ONCE UPON A PLACE

Once Upon a Place is a 2021 Spanish documentary written, produced, and directed by Celia Novis. The film relates the story of La Nacional, a nondescript building in New York City that has welcomed thousands of immigrants to the United States over its 150-year history. It follows the ebb and tide of Spanish immigration to this country, the rise and fall of New York City as home to the American Dream, and the tale of hundreds of lives touched by the possibility of a new life. Yet that story of immigrants to America, so relevant today, remains a mystery to most New Yorkers and Americans.