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The Power of the People: A Collective Struggle for Life and the Environment

This film features the experiences of Jobos Bay residents in
southeastern Puerto Rico. Community members strive to live good lives, while resisting the ongoing toxic assault caused by power plants and other extractivist industries that poison human and more-than-human bodies in this beautiful region and ecosystem. The Jobos Bay area residents featured in this film record and amplify their voices by literally taking power into their own hands, confronting environmental racism and
injustice. The Power of the People (El poder del pueblo) documents grave problems and urgent alternatives in the form of solar community projects that transform both electric and people power. As a methodological intervention and a form of refusal, film production team members challenge (neo)colonial filmmaking and research that often targets their communities via the extraction of images, stories, and testimonies. The Power of the People is by and for the Jobos Bay community and was made with support from longtime coalitional partners in the US Puerto Rican diaspora. These collective energies radically reimagine community documentary work and join with other people and places throughout the world struggling for self-determined environmental, climate, and energy justice.

  • José Luis Baerga Aguirre
    Director
  • José Luis Baerga Aguirre
    Producer
  • Catalina M. de Onís
    Producer
  • José Luis Chema Baerga
    Videographers
  • Hery Colón Zayas
    Videographers
  • Víctor Alvarado Guzmán
    Production Consultants
  • Mabette Colón Pérez
    Production Consultants
  • Hilda Lloréns
    Production Consultants
  • Ruth Santiago
    Production Consultants
  • Víctor Alvarado Guzmán
    Interviewers
  • José Luis Chema Baerga
    Interviewers
  • Hery Colón Zayas
    Interviewers
  • Catalina M. de Onís
    Interviewers
  • Víctor Alvarado Guzmán
    Interviewees
  • Alberto Colón
    Interviewees
  • Aldwin Colón Burgos
    Interviewees
  • Hery Colón Zayas
    Interviewees
  • José Joel Cordero Hernández
    Interviewees
  • José Cordero Santel
    Interviewees
  • Ismenia Figueroa Matos
    Interviewees
  • Adneris Hernández Rivera
    Interviewees
  • Carmen De Jesús
    Interviewees
  • Daniel De Jesús
    Interviewees
  • Hernán Lamboy Collazo
    Interviewees
  • Humberto Martín Martínez
    Interviewees
  • Luis A. Nieves Flores
    Interviewees
  • Héctor Luis “Güito” Sánchez De Jesús
    Interviewees
  • Santiago Santel
    Interviewees
  • Ruth Santiago
    Interviewees
  • Roberto José Thomas Ramírez
    Interviewees
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    El poder del pueblo: Una lucha colectiva por la vida y el medioambiente
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    41 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 10, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    6,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Puerto Rico
  • Country of Filming:
    Puerto Rico
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Emerald Earth Film Festival
    Eugene, OR
    United States
    April 1, 2022
    Eugene Premiere
Distribution Information
  • Film crew (Catalina M. de Onis)
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - José Luis Baerga Aguirre

José Luis Baerga Aguirre is a local film maker in Salinas, Puerto Rico. He coordinates projects with the Casa Comunitaria de Medios (Community Media House), which encourages popular education and alternative worldmaking in multimedia storytelling projects (https://www.facebook.com/CasaComunitariadeMedios). Baerga Aguirre is the director and videographer for several low-budget, grassroots films in southeastern Puerto Rico.

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