AMÉRICA'S HOME
(2014 - 63 mins - SAN JUAN, Puerto rico & chicago, IL)

 

Before Hurricane Maria lacerated Puerto Rico, América “Meca” Sorrentini-Blaut, a septuagenarian on fixed income, struggled to transform her family’s home into Casa Sofia, a cultural center named after her mother. When developers offered Meca $2-million dollars to knock down Casa Sofia, she turned them down. The documentary chronicles how Meca, her contemporaries and young people in communities across rapidly gentrifying San Juan-- including Santurce, Barrio Obrero, Paseo Caribe and Las Gladiolas -- fought and sometimes won, to save their homes and neighborhoods from being bulldozed and disappeared by condo and hotel developers. AMÉRICA'S HOME  is an enchanting panorama of the transformative power of the cultural arts, community and belonging. It is a testament to the resilience of the Puerto Rican people on the island and in Chicago.

AMÉRICA'S HOME, Not Everything of Value is for Sale.

 

AMÉRICA'S HOME was the recipient of a Film/Video Studio Program (Art & Tech) Post-Production Residency Award from the Wexner Center for the Arts.

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PHOTO: H. L. T. Quan interviews "Meca" Sorrentini-Blaut during renovations of Casa Sofia. The Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2009.