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 AguirreDirector
-
José Luis Baerga AguirreProducer
-
Catalina M. de OnísProducer
-
José Luis Chema BaergaVideographers
-
Hery Colón ZayasVideographers
-
Víctor Alvarado GuzmánProduction Consultants
-
Mabette Colón PérezProduction Consultants
-
Hilda LlorénsProduction Consultants
-
Ruth SantiagoProduction Consultants
-
Víctor Alvarado GuzmánInterviewers
-
José Luis Chema BaergaInterviewers
-
Hery Colón ZayasInterviewers
-
Catalina M. de OnísInterviewers
-
Víctor Alvarado GuzmánInterviewees
-
Alberto ColónInterviewees
-
Aldwin Colón BurgosInterviewees
-
Hery Colón ZayasInterviewees
-
José Joel Cordero HernándezInterviewees
-
José Cordero SantelInterviewees
-
Ismenia Figueroa MatosInterviewees
-
Adneris Hernández RiveraInterviewees
-
Carmen De JesúsInterviewees
-
Daniel De JesúsInterviewees
-
Hernán Lamboy CollazoInterviewees
-
Humberto Martín MartínezInterviewees
-
Luis A. Nieves FloresInterviewees
-
Héctor Luis “Güito” Sánchez De JesúsInterviewees
-
Santiago SantelInterviewees
-
Ruth SantiagoInterviewees
-
Roberto José Thomas RamírezInterviewees
-
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 FestivalEugene, OR
United States
April 1, 2022
Eugene Premiere
Distribution Information
-
Film crew (Catalina M. de Onis)DistributorCountry: United StatesRights: All Rights
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.