'Squatters' Screening Offers Up a Little-Known Slice of New York History
It was a rare moment on Tuesday as students, faculty and staff poured into the QCC Art Gallery to watch a screening of “Squatters.”
Yes, you read that correctly: The QCC Art Gallery.
Typically, our Art Gallery plays host to art/cultural-related events. However, non-art-related events are part of its programming from time-to-time. And as it turns out, a movie screening to kick off the final week of Hispanic Heritage Month was one of those times.
“Squatters” by Catalina Santamaria is a documentary about a group of young artists and residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side who took over two abandoned buildings in the late '80s and turned them into self-sustainable homes and community centers, naming them Umbrella House (the focus of the documentary) and Puerta 10 to complete the buildings’ rebirth.
The documentary spends much of its time on the lives of the various residents and the struggles they faced as they turned dilapidated buildings into their own personal utopia, such as the creation of a sewage line to (momentary) avoid the ire of the city and a life-or-death struggle with a construction crew.
As a documentary detailing a notable moment of Hispanic history in NYC, “Squatters” appears to be the logical film to show during Hispanic Heritage Month. Not only that, but Queensborough’s status as a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) makes the screening even more appropriate.
However, the focus on the power of cooperation and community is perhaps what makes it most pertinent to the entire Queensborough community, and what brought Santamaria to the campus to lead the discussion after the film.
Umbrella House’s tenants came from diverse backgrounds, yet they owe their survival to their willingness to come together to work towards a common goal.
The film’s emphasis on community and inclusiveness parallels the focus found at Queensborough.
Catalina Santamaria is a Cinematographer, Director and Editor. Her past work includes Luminescence (2011), Beautiful City (2004), A Girl's Best Friend (2003), and Derail (1998).
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