Yaque - Full Movie

Being born and raised in Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean, did not shape my mind only in terms of post-colonial, new imperialistic and neoliberal relations toward the West; living on an island also means limited resources, limited space, literally and in subtext, and all those socio-political in strong relation to our natural conditions to a great extent influenced my upbringing and early years spent on the island. The connection between the geology of islands with its very specific qualities and limited hydrography system based on the lack of mountains and the size of the island and on the other hand communities dependent on these natural sources had attracted my attention already as I was pursuing my undergraduate in architecture and urbanism. In 2007 I was involved in the project with the focus to Yaque del Norte River, the longest river in the entire insular Caribbean. The initial idea was to develop and apply an urban revitalization plan for the part of the river and its banks, where it crosses the city of Santiago, the second largest city in Dominican Republic. Exploring the river and its path inspired me to start working on a project that combines my passions and professional backgrounds in architecture, visual arts and filmmaking. I want to use all of those different media, knowledges and skills to draw a portrayal of diverse community life and uses, benefits and risks, at different levels and parts of Yaque del Norte River.

With its 296 kilometers snaking around one third of the Dominican Republic territory, it follows the life of communities on its banks and affects approximately 1 million people. In the birth of the river, in the mountains communities, it is used mostly for ecotourism, tourism and recreation; in the middle it is used as a source of water consumption and as a dump; and on the longest and last part it is an important water source for agriculture and consumption of thousands of people. It is a source of life on the one hand, but at the same time it presents several risks and dangers to the people living next to it. On the basis of the preliminary insights, I started to develop a documentary-feature film concept, to investigate and tell the story of the people living along the river; I ask what life-stories can we hear along the 296 kilometers of the river? How does the life of the communities living in the mountains, close to its spring, differ from the life communities at the countryside, just before the river enters the ocean? With those leading questions I would like to explore, study and understand the personal narratives influenced or/and contextualized inside of broader social problems, like poverty, pollution, social stratification etc.

In the focus are different levels and qualities of life along the same river: the individual portrayals show the great polarization, seen through the clothing, visual appearances, daily activities, religious and moral beliefs, survival strategies etc. Hence, the project aims to show not only how we as human beings exploit natural resources, but also how the organization of our social and political life influences the places of settlements. The population settled at different parts of the river, for instance, shows also the social (class, racial, etc.) division and which places are conquered by which groups. As for instance upper parts used for the tourism as an activity in the domain of upper classes and privileged groups; lower, polluted parts, used by lower classes, sometimes also racially isolated. In addition to showing the benefits of communities that settled around the river, it is important for me to expose also its darker sides: throughout the years it has changed and had been impacted by deforestation, and pollution as factors of human activities, but also it has been exposed to the powerful storms and hurricanes.

Map of the river and its basin along all the communities.

Below Photos from the Fieldwork and Documentation from the origin to the river mouth.

Oliver Olivo - Writer/Director/Producer
Tito Hauszler - Writer / Producer