Private Project

To the Rhythm of Love and Hate: A Punkumentary on Salsa with the Macabeo Orchestra

Eleven musicians, two cameras, and one room come together with no script and no predetermined outcome. What unfolds is a raw, observational portrait of “Orquesta El Macabeo” as they record the final song for their new salsa album—capturing process, tension, humor, fatigue, and creativity as they emerge. In this ethnographic punkumentary, music becomes an archive of “la brega”—the everyday strategies of survival, endurance, and resistance shaped by Puerto Rico’s condition under U.S. colonial rule. The result is a song forged in the rhythms of love and hate.

  • Nelson Varas-Díaz
    Director
  • Sheilla Rodríguez Madera
    Producer
  • Daniel Nevárez Araújo
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Music, Latin America, Caribbean, Salsa, Punk
  • Runtime:
    40 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Puerto Rico
  • Country of Filming:
    Puerto Rico
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Nelson Varas-Díaz

Dr. Nelson Varas-Díaz is a professor of social-community psychology at Florida International University’s Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. He directed the award winning documentaries "Collapse," "The Ear," "The Bee", and "The Darkness". Together, his films have garnered more than 100 sets of laurels in international film festivals.

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