Juan C. Dávila
Cultures of Resistance Awardee — Puerto Rico
Juan Carlos Dávila, born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, is a documentary filmmaker, news producer and activist. His work focuses on environmental justice, networked social movements and data colonialism. He is the director of the feature-length documentary film, Simulacros de Liberación (2021), which was released in theaters across Puerto Rico. Previously he directed two other long-form documentary films: Compañeros de lucha (2012) and Vieques: una batalla inconclusa (2016). His filmography also includes the award winning short film, La generación del estanbai (2016), as well as Aftershocks of Disaster (2020), Networked Education (2020), Rayito de sol (2021), and a TV pilot for the documentary series The Response.
Dávila is a former senior producer at When We Fight, We Win! The Podcast, and resident artist at Agitate. His journalistic and documentary work has been featured in: Democracy Now! TeleSur, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, PBS, and the Indypendent in New York. Dávila is currently the TV series producer of Puerto Rican Voices, a documentary series of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
Dávila received a Cultures of Resistance Award (CoR Award) in 2022 and is using the grant for his upcoming film Rebel Boats. Rebel Boats is a feature length documentary film about the life of Puerto Rican fisherman and revolutionary, Carlos “Taso” Zenón. On land and sea Taso fought against the US Naval occupation of his native land, Vieques, defying the cannons of the armed forces with his slingshot.
Follow Dávila on Instagram here or read more about his work here.
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