Agroaldea
The documentary dedicated to the tomato growers of the last century collects the testimonies and the collective memory of the harvests.
The documentary ‘The tomato growers. Stories and experiences, What screened this wednesday, to the 19.00 hours, in the Saro Bolaños Culture Hall of Vecindario, collects the testimonies and the collective memory of the men and women who participated in the harvests in the Southeast area and other municipalities of the Island.
Made by the brothers Luciano and Venancio Lorenzo León, natives of the traditional neighborhood of Casa Pastores, the audiovisual collects different aspects that intervene in the tomato harvest, “dedicating special attention to the most human section, the one that travels on the experiences and the memory of the most numerous and humble protagonists, who wrote with their work a part of the socio-economic history of the municipality of Santa Lucía and the entire Island”, their authors assure.
Luciano Lorenzo explains that the documentary has a duration of 48 minutes" and collected from the beginning of this crop, late 19th century, to the present, with special emphasis on the transition from tomato cultivation to tourism”.
The author and screenwriter explains that "it's like going back 50 years in time, and we have also done it in black and white to give it that old-fashioned brushstroke”.
As a curiosity, the documentary states that the first crops “were dedicated to cotton, but they had no market abroad, something that was achieved with the tomato and its export to Europe, mainly England”.
The Lorenzo León brothers state that “the research work is elaborated from old photographs and audiovisual recordings, as well as interviews with older people who lived the experience first hand”.
The Councilor for Identity and Historical Heritage, Antonio López, highlights that "the objective of presenting this work is to disclose our past for a better understanding of the values that make up our identity and particular idiosyncrasy, the one that distinguishes us with peculiarity as a town and inhabitants of the municipality of Santa Lucía, in addition to safeguarding history and serving as a dissemination tool for new generations”.