Yeyo premiered in Puerto Rico a year after it’s New York theatrical release. Allegedly, it flopped because Saturday Night Fever opened on the same night, indicative of the disaster that was translating the Nuyorican experience back to the island. In this story, Yeyo is our blaxploitation-like hero who spends the entirety of the picture shooting it out with the police. The film maintains a low-budget charm, while utilizing slick, New York grime, film technique along side defined socio-political commentary.“I’m black, not a thief! I am Boricua just like you!” Presumed for dead, Yeyo returns from Vietnam and murders his unknowing wife and her lover, finding them in the bed of his home. News of the incident soon spreads to the police, leaving Yeyo with only one option: to make a getaway to his homeland and safe haven that is Puerto Rico. Exhibiting themes of anti-blackness, abusive authority, and the complicated notion of the idealized island for those on the mainland, Yeyo truly deserves Nuyorican Cinema classic status.
Runtime: 79 minutes, Director: Toney Betancourt
