa Rinchiostra, Massa, Tuscany. Screening of The Piccirilli Factor, sponsored by the City of Massa, the Biblioteca Civica Stefano Giampaoli, and Italia Nostra. Free and open to the public. Followed by a Q&A with director Montes-Bradley.
May 13, 2026 | Biblioteca Nacional, Auditorio Jorge Luis Borges, Buenos Aires. Screening of Deliciosas perversiones polimorfas.
March 6, 2026 | Kent School, Kent, Connecticut. Screening of The Art of Joy Brown, followed by a Q&A with director Montes-Bradley.
May 10, 2025 | James Monroe's Highland, Charlottesville, Virginia. Public screening of The Piccirilli Factor followed by audience discussion.
November 15, 2024 | Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville, Virginia. Screening of Black Fiddlers, followed by a Q&A with director Montes-Bradley.
June 10 & 17, 2024 | Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. NEH-funded workshop "Creative Spaces/Contested Spaces: Reinterpreting Italian American Public Art in New York City." Screening of The Piccirilli Factor.
March 26, 2024 | Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Presentation and screening preview of The Piccirilli Factor, followed by Q&A.
January 19, 2024 | Piedmont Virginia Community College, Charlottesville. Screening of Black Fiddlers
June 27, 2023 | New York Public Library. The Piccirilli Factor. Hosted by The Victorian Society of New York. Jefferson Market Library.
May 24–26, 2016 | The British Academy, London. Screening of Julian Bond followed by panel discussion with Professor Clayborne Carson (Stanford University) and Judy Richardson (SNCC), chaired by Professor Sharon Monteith, University of Nottingham.
