EXPERIENTIAL SPACES
CINE SOLAR RODANTE
A SOLAR POWERED MOBILE THEATER
Cine Solar Rodante serves as a tool to, not only share content created by Defend Puerto Rico but also to create a movement for cultural change that explores and advocates for solar power as a viable solution in the reconstruction of a sustainable and energy-efficient Puerto Rico.
Cine Solar is brightening up the night as well as the future of Borikén, and beyond. The initiative was conceived by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi in the months after Hurricane Maria’s ferocious winds and rainfall devastated the Caribbean island, when most of the territory remained without electricity. Pitch black during the evenings, the traveling cinema, run entirely by solar power, screens films and documentaries to leave seeds of knowledge to help communities see their future and the future of Puerto Rico.
CineSolar gets people out of their homes, and provides a space to entertain, educate, converse, spread knowledge, and build trust - we believe this makes for stronger communities as we will keep facing climate crises and the traumas of colonization. We believe Cine Solar is part of a movement for cultural change. Seeing the direct use of solar power helps people to understand coal, oil and gas are not essential for meeting our energy needs and allows communities to better envision a Puerto Rico with a sustainable power system. As a Caribbean island, where the sun shines year-round, solar power could be a viable solution. However, a U.S. Energy Information Administration report shows that in 2016 just 2 percent of Puerto Rico’s electricity came from renewable energy, with 47 percent coming from petroleum, 34 percent from natural gas and 17 percent from coal.
In addition to holding our own screenings, we want to teach others how to run their own solar-powered cinema and raise funds for equipment, like solar generators, solar panels, projectors and portable PA systems. In fact, we recently partnered with Another Gulf Is Possible on the “Stories Of Survival” tour. This series of events featured community dinners, live performances, story circles, and Cine Solar screenings in Houston, New Orleans and Puerto Rico during observances around Hurricanes Harvey, Katrina, and Maria. Puerto Rico shares deep cultural, social, ecological, and economic ties to the Gulf South, this work continues the legacy of generations preceding us. We look forward to continue to build with this women-of-color led collective as they continue to take Cine Solar across the Gulf South.
We also plan to establish local Cine Solar teams in the east, west, north, south and central parts of the island to produce events throughout their regions. We hope to keep widening the reach and number of Cine Solar screenings and events, slowly becoming a cultural praxis and phenomenon.
