While visiting an aunt and uncle in the exotic countryside of Costa Rica, a young Southern belle from Alabama accepted a ride on the back of a motorcycle belonging to a charismatic local farmer - a ride that would propel her into history.

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First Lady of the Revolution is the remarkable story of Henrietta Boggs, who fell in love with a foreign land and the man destined to transform its identity. Her marriage to José ‘Don Pepe’ Figueres in 1941 led to a decade-long journey through activism, exile, political upheaval and, at long last, an event of momentous political change still studied and used today as a model of what real democratic reform can be.

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First Lady of the Revolution is not only a depiction of the fierce struggle to shape Costa Rica’s democratic identity; it’s also a portrayal of how one courageous woman escaped the confines of a traditional, sheltered existence to expand her horizons into a new world, and live a life she'd never imagined.

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First Lady of the Revolution premiered at Sidewalk Film Festival, and went on to win ten awards on the festival circuit, including three Audience Awards. The film was broadcast on public television as part of Reel South Season Three in 2018 and on Trece Costa Rica Televisión in Costa Rica in 2019. The film was released to select theaters across Mexico in 2018.

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PROJECT IMPACT

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• First Lady of the Revolution was broadcast as part of the prestigious Reel South series on American Public Television and on Trece Costa Rica Televisión. Both countries are planning encore broadcasts for 2020.​

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• The film has become the centerpiece of a wide array of educational and cultural activities around the globe.​​

 

• The Costa Rican government has hosted numerous screenings at embassies and consulates around the world. This unprecedented alliances enables the country to organize future screenings and talkbacks worldwide to promote women's equality and political empowerment.

 

• First Lady of the Revolution has already screened in 23 countries with plans for more events underway.​

 

• The film has been translated into Korean, Mandarin, Chinese, Russian, Azeri, Hebrew, French, Catalan, Portuguese and Indonesian.

 

• The film was selected for an Alabama Humanities SUPER Teacher workshop, in which high school teachers from the U.S. and Costa Rica developed film-based curricula in History, Latin American Studies, Spanish, Civics and Women's Studies, together exploring the film's themes of multicultural perspectives on history, women's right to vote, and educational best practices in each country.

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• The film has screened for at least 7,000 students with plans for future educational screenings and bi-country Skype meet-ups between students and educators.

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• With support from the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the State Arts Council of Alabama, Stone Soup organized a special series of screenings at local libraries throughout Alabama and North Carolina which included open discussions with educators and historians. 

 

• In the U.S., the film was featured as part of the South Arts organization's Southern Circuit Tour, which brings documentaries with strong social relevance to rural locations across the American South, and to audiences who would ordinarily not have access to such programming.​

 

• The film inspired a unique social media campaign called the "Guerrera Challenge" ​(Spanish for "woman warrior"), where people submitted photos and videos of the strong women who have inspired them in their lives.  

 

• The Guerrera campaign inspired a college scholarship, which was awarded to first-generation daughters of immigrants to support their dreams of going to college and beyond.​

 

• Stone Soup has partnered with the National Museum of Costa Rica to create a virtual reality exhibit - the first VR exhibit in the country - that will immerse visitors in one of the ​most pivotal moments in Costa Rican history: the abolition of the military.