Directed by Kathleen Collins • 1980 • United States
Starring Lionel Pina, Randy Ruiz, Carlos Tatia

The first of only two films directed by trailblazing independent filmmaker Kathleen Collins is a luminous adaptation of a series of Henry H. Roth short stories about the relationship that develops between an elderly Irish woman and three orphaned Puerto Rican brothers who help to restore her once-grand Hudson Valley home and whose lives are watched over by their father’s ghost. With its expressive cinematography and magical-realist flourishes, THE CRUZ BROTHERS AND MISS MALLOY is both a charming celebration of Nuyorican culture and a unique exploration of how the shadows of a family’s past can loom over the present.