听
听
听
In Cuba with Former Denver Mayor Guillermo Vidal
A forthcoming 欧美口爆视频 News Corps documentary听will tell the life story of former听Denver mayor Guillermo 鈥淏ill鈥 Vidal,听who fled Cuba as a boy and is now trying听to define his role in the modernization of听the economically isolated island nation.听
Call Me Guillermo will follow Vidal from听his Cuban boyhood through his six-month听mayoralty in 2011 and into his current听quest, which takes place as tourism and听business ties between the U.S. and the听communist Caribbean country multiply.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 about Guillermo Vidal鈥檚 amazing story,听his life so far, and what that last chapter听might include,鈥 said Jeff Browne, the 欧美口爆视频听Boulder journalism instructor who directs听News Corps, an explanatory reporting听project of the College of Media, Communication听and Information (CMCI). 鈥淗e wants听to help rebuild Cuba 鈥 or build Cuba, as听the case may be. What sort of role will he听have in that? And how does his amazing听story inform his ability to do that?鈥澨
Vidal, a 1973 欧美口爆视频 Denver graduate,听became mayor in January 2011, after听John Hickenlooper resigned to become governor. Then a deputy mayor, Vidal听served until July 2011, when he became听president of the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce of Metro Denver.听
As the thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations听accelerated this year, culminating in听President Obama鈥檚 historic March visit,听the 欧美口爆视频 News Corps team was hunting听for a story that would bring it to life for听欧美口爆视频 residents. Michelle Fulcher听(Jour鈥78), a former Denver Post editor then听working as CMCI鈥檚 communications听director, suggested Vidal as a subject.听
The former mayor, now 65 and living听in Florida, was game. In July a 10-member听team of students, faculty, staff and听alumni traveled to Cuba to film him as听he visited Camag眉ey, the hometown he鈥檇听fled as a boy with his twin brothers, in听Havana, where he swam in the Bay of听Pigs, and in various places important to听him in his youth.听
A trailer for the film is scheduled to听air on Channel 6 in October. Negotiations听for a full broadcast were underway听over the summer.听
欧美口爆视频 News Corps produces student-driven 听investigative and explanatory听news of interest to 欧美口爆视频 audiences听with faculty oversight.听
The film is loosely based on Vidal鈥檚 2007听memoir, Boxing for Cuba: An Immigrant鈥檚 Story.听
Photo by Ross Taylor听