Dr. Yovanna Pineda, Associate Professor, History Department and Luciano Prosperi, Producer, Estudio Libertad, Rafaela, Santa Fe hosted a Brown Bag Lunch to discuss the connections between gender, machines and patriotism, and show clips from their upcoming film, The Birthplace of the Harvester. Attendees were able to see how oral history, archival data, visual material, and local traditions can be used to show history to a wider audience.
View a video of the presentation and feedback from attendees here.
Currently in production, The Birthplace of the Harvester is a documentary film that explores the history of San Vicente, Santa Fe, a small agricultural town located in the fertile Pampas of Argentina that was home to five farm machinery companies during the twentieth century. Through interviews, archival footage, and narration with a variety of musical and visual effects, it explains the importance of technology and its users for the formation of national and community identity and memory. The film shows that despite the closure of several of the Argentine harvester companies in the town during the economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s, the legacy of the harvester lives on through such cherished commemorations as the annual Harvester-Combine Festival featuring a beauty pageant and naming of the “Harvester Queen” that transforms San Vicente into a symbol of national nostalgia.
The project was recently featured in the Region Oeste. View the story (in Spanish) here.
