POWERING PUERTO RICO

Eugene Smotkin, a Northeastern University professor, was home in San Juan for the summer when two disasters struck: His wife had a stroke and Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, leaving more than 3 million people without electricity. After days of powering a cell phone and a small fan with a car battery, Eugene and his wife were finally able to make it to Boston for the medical treatment she desperately needed.

Back on campus, he has an idea: In conjunction with just a few solar panels, Eugene believes he can make a fully functional, affordable, renewable nanogrid system powered by reconditioned hybrid car batteries. And he wants to do so all over Puerto Rico, giving back electricity to a neglected energy populace at a fraction of the current cost. This is a film about Puerto Rico’s resilience through hardship—and one man’s ingenuity in bringing power to the masses.

SAVING JAGUARS AND OURSELVES

Directed by Susan Perz

Brazil / 2023 /20 min / English

Brings attention to the plight of jaguars, wildlife, the Pantanal Wetlands in Brazil, the Amazon Rainforest and Cerrado Savannah. The film combines intimate human conversations and beautiful portrayals of jaguars in the Pantanal with clear explanations of larger threats that expand to include the Amazon, Cerrado, and the U.S.—focusing on ways that individuals in the U.S. can act effectively protect these endangered areas, people, wildlife—and ourselves.

Writer-Producer-Cinematographer-Editor: Susan Perz / Featuring: Abbie Martin, Eduarda Fernandes, Rafael Hoogesteijn, Elizeu Evangelista da Silva, Josiele Almeida Samudio, plus Jaguar Medrosa and her cubs, family and friends

Proceeds from this screening will benefit Heal The Planet.