c/o Lynn Dingfelder
Lynn Dingfelder's new 'La Gaceta' documentary features never before seen footage featuring remarks from founder and editor Victoriano Manteiga.
Dingfelder—an Emmy-winning TV journalist whose brought the same newsy approach to past films about Goody Goody, JFK's trip to Tampa and even Jefferson High School’s Fabulous Rockers—has been working on the documentary for a little over a year, and picked up the first camera for the project in February.
As she and her production partner Larry Wiezycki put the finishing touches on the film that premieres on Friday in Ybor City, Dingfelder said that even she was surprised by how much she didn’t know about the publication that became famous for its coverage of political refugees, Tampa’s strong immigrant past and rumors, too. “I mean, the FBI was involved at one point, and there’s so much drama and intrigue,” Dingfelder told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
“And you’re hearing from all three generations of the newspaper, too,” she added.
What’s more is that her team also got hold of never before seen footage featuring remarks from Victoriano Manteiga founder and editor of La Gaceta, who sailed to Tampa from Cuba in 1913. “Patrick has not seen this footage yet,” Dingfelder said, alluding to Patrick Manteiga, the third generation publisher of the paper.
Naturally, Dingfeler’s film—”La Gaceta The Documentary: 100 years and 3 Generations Behind America’s Only Trilingual Newspaper”—uses three languages, too.
The movie screens in the most appropriate of places, Ybor City’s Cuban Club. Tickets are available on Eventbrite or at La Gaceta offices located at 3210 E 7th Ave. in Ybor City.
