Ramona and the Ballad of Juan Diego

Documentary Feature Film Synopsis: For 100 years, The Ramona Pageant has drawn thousands of visitors to Hemet, California, to witness the longest-running outdoor theatrical performance in the United States: a tragic romance about the persecution of Native Americans. For the centennial, the pageant’s lead actor, Eli, digs into the history of the Ramona story, which has been the subject of films, plays, and a best-selling novel. He uncovers a fascinating tale involving a murder, crusading writer and activist Helen Hunt Jackson, DW Griffith, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, and the complicated, sometimes less-than-savory history of California, as he journeys to the locations that inspired the pageant and tracks down the descendants of those involved.