FILMMAKER’S STATEMENT

This project was originally begun as a response to an over-reaction by the FBI in Puerto Rico that resulted in the death of a friend’s uncle. As we became more familiar with the context of the FBI operation and the uniqueness of the Puerto Rican territory and its relationship to the United States, we realized that this story we wanted to tell was about the human need to claim identity and the often, uncommon experience, of taking a stand when the stakes are high and that identity is threatened. We set out to make a film where the narrative is the investigation of a flame, a commitment to principal, the causes that helps form one’s motivation to respond to the fire in the belly and the attendant consequences that inevitably change the arc of one’s life. 

The filmmaking process began as a personal journey shaped by understanding more about what was unknown than what one believed. Often it was characterized by a single camera experience observing an evolving trust between the filmmaker and the film’s subject as stories unfolded. The process of documentary filmmaking is often shaped by the clarity of boundaries. Those boundaries shifted over the course of 10 years as did the story and who would be the main protagonist in the film. Gaining access, experimenting with visual style and bearing witness shaped a fluid approach as it evolved, too. Technology went from tape to digital and in the process the project went from one working title, Invisible Islandto the next, El Independentista and then finally The Last American Colony. The title changes reflect a maturation of the production; its focus changed and the interpretation of ideas that reflect the moral decisions facing the main character became clearer. Is the title a statement by the filmmakers? Certainly not as in academic or political advocacy. But it is a reflection of the principal concerns of the film -- a history revealed and the expression of sentiments and commitments of the main character. 

The film is character driven following events that are enacted by Juan Segarra. The consequences of these events are tied to various moments in history, woven throughout the film as a saga where the main character’s acts and transformation correspond to those in the larger story of Puerto Rico and its relationship to the United States. It’s not a history lesson, but lessons gained from history. 

As the producer/director and editor of The Last American Colony, we believe the artistic approach has been to look at events current and historical, as providing a lens for knowing why someone became who they are today and why they made the decisions that became so significant in determining what their life’s journey would be. The hurricane Maria is emblematic in how so many people think of Puerto Rico; victims without power—without power to change their situation. Maria became a metaphor for knowing what it is to be Puerto Rican. But it is the active word American in the title that reveals the authentic representation and therefore the artistic choices made as filmmakers: this is an American story about an American who some might see as a citizen patriot and others might see as rebel outlaw. Both descriptions have roots in the American culture. And as the film reveals, it is finding meaning in one’s life that one’s identity becomes clear and well worth taking a stand, a characteristic often attributed to being American.