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The Response: How Puerto Ricans Are Restoring Power to the People

"The Response" explores how mutual aid centers (Centros de Apoyo Mutuo) sprung up across the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria with the ultimate goal to restore power — both electric and civic — to the people.

The film centers both the voices of those involved in these bold grassroots relief efforts and the movement for popular power that is continuing to emerge. Acting as an excellent example of what community-led disaster response and recovery can look like, the CAMs focus on the needs and abilities of the people and provide an avenue for the general public to participate in mutual aid, not charity.

  • Tom Llewellyn
    Producer
  • Juan C. Dávila
    Director
    Compañeros de lucha, Vieques: una batalla inconclusa, La generación del estanbai
  • Robert Raymond
    Writer
  • Tom Llewellyn
    Writer
  • Juan C. Dávila
    Writer
  • Robert Raymond
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Television
  • Genres:
    Disaster, Resilience, Cooperation, Community
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Puerto Rico
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Shareable
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Juan C. Dávila

Juan C. Dávila is a documentary filmmaker and multi-media journalist. His work focuses on environmentalism, social movements and globalization. Dávila has directed two feature documentary films: Compañeros de lucha (2012) and Vieques: una batalla inconclusa (2016). His documentary filmography also includes the short-documentary film, La generación del estanbai (2016), which won “Best National Short Film” at Festival Internacional de Cine Fine Arts in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Dávila currently works as a correspondent for Democracy Now!, his journalist work has also been featured in: TeleSur, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, and The Indypendent in New York. He holds a Bachelor in Arts of Communication from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico (2011) and a Master of Arts in Social Documentation from the University of California, Santa Cruz (2015). Right now, he is the artist in residence of Agitarte, a cultural organization of working-class artists based in Puerto Rico, whose work focuses on supporting grassroots social movements, and agitating for liberation.

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