Daring to Produce

Swarthmore video producer Leticia Roa Nixon with some of her work for the screen.

Swarthmorean Leticia Roa Nixon recently worked both behind and in front of the camera in Day of the Dead festivals in Philadelphia. As a member of an Aztec dance group, she danced in Love Park and at Fleisher Art Memorial in early November, then turned to video recording and editing to capture the pageantry, magic, and cultural significance of Día de los Muertos processions and celebrations involving members of Philadelphia’s varied Latin communities.

Producing video for PhillyCAM (Community Audiovisual Center) Latinx has become a rewarding post-retirement avocation for Nixon, a native of Mexico who has been in Philadelphia for more than 30 years, working in journalism and as an interpreter in Philadelphia courts. “All my life, I have loved the arts. When I arrived in the U.S., El Hispano, one of the oldest Hispanic weeklies, hired me, and that’s the section I started, Arts and Culture. I worked for another weekly too, also in arts coverage. Mexican culture is very colorful, very vibrant, and that’s my favorite area.”

Fast forward a couple of decades to when Nixon made the jump from print to the video age. Through PhillyCAM in Philadelphia, she took a class in video production and joined a burgeoning and diverse cadre. “We created this group of producers from different nationalities — Puerto Rican, Mexican, Colombian, Venezuelan, Panamanian, Peruvian — and we produce a program that includes several sections, with a mix of stories that the community can relate to.”

That monthly program is named Atrévete — loosely translated, “I Dare You” — and airs on Philly CAM Latinx, both live on Philadelphia’s public access cable channels and on demand any time via internet. Nixon also has a news program called La Noticia con Leticia at Philatinos Radio. Subject matter varies, she says. “Freedom of speech, health issues, access to resources, immigration, and also culture, arts, [and] events that reflect what the community is doing on a daily basis.” Check out Leticia’s upcoming Día de los Muertos piece in December on Atrévete, along with her other phillycom.org offerings at phillycam.org/latinx. To do so requires a search within the site, but if you want a quick taste of Leticia’s work, check out Atrévete #32 with Día de los Muertos 2018 here and another fascinating feature on singer Lila Downs in Atrévete #19 here.