HERITAGE FILM PROJECT

HOW OUR
DOCUMENTARIES
ARE PRODUCED

The Documentary Film Fund provides financial support for the creation of new documentary films. Heritage Film Project, led by filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley, is the producing entity responsible for research, production, and delivery. This structure ensures fiscal accountability, creative independence, and broad educational impact.

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A Bristow Celebration took place in New York City last week, featuring a rich conference program at Lincoln Center, The Century Association, and the CUNY Graduate Center, and culminating in the premiere of George Frederick Bristow’s Fifth Symphony, The Niagara, at Carnegie Hall. The Bristow documentary film project is made possible with the support of the Documentary Film Fund, The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, and
the Alma and Morris Schapiro Fund.

Sonata Mulattica echoes Rita Dove's landmark collection of poems and her effort to reclaim the place of violinist George Bridgetower in a cultural context that extends well beyond classical music.

The Art of Joy Brown stands as an exploration of the life and work of an American sculptor and ceramicist, a pioneer of the ancient Anagama tradition, revealing the artist’s profound commitment to the arts at the crossroads of cultural influences.

The Piccirilli Factor stands as an exploration of the lives and work of the Piccirilli Brothers, Italian immigrant sculptors whose mastery of stone shaped some of America’s most iconic monuments, revealing a profound commitment to artistic collaboration at the crossroads of craftsmanship, architecture, and national identity.

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George Bristow at Carnegie Hall: A Belated Premiere, Heard at Last

As I complete work on a documentary film about George Frederick Bristow, nearing its release, last Friday marked a remarkable moment in New York: the long-awaited premiere of Bristow’s Fifth Symphony, The Niagara, finally heard at Carnegie Hall. The concert, presented by the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein, crowned a week-long Bristow celebration that included conferences and conversations at Lincoln Center, The Century Association, and the CUNY Graduate Cente

2 days ago2 min read

El Baño del Caballo " ( the Horse's Bath ) 1909

Chasing Sorolla in Valencia

Chasing Sorolla’s Light follows a detour from Madrid to Valencia after the Museo Sorolla closes for renovations. Visiting Fundación Bancaja, Eduardo Montes-Bradley traces Joaquín Sorolla’s evolution—from Mediterranean seascapes and garden paintings to the Vision of Spain murals—while gathering documentary notes on light, identity, and archival process for a future film.

Jan 245 min read

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Piccirilli Factor moves beyond the remarkable success of an Italian family of sculptors from Massa-Carrara to illuminate the broader artisan culture of the United States, with a particular focus on New York in the nineteenth century, a formative moment in the shaping of American cultural identity.

Join Bettye Kearse in The Other Madisons, a multi-award-winning documentary by Montes-Bradley in which the author traces her ancestry back to a young girl named Mandy, who was enslaved at Montpelier, the plantation owned by James Madison, the fourth President of the United States.

Films like Daniel Chester French: American Sculptor (including The Piccirilli Factor chapter) spotlight underrepresented figures using rare materials, produced with support from institutions such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, positioning them as cultural preservation efforts akin to museum curation.

William Ferraro of the Washington Papers described Monroe Hill as a "scholarly masterpiece" for blending historical imagery, early film footage from D.W. Griffith's works, and modern analysis to argue for Monroe Hill's pivotal role in early American development—achieved through high-quality prints of 1910s films that capture colonial aesthetics.

Composer, conductor, and teacher Alice Parker is a champion of the power of the human voice and a hero in the world of choral music. Montes-Bradley documentary illuminates Parker’s life and art through a series of intimate conversations that unfolded over what seems like an endless winter in the Berkshires.

Black Fiddlers stands as an exploration of the history and living legacy of African American fiddlers in the United States, revealing a tradition rooted in African musical memory and shaped by generations of cultural exchange at the crossroads of race, music, and American identity. Through archival research and contemporary performance, the film brings this often-overlooked history into the present with Rhiannon Giddens, whose work and scholarship illuminate the deep connections between African American string traditions and the broader evolution of American music.

In Calzada: Reconstructing Havana, the artist invites us into an intimate process in which he meticulously fixes on canvas the deteriorated architecture that nearly half a century of neglect has turned his hometown of Havana into a demolition site. Exile and hope meet on film, revealing a singular passion to turn back the clock—both geographically and spiritually—to a better place preserved in Humberto Calzada’s memory.

Samba on Your Feet is an exploration of the history and living vitality of samba in Rio de Janeiro, revealing a tradition shaped by Afro-Brazilian communities and reflected in the work of Caetano Veloso at the crossroads of music, dance, and cultural identity.