La revolución que baila
A film by Jessie Hinson (Esferas 15 Editorial Committee Member); Sofia Shah; Odalis Ramirez
[click on title to view]
Artist Statement by Jessie HInson:
On my first day in Madrid I stumbled, jet lagged and overwhelmed, into the Librería Mujeres. I was struck by how safe the space felt and all of the stories contained within its walls. I came into the Madrid Stories class wanting to do something that captured the magic of the Librería Mujeres and all the women it represented. As our group began the process of creating La revolución que baila, we began to develop relationships with the women who shape the space and ethos of the bookstore. Learning to make a film in a space inhabited by storytellers was a wonderful experience. Everyone we met understood what it was like to use art to uplift women’s voices and share someone’s story. I feel like our journey as filmmakers coincided perfectly with the space we were trying to highlight. I always felt that we were shining a light on people who typically operate behind the scenes of a movement. Filming Mamen became an exercise in humanizing feminism, in showing the regular people behind the movement. We wanted to create a portrait of someone who doesn’t seem like your archetypal activist, someone who was putting in the work to build the movement day by day. “This idea that the fight for equality is continuous, that feminism is intergenerational, and that everyone has their own, personal doorway to feminism” were perfectly encapsulated in Mamen’s story. Mamen makes you reconsider what your true passions are and how you can use them to contribute to the causes that are most important to you. I wanted this film, at the end of the day, to highlight the joy in this pursuit. One line that has stuck with me since the beginning of this process is: “no es mi revolución si no puedo bailar.” The fight for women’s rights, and for equality in general, is a marathon not a sprint. We have to celebrate how far we’ve come and maintain joy in order to keep going.
