The Global Search for Education: Love Letters for New Bedford: An Interview with Ethan de Aguiar

This month, audiences can screen Love Letters for New Bedford on the Planet Classroom Network. The film is curated for the Planet Classroom Network by KIDS FIRST! Film Festival.

Directed by Ethan de Aguiar, this documentary celebrates New Bedford, Massachusetts, through a rich tapestry of voices. Showcasing local artists, educators, and community members, it weaves narratives that highlight the city’s pride and deep connections. This film is a visually and emotionally compelling tribute to New Bedford’s vibrant culture.

The Global Search for Education is pleased to welcome Ethan de Aguiar.

Ethan, what inspired you to create Love Letters for New Bedford? Why did you choose this city?

The project started out as a simple job where I was hired to document the public art projects of some local artists and interview them to get insight into their art and process and who they were as artists. It was when we interviewed a spoken word artist by the name of Maia Livramento that the project shifted into something more. The way Maia spoke about not just her art, but about the art community in New Bedford, the people, and the city itself was so beautiful and moving that I just knew we had something very special on our hands. I talked with Michael Johnson at Arts Midwest and Margo Saulnier at New Bedford Creative, who had teamed up for this Creating Connections Initiative. I told them that we had an opportunity to do something very special with these interviews and that we should essentially make New Bedford the main character of this story. They trusted me and gave me the creative freedom to shape this project into what I thought was best, and it became one of the most important stories I’ve ever had the honor of telling.

How did you go about selecting the voices featured in the project?

I worked with Beatriz Oliveira on all of the interviews, and our selection process was a mixture of artists, poets, musicians, and other creatives from around the city. The idea was to interview people that we knew saw not only the beauty of New Bedford but the potential the city and the community have that sometimes goes unnoticed. We cast a wide net in terms of who we reached out to, and luckily the artists who responded to our requests all gave us such passionate interviews.

Can you share any memorable moments or challenges you faced while filming that particularly resonated with you?

Honestly, the entire interviewing process was a memorable moment. I spoke with a mix of people I knew and people I met for the first time, but the opportunity to talk with each of them in a casual, conversation-like environment was such a novel approach to filmmaking that I really enjoyed. It felt less like interviews and more like conversations between good friends. Beatriz and I had an idea of what we wanted to ask them or what we wanted to talk about, but no formal questions were written up ahead of time. We just let the conversations flow naturally and organically, and the results were authentic, insightful, and full of passion.

What do you hope audiences are able to take away from this project?

My hope is that people watching this film will want to visit New Bedford and come see what makes this place so magical. New Bedford is a welcoming community, and we love sharing our city with everyone who visits. I also hope that it helps people see the beauty around them, in their own cities and in their own communities. Although the world can get very dark and grim, there is still so much beauty in this life and so many remarkable people and places. I just hope that this film awakens the passion and creativity that I know lives inside all of us.

Thank you, Ethan!

C.M. Rubin with Ethan de Aguiar

Don’t miss Love Letters for New Bedford, now streaming on the Planet Classroom Network, curated by KIDS FIRST! Film Festival.