The Puerto Rican film Zenón and the Rebel Boats / Zenón y la flotilla rebelde by Juan C. Dávila Santiago, which had its world premiere at the festival, won the award for Best Feature Documentary at the 15th BlackStar Film Festival, which concluded Sunday in Philadelphia.
The documentary chronicles the life and activism of Puerto Rican fisherman Carlos “Taso” Zenón, a central figure in the decades-long struggle against the U.S. Navy’s presence on the island of Vieques. After his family was displaced from its home to make way for the expansion of the military base, Zenón devoted himself to challenging the Navy’s occupation and military exercises on the island.
Drawing on previously unseen archival footage, Zenón and the Rebel Boats revisits the ingenious and often daring tactics employed by Vieques fishermen, who took to the sea in small boats to confront U.S. warships and disrupt military exercises. Their actions helped galvanize a broader movement against the Navy’s presence, bringing together fishermen, activists, and communities in a struggle that became a landmark environmental and anti-militarist campaign in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
The film marks the latest work by Dávila Santiago, an award-winning Puerto Rican filmmaker, journalist, and activist born in Mayagüez, whose work has frequently engaged with the political, environmental, and social struggles of Vieques. His previous films include Simulacros de liberación, Compañeros de lucha, and Vieques: una batalla inconclusa, as well as the recent PBS documentary Farmers of the Sea. In 2023, he won two New York Emmy Awards for the series Puerto Rican Voices, where he served as director and executive producer. A former news producer fellow at Democracy Now!, he continues to contribute to the program as a Puerto Rico correspondent and producer.
Also among this year’s winners, Treasure Island / L’île aux trésors by Haitian-Canadian director Miryam Charles won the Best Short Narrative Award. The annual BlackStar Film Festival, which celebrates films by Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists from around the world, held its 15th edition August 6–9 in Philadelphia.
