ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Two historic Albuquerque neighborhoods are being highlighted in a new documentary. The project will explain how they came to be some of the city’s multicultural hubs.
“I think the thing that struck me most was again the spirit, the resiliency of the people who live in that neighborhood, and how much they love it,” said Producer Anthony DellaFlora.
Anthony DellaFlora is the producer behind the city’s newest documentary on the South Broadway and Kirtland Community neighborhoods.
It’s the seventh film in the series “Neighborhoods at a Crossroads” and the first after the pandemic.
He said this film focuses on sharing the deep history of the two neighborhoods, including showing how race played a big part in their formation.
Housing restrictions from the 1880s through the 1900s limited where people of color could own or rent in Albuquerque.
South Broadway became one of the few places where they could live, turning it into a multicultural melting pot.
“It just brought everybody, every aspect of Albuquerque culture, was brought together in this one, relatively small neighborhood,” said DellaFlora.
The film also highlights the Kirtland Community near the International Sunport and Kirtland Air Force Base. It explains how early Kirtland residents were predominately African American military.
The documentary features prominent speakers including James Lewis, the first African American New Mexico State Treasurer, and Tommy Jewell, the first African American Judge in the state. The city said the film is about preserving history.
“I don’t think anything says that better than digging into each neighborhood and each pocket of the city and being able to not only tell their stories but also kind of preserve some of the histories that live in those neighborhoods,” said CABQ Media Resource Manager Diego Lucero.
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The documentary is a production of “One Albuquerque Media,” formerly GOV TV. It will screen for free at the South Broadway Cultural Center on February 9.
The city said its next documentaries will focus on the Taylor Ranch neighborhood and the International District.
