INTERVIEW: ‘Maverick’ educator Pedro Santana is subject of new documentary
Photo: My Name Is Pedro looks at the life and career of Pedro Santana. Photo courtesy of Sweet 180 / Provided by EG-PR with permission.
In Lillian LaSalle’s new documentary, My Name Is Pedro, the main subject is an educator who thrives on thinking outside the box. Pedro Santana got a name for himself when teaching in the Bronx and carried on his unique message to the suburbs when he took on a leadership position in the East Ramapo School District. In both school settings, he was a source of inspiration for the students he interacted with on a daily basis, in particular the students of color who looked up to him as a role model.
My Name Is Pedro is now playing virtually at the Maysles Cinema in New York City, and it opens Oct. 2 at the Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles. More cities will host virtual screenings throughout the fall season.
“I was aware of Pedro Santana because I read this amazing article in The New York Times where it talked about how he as a maverick Latino educator in the South Bronx had changed this school around, and that article just stuck with me because there was a photograph with the article of him dancing with his students,” LaSalle said in a recent phone interview. “I thought that is nothing like the principals I grew up in my time at public school, and I just had this innate feeling to go meet with him. And so I called him the next day and told him I was an independent producer and wanted to meet with him, and he said, ‘Great, how about tomorrow?’”
The filmmaker said that when talking with Santana it was obvious he was positive, energetic and fast-paced. She was convinced within five minutes of first meeting the principal that he was worth several years of her professional life; to her, Santana was utterly fascinating.
“I actually somehow felt like the best version of myself, and he was able to do that,” she said. “I’m not sure exactly how he had this innate ability to do that, but he was so positive. He was so open. He greeted me with a hug upon first meeting me, and we got to talking. And I thought, this guy is so interesting, and when I approached him about making a documentary and confessed that I had actually never made a documentary before … he said, ‘Absolutely, Lillian, I believe in you.’ That’s what got us started on our seven-year journey together.”
What eventually happens in Santana’s story is surprising, engaging and sometimes shocking. LaSalle preferred not to divulge too many details to this reporter, believing it is better for people to first experience this school official in the film itself.
“When I first met him, and even when I started shooting, I would say that I — still as a New Yorker, born-and-raised New Yorker — would wonder is this guy for real,” LaSalle said. “It didn’t take long for that feeling to go away because I got to see just how authentic he really was, but I must admit as a somewhat jaded New Yorker myself, in the beginning I did wonder — was this an act, was this a put on. And ultimately I got to learn that this was innately who he was.”
LaSalle began to dive deep into Santana’s personal story, including his upbringing and working through his own education with a learning disability. He grew up in the public school system and met his own inspiration in the form of Miss Torres, a third-grade teacher who changed the trajectory of his life.
“I think from that [experience] he learned that one person could have such an impact on another person,” the filmmaker said. “And for him it became a mission of having an impact on people in general, not just students, not just his teachers, but also the parents of those students, also the community in which those people lived. So he was able to really lift up a school and an entire community, and I saw this with my own eyes. All of that concern about whether or not he was the real deal had obviously completely diminished.”
Filming My Name Is Pedro over seven years presented numerous challenges. For starters, gaining access to a public school classroom can be more difficult than getting on a military base. Luckily Santana paved the way for LaSalle.
“When we visited other schools he would speak to the principal beforehand, and so when we showed up to shoot there was never an issue,” she said. “We never had to deal with all the red tape that was necessary. Usually if you’re going to shoot in a school, you have to fill out an application, and that can take a month or two. And that was not Pedro’s style. He didn’t want to take a month or two, and neither did we. So he made things very easy for us, and that was really a great gift because he was telling the story. We didn’t have a script. I just followed him with cameras, and everything he did was so exciting and so real. I was in awe shooting him, and so if we had planned to read a script, show up at a certain time at his school, had an appointment, I don’t think that we would have captured all of the real in-time moments that make for great filmmaking, sort of shooting on the fly.”
She added: “I think one of the reasons why he sometimes bent the rules is because his motto is all about the children. It’s all about the kids. If I feel like something is better for a child, I’m going to do that thing. I’m not going to refer back to my rulebook. I’m going to do the thing that’s best for the child in the family, and so that was very interesting to watch, too. And I learned from that, and he called that thinking outside of the box. And he taught me to do that. He had a great impact on me. It was a blessing to have him as a subject in terms of being a filmmaker, but he actually changed my life.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
My Name Is Pedro is now playing virtually. Click here for more information.
