Natalia Lassalle-Morillo
La Ruta
La Ruta by Natalia Lassalle-Morillo follows the Panoramic Route, a now weakened infrastructure that meanders through untouched natural landscapes and off-road destinations on the island of Puerto Rico. The Panoramic Route was designed for residents and tourists to connect with the traditional center of the island, as part of a political agenda to modernize the country through infrastructure and social programs. Today, the highway is notorious for dismal road conditions, resulting in isolation between more densely populated metropolitan areas and contributing to a loss of cultural sites and practices that once took place along the Route. This historical context inspired Lassalle-Morillo to conduct research and ride the Panoramic Route with artists Christopher Gregory and Erika P. Rodriguez. The film, which the group of artists created in collaboration, looks at how residents of towns near the Route define progress and the spaces that conform to it. Based on interviews conducted along the way, La Ruta questions the colony’s romantic vision of progress and comments on the island’s historical and cultural memory.