Some of these leaders share similar views on the matter, and some still haven’t resolved their differences that trace back to a time before the riots. But it doesn’t matter to filmmaker Antonio Franceschi, he just wants to tell the story from as many perspectives and voices as possible. He said not enough people understand Puerto Rican culture, even college students and professors at the various colleges he speaks at. “They saw the Puerto Rican image with the knife in their hands like ‘West Side Story.’ They saw the Puerto Rican image as drug dealing and prostitution,” he said. “The riots had left such an impact on them that they saw the Puerto Ricans as just very violent, angry people trying to force their way into things.”

So Franceschi and his wife Gloricelly, a professor at St. Augustine College, set out to create a documentary called “Cause and Effect: An Inside Look at the 1966 Division Street Uprising.” They interviewed dozens of people in the Puerto Rican community. They also dug up documents, newspaper clippings and photos from the time period, in order to portray an accurate visual of the time.

Once filming wraps up, he plans to screen the documentary at various high schools and colleges throughout the country. He has rounded up prominent figures such as Jose Lopez of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, Senator Miguel Del Valle, Alderman Billy Ocasio of the 26th ward and Enrique Salgado, Jr. of the Division Street Business Development Association.

Some talked in front of the camera for a few minutes, others talked for hours. They all had a lot on their minds, Franceschi said. The documentary goes back further than the riots, outlining the years that the Puerto Ricans started migrating to the Windy City. People in the documentary speak of the slums they lived in, the poor health conditions, the lack of bilingual education, the racism they faced from other members of the community and the police brutality.

When a young Puerto Rican was shot by a white police officer after the Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 12, 1966, three days of rioting erupted along Division Street. Alderman Billy Ocasio said that when people ask him why he chose to commemorate the riots in the documentary, he says that if the riots hadn’t happened, nothing would have changed in the Puerto Rican community. Growing up on Division Street was pretty bleak, Ocasio said. When his mother would leave for work, he and his brothers and sisters would round up their shoes and play a game of who could hit the most rats that scampered through their living room. When the riots occurred, it sparked a group of people who had been held down for so long to finally speak up, Ocasio said. “I think people have various versions of what may have happened depending on what side you want to be on,” he said. “I think that is fine. I think that needs to be told also. But what you can say about it was that it was a time where people had had enough, and from those riots, ordinary people emerged as leaders.”

Franceschi and his wife, who own New Film Productions, are not new to the filmmaking business. Their most recent production is the feature film “Urban Poet,” which was filmed along Paseo Boricua for under $10,000. The film premiered at the Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival and received positive reviews and numerous awards. Putting their time and life savings into this documentary, Franceschi said it is almost complete and he needs about $70,000 more to secure all of the rights to images and newspaper clippings. He said he has already conquered the biggest challenge he faced while filming, which was proving to people that he wasn’t going to exploit the Puerto Rican community. “Now it’s their time to set the record straight,” he said.