Filmmakers and Producers

Juan C Dávila Santiago

Born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Juan C. Dávila Santiago is an independent documentary filmmaker, news producer and activist. His work focuses on climate justice, social movements and colonialism. He is the director of the feature-length documentary film, "Simulacros de Liberación" (2021), which was released in movie theaters around Puerto Rico. Previously he directed two mid- length 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) for Latino Public Broadcasting, "Rayito de sol" (2021), and a TV pilot for the documentary series "The Response" (2019-present), which explores how people rise together in the aftermath of climate disasters.

Dávila is a former senior producer at "When We Fight, We Win! The Podcast!" and morning news producer for the newscast Democracy Now! Where he continues contributing. His journalistic work has been featured in: TeleSur, the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, PBS, and the Indypendent in New York. He holds a BA in Communication from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico (2011), a MA in Social Documentation (2015) and Latin American and Latinx Studies (2020) from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dávila is currently the series producer of "Puerto Rican Voices," a documentary series from the Center for Puerto Rican Studies of Hunter College, City University of New York.

AVAILABLE FROM TWN

Drills of Liberation
Juan C Dávila Santiago
Producer: Juan C. Dávila Santiago
2021, 121 min., Color, Puerto Rico
"Liberation Drills" is the untold story of the Puerto Rican protest wave of 2016-2019, which culminated with the resignation of governor Ricardo Rosselló. In 2016, the US Congress appointed a seven-member board to control Puerto Rico’s government finances. The poor Caribbean colony has a massive eco...


Call Us 1 (212) 947-9277
  • Third World Newsreel
  • • 545 Eighth Avenue, Suite 550, New York, NY 10018
  • • Telephone 212-947-9277

TWN acknowledges that in New York we are on the unceded territory of the Lenni Lenape, Canarsie, Shinecock, and Munsee peoples and challenges the harm that continues to be inflicted upon Indigenous and People of Color communities here and abroad, which is why we all need to be part of the struggle for rights, equality and justice.

TWN is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Color Congress, MOSAIC, New York Community Trust, Peace Development Fund, Ford Foundation, Golden Globe Foundation, Kolibri Foundation and individual donors.