logo
Puerto Rican film claims the Navy turned Vieques into a cancer hotspot

Puerto Rican film claims the Navy turned Vieques into a cancer hotspot

For over six decades, the Navy occupied the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, off the coast of the main territory, to carry out military exercises. When it finally left in 2003, locals alleged that it failed to follow proper cleaning protocols, either opting for dangerous open detonation to get rid of old bombs or simply leaving behind munitions and toxic waste.
'The U.S. has paid no attention to the issue,' filmmaker Glorimar Marrero in Spanish claimed during a recent videoconference interview with De Los. 'For example, the Navy said it would take care of cleaning the water in Vieques and that hasn't happened yet.'
Marrero's emotionally charged and politically relevant drama 'The Fishbowl' ('La Pecera') — playing in select theaters until Sunday and coming soon to video on demand — explores the human consequences of these activities. It follows Noelia (Isel Rodriguez), a young artist from Vieques who has cancer. After her illness metastasizes, making her chances of survival slim, she decides to return to the island, initially to spend time with her mother, but eventually she joins the cleanup efforts despite her increasingly frail physical condition.
The director's debut feature has already made history as the first Puerto Rican film nominated at the Goya Awards (Spain's equivalent to the Oscars) for best Ibero-American film, and the first to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2023. But while the significance of these victories of visibility can't be overstated, 'The Fishbowl' offers only a glimpse into the injustices that the Puerto Rican people continue to endure.
'It's great that in this moment of struggle, because of what's happening at the presidential level in the U.S., we can show the film in these cities so the population can learn about what's happening in our country and about the films we make in Puerto Rico,' Marrero says about her film finally getting a theatrical release in the U.S.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Since you are originally from the main island of Puerto Rico, how did your relationship with Vieques develop?
When I was in college, a detonation of a bomb killed David Sanes Rodríguez, a Vieques resident who was working at one of the U.S. Navy bases. This started a huge social movement. I was very attentive to what was happening in Vieques and participated in activism in the civil movement that resulted in a halt to the detonations. That was a story very close to me. When I began researching for my feature film, I had already decided to focus on colorectal cancer because it was the disease my mother had experienced, but I didn't want to do it in Barranquitas, the town where I'm from, because it would have been too biographical. I asked myself, 'What matters to me as much as my town?' And then I say, 'Vieques.'
Prior to 'The Fishbowl,' you made a short film titled 'Biopsia' about the experiences of women in Vieques. How was this useful to prepare for 'The Fishbowl'?
It was during my initial investigation on the island municipality that I discovered the history of what happens to women there and the process they have to follow after their mammograms to get breast biopsies in San Juan. I used that short film to prepare for 'The Fishbowl,' because at the time, I was only the screenwriter on the project and didn't necessarily have a body of work as a director, so I directed 'Biopsia' to test myself and make sure I was capable of taking on directing a feature film. And that's how I continued the research and developed the narrative arc of 'The Fishbowl.'
What did your research entail in order to get a full picture of the consequences of the military activities there?
It first consisted of collecting the local oral history and the memories of the inhabitants of the island of Vieques regarding the time the U.S. Navy was there, all those decades of detonations and the recollections of different generations. There were the stories of people who lost their lands because the civilian population was displaced and concentrated on one-quarter of the island, leaving three-quarters for military exercises. I wanted to know what it was like to live so close to the military exercises, what it sounded like, how people acted. People would tell me about how their house shook or how, if you were outside and heard the detonations, everyone acted as if it were so normal. Then there were the stories of illnesses. There are families in which everyone has died of cancer. Vieques is one of the places with the highest incidence of cancer in the entire Puerto Rican archipelago. But there are also many rare diseases because there is contamination with mercury or uranium.
Since the U.S. has neglected to take full responsibility of the cleanup, it seems, based on your film, that local residents have taken it upon themselves to restore their island.
I also discovered how the current cleanup is being done by viequenses themselves, who are risking their health. While I stayed in the central character's point of view, the character of Noelia's mother is one of those locals cleaning what was left behind. There are viequenses who dive in the water and document and publicize what they find so people know that, even though the U.S. Navy stopped the detonations, the pollution is still present and has been neglected. All this research also led me to delve into the nature, the sounds and the landscapes of this island, which is a paradise and super photogenic. That helped us tell the story of the crisis in the political relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States.
How do you think the situation in Vieques exemplifies the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States?
It is a direct snapshot of an unequal political relationship in which the Puerto Rican population is considered second- or even third-class citizens. As a colony, we do not have the same rights, and we are also neglected as a nation. I personally believe in Puerto Rico's sovereignty, because the colonial relationship has always been unequal. There has never been justice in that relationship. There has been a bond of oppression, of violence, of human rights violations. Puerto Rico was also a guinea pig in the development of the birth control pill and in the Agent Orange tests. There's also how they use our country for cheap labor with incentives for U.S. corporations — that's a very long story. The U.S. has always exploited Puerto Rican resources and ignored our human rights. There has never been a healthy relationship between the empire and the colony.
On a more practical note, how difficult is it to make films in Puerto Rico from a financial standpoint?
This is another snapshot of this disproportionate relationship with the United States. Currently, there's a tax credit that offers 40% for foreign productions, which is what Netflix, Amazon, Sony and Disney use, for example. And there's a sector of the Puerto Rican filmmaking community that offers services to these productions. Then there are the independent filmmakers like me, who, if we were to apply for the tax credit, would be entitled to an additional 15%, a tax credit of 55%. But the problem is coming with the 45% gap, which isn't necessarily money that exists in Puerto Rico, and that's why we have to opt for co-productions with other countries; in my case it was with Spain.
'The Fishbowl' is the first Puerto Rican feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Were you surprised that your film finally broke through?
Our Spanish producers fought so that Sundance would consider our film for the world dramatic competition, and not alongside the U.S.-produced films, which is what had usually happened. They would consider us for the U.S. section and our chances were significantly reduced. By being a co-production between Spain and Puerto Rico, there was a stronger justification for them to consider it for the world dramatic competition, and we made it. Politically, that helped us a lot, since the rest of the festivals put us in Ibero-American competitions. They recognized us as a country, including the Goya Awards. In a small way, 'The Fishbowl' is also sowing a seed to reiterate that we are a nation.
Since 2012, Puerto Rico has not been allowed to submit a film for the Oscars in the international feature category. Are Puerto Rican filmmakers pushing for this to change?
We sent a letter complaining about the 2012 rule change to the academy, and they responded with a very standard template stating that the rule stands. However, we've been working for several months on a one-pager asking them to return to the previous rule, because there's a need for us to be able to compete as what we are: a nation, not as part of the U.S., because we would be competing with the likes of 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer.' We want to shift that conversation in order to venture forward, and we have support from the Puerto Rican members of the academy. If Puerto Rico is able to participate and submit to the Oscars, that has a huge impact on distribution. For example, if your film makes the shortlist, even if it doesn't get nominated, the impact at the box office is enormous. We were in theaters in Puerto Rico for 17 weeks, but after we were nominated for a Goya, we returned to theaters and stayed for a total of 32 weeks. These things are important for the sustainability of our careers, for the dissemination of the work and for the justice we need.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

CUPRA Presents New Club Experience at Primavera Sound
CUPRA Presents New Club Experience at Primavera Sound

Hypebeast

timean hour ago

  • Hypebeast

CUPRA Presents New Club Experience at Primavera Sound

Primavera Soundin Barcelona has just wrapped up with an unmissable weekend dominated by international artists. Away from music, the automotive industry showed up to the party, withCUPRAannouncing a new open-air club experience for electronic music fans. After renewing its partnership with Primavera Sound for another four years, CUPRA looks to redefine your festival experience with an immersive audiovisual installation. CUPRA Pulse will welcome international DJs from all walks of life to debut captivating sets at the Spanish music festival. CUPRA Pulse blends audio and visual elements for an enhanced festival experience packed with movement, presenting a mirrored stage that vibrates with every beat. The stage was dominated by Crystallmess, Lolahol, and LSDXOXO during the 2025 festival, paying tribute to booming club culture with its community at the forefront. Take a closer look at CUPRA Pulse at Primavera Sound in Barcelona above, and stay tuned for next year's announcement coming soon.

Miami's Newest Restaurant Openings, June 2025
Miami's Newest Restaurant Openings, June 2025

Eater

timean hour ago

  • Eater

Miami's Newest Restaurant Openings, June 2025

Having trouble keeping up with all the new establishments popping up? Here are some noteworthy restaurants opening around Miami this June. Located inside the Orcidea Hotel, Donatella offers classic Italian fare such as polipo al Insalata, carpaccio gambero rosso, rigatoni nduja, and black truffle cacio e pepe. Dishes are made with fresh ingredients and feature artisanal pastas. The Empanadas, founded in Key Biscayne, opened its sixth location in South Miami. Choose from 25 different empanadas ranging from standards like beef and chicken to sweet varieties filled with apple pie or Nutella and brownie. There are also vegan choices, so everyone can enjoy empanadas. Celebrity chef and humanitarian, José Andrés, opened Aguasal and Bar Centro at the Andaz Miami Beach Hotel. Aguasal, named for agua salada, the Spanish term for saltwater, is a restaurant celebrating coastal Mediterranean fare. Dishes include mussels saganaki with feta and chives; roasted cauliflower with tahini, sesame seeds, ground coriander, pomegranate, and puffed quinoa; and a whole snapper. Fans of chef Andrés will be familiar with Bar Centro, an indoor-outdoor bar with ocean views. Enjoy a key lime pie daiquiri and snack on Spanish tapas and sandwiches. Macchialina's Michael Pirolo, along with managing partners Jennifer Chaefsky and Jacqueline Pirolo, have opened Fluke, a combination cocktail lounge and seafood spot inside the former Macchialina space. As the name implies, martinis are the house drink, paired with seafood selections from a rotating menu of raw and fried items and crudos. There's also a great burger, rosemary-dusted, hand-cut fries, and a selection of natural, biodynamic wines. Stop in for the Lucky $7 Martini Happy Hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., featuring a selection of martinis for seven bucks. Francesco, a Coral Gables favorite for Peruvian cuisine, has reopened after a seven-year hiatus. The restaurant, which attracted celebrities such as Gloria Estefan and Pitbull, recently reopened at a new location on Miracle Mile. Dishes include a cannelloni stuffed with chicken stew, a New York strip with gnocchi, and a catch of the day. If you're seeking romance, 'Wednesdate' nights offer live music, starting at 7 p.m. Located inside a former Lutheran church, Jay's may be one of Fort Lauderdale's most unique venues. With stained glass windows, arched windows, and vaulted ceilings, you might just exclaim, 'holy cow' (pun intended) when your steak arrives. Expect seafood towers, steaks, and sides – plus a prime rib trolley, where your meat gets wheeled to you and serviced tableside. Jay's trades its restaurant persona after hours for a late-night speakeasy. If that's not swanky enough, Jay's offers a membership club with exclusive benefits for $800 per quarter. Mai Sushi & Tapas Bar, a Japanese-Vietnamese sushi and tapas bar located in Coral Gables, offers a diverse selection of sushi, sashimi, and hot and cold tapas in a modern, funky setting. Find a large choice of rolls, including the Crunchy Coral Gables with tuna, white fish, salmon, avocado, fried garlic, eel sauce, spicy mayo, and tempura flakes. Also, take a look at the skewers and dumplings. Buenos Aires-based Niño Gordo has opened a branch in Wynwood, offering Asian fusion cuisine that melds Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian flavors with Argentine grilling techniques. Award-winning bar consultant Christine Wiseman heads the cocktail program. The flagship location has earned the #34 spot in Latin America's 50 Best list. St. Augustine's Odd Birds Cocktail Lounge and Kitchen pops up in Little Havana for an open-ended run inside Pocho's Express. The lounge offers cocktails made with Latin American spirits and fresh fruits. Inter Miami fans should check out the Don't Mess with Messi, made with Fernet Branca and pineberry sage syrup. Food is provided in-house by Colombian restaurant Sanpocho. Direct from Guadalajara, Sala de Despecho ('Heartbreak Room' in English) knows that bad dates are a universal experience. The restaurant invites you to eat tacos, drink mezcal, and sing your heart out — literally — with a version of drunken karaoke. If you're looking for a place guaranteed not to be filled with bridal shower parties on a Saturday night, this is the right place. New York City's Serafina expands its Florida outreach with a new location at Miami Worldcenter. The restaurant at Aventura Mall offers wood-fired pizzas, pastas, and standard Italian red sauce fare. Skinny Louie won the 2025 South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash for its 100% Angus beef smash burgers. The concise menu offers those burgers in a few iterations (and an Impossible version), fries, and shakes. This simple strategy has proven effective, with Skinny Louie branching out into Coral Gables, and expanding to Danie Beach, Aventura, South Miami, West Palm Beach, and New York City soon. Japanese cuisine and American smokehouse barbecue marry at Ukiah. Chef Michael Lewis brings his Asheville restaurant to Fort Lauderdale, where diners can enjoy sushi, sashimi, dumplings, and more, with a river view. The star of the show is Lewis's smoked platters. Diners can choose from a smoked half chicken, Carolina pork shoulder, brisket, or pastrami short rib — each served with pickled vegetables, kimchi, and toasted rye bread — and large enough for sharing. This much-loved Italian restaurant closed last year, only to reopen recently across the street from its original location in the Farinelli space, which Strada owner Javier Uribe also owns. The new Strada in the Grove effectively merges both spots, offering classic Italian dishes with Farinelli's wood-fired pizzas. See More:

Studio Ghibli at 40: Can an Ethical Animation Studio Still Exist, or Even Survive?
Studio Ghibli at 40: Can an Ethical Animation Studio Still Exist, or Even Survive?

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Studio Ghibli at 40: Can an Ethical Animation Studio Still Exist, or Even Survive?

Studio Ghibli's prestigious reputation consists of truths and exaggerations. The company has spent 40 years as a world leader in quality animation while independently funding projects based on prior successes — until their sale to Nippon TV in 2023. Behind every great library of art is a machine that needs to sell it, and Ghibli, which turns 40 this June, is no different. As much as we laud the altruistic, ethical enterprise established by Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, and Hayao Miyazaki, Ghibli can be just as cynical as its Western counterparts. More from IndieWire 'Eddington' Trailer: Ari Aster's Western of Pandemic Paranoia Hits Theaters After Dividing Cannes Pedro Almodóvar's Next Movie 'Bitter Christmas' Set for Spanish Theaters and Streamer Movistar Plus+ Ghibli's branding as an ethical animation studio isn't unfounded. Rayna Denison, author of 'Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History,' has admired the thoughtful way Suzuki, Takahata, and Miyazaki constructed the studio. 'They put deep thought into what they wanted to do with their studio before they founded it,' Denison told IndieWire. 'You get early interviews with Miyazaki saying things like, 'If you're only hiring people on temporary contracts, then they're not really your employees, so you can't expect much from them.' He makes jokes about how if he has to turn his air conditioning off to save money to pay people's salaries, he's willing to sweat through the entire summer for the sake of animation. Miyazaki came out of a left-leaning union movement in the 1960s, so I think he had started thinking about a better way to make animation. That's why Ghibli has a creche, and there are places to put your bicycle, all these little touches that are very Miyazaki.' For Michael Leader, co-host of the 'Ghibliotheque' podcast and co-author of 'Ghibliverse' and 'The Animation Atlas,' the works of Studio Ghibli rise above the conversation about animation being a kids' medium. 'They go all the way back to the basic idea of storytelling,' Leader said. 'If you think about when storytelling was just people around a campfire, it would be aimed at whoever was there. They never said, 'This is a story for kids.' It's how they made sense of the world. But then these folk tales become fairy tales, which become bedtime stories for kids, and then they're turned into something for Disney, and suddenly it's just kids stuff. But actually, when it's done well, it's wise, it's got life lessons, it's got a worldview. Miyazaki and Takahata mostly made work for younger audiences, but it has the wisdom and worldview and craft and skill of any sort of story.' The miracle of Miyazaki's movies is that he's able to make such thoughtful art while setting box office records. 1997's 'Princess Mononoke' was the highest-grossing release of all time in Japan until 'Titanic' arrived that same year. His mentor/older-brother-figure, Isao Takahata, had some successes but ultimately different goals. 'The difference between Miyazaki and Takahata is that Takahata tried to push the envelope of what animation can do and who it is for,' said Denison. 'When they released [1991's] 'Only Yesterday,' the promotional magazines for it had interviews with adult professional women from across Japan. It was aimed squarely at women who were in their 20s and 30s. It was a really risky thing for him to do, but this is what Takahata did at Ghibli. They gave him the freedom to experiment and to push the limits of Japanese animation.' Not only were Takahata's films more experimental than Miyazaki's, but he also had a less conventional way of working. 'You always take [studio CEO] Suzuki's stories with a grain of salt, because he loves to tell a story,' said Leader. 'But he claims that after Miyazaki made loads of money from 'Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,' he said to Takahata, 'I'd like to fund you to make another film. I've been to this area of the country where there's a beautiful canal system where you could maybe set an animated film.' Takahata comes back with a three-hour documentary. It's really slow and goes way over budget, meaning Miyazaki had to make another sweeping adventure film, and that's where 'Castle in the Sky' came from.' Even Takahata's 'Grave of the Fireflies,' widely regarded as a masterpiece, was mired by the director's approach to his work. 'Takahata missed the deadline [for 'Grave'],' said Leader. 'It was released unfinished, which was professionally embarrassing. No one would fund another Takahata project because he blows budgets, misses deadlines, and delivers a film unfinished. So Miyazaki really put himself on the line to get 'Only Yesterday' made.' For Leader, this hammers home the unreality of a studio without an intense marketing machine around it. 'You need your films to be bought and watched, because that's how they become embedded in the culture, how they pass between generations. No animation studio in the world has that freedom to completely self-finance based on the legacy of what they've done, unless your dad owns Nike.' One of the main ways Ghibli finances its work is through merchandise, an industrial complex unto itself. 'Initially, Toshio Suzuki agreed to put a cap on merchandising profits, so they weren't looking to massively exploit what was available to them,' said Denison. 'But when they briefly shut the studio in 2014, they really shifted modes, and we've seen an explosion in Ghibli merchandising. It was also really important to the early life of the studio, and it allowed the studio to become a permanent enterprise. The success of Totoro and then Jiji merchandise mattered when they were trying to build their own studio in the early 1990s and have a permanent home for Studio Ghibli.' Then, 1989 proved to be a pivotal year for the studio. 'My Neighbor Totoro' first showed on TV and launched a demand for plushies, while Ghibli found their first theatrical hit in 'Kiki's Delivery Service.' That's also when Ghibli began telling stories about women. 'When they're promoting 'Kiki's Delivery Service,' it's seen as another girl-focused movie, following on from 'My Neighbor Totoro,' so they're becoming known for Shoujo animation,' said Denison. ''Kiki' was also sold on the idea of how one overcomes depression. I find that fascinating from a relatively young studio, in what should just be a girl's adventure movie, to be dealing with psychological blocks and maturity and becoming a mature version of yourself and finding your power again as a woman.' Spin is key to Ghibli's success, being able to market themselves as blockbuster filmmakers in Japan and as prestigious 'world cinema' filmmakers elsewhere. The person chiefly tasked with finding a marketing spin on Hayao Miyazaki's and Takahata's work is Toshio Suzuki, a man described by Goro Miyazaki as 'a dark wizard who makes me do things I don't want to.' As much as he's a master marketer, Suzuki is also an incredibly talented producer, constantly getting the best from his directors. 'He's trying to bring these generational talents together and make them play off each other, do some behind-the-scenes wrangling and ego management to make them do something great,' said Leader. What Suzuki most notably helped realize was Ghibli's sheen of prestige. 'They became known as the anti-Disney,' said Leader. 'Disney sold out years ago. They became about selling theme parks and cruises and characters in suits and Disney adults and being emblematic of American imperialism. Ghibli was seen as something of substance, something handcrafted and beautiful, which plays into orientalist tropes about Japan.' Miyazaki being pushed to the forefront, mostly due to the way audiences respond to his movies, risks diminishing the work of everyone else at the studio. 'We haven't talked about Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiromasa Yonebayashi or Goro Miyazaki, these other directors who are doing interesting works,' said Denison. 'I feel so sorry for Goro Miyazaki. He's set up to fail from the very beginning by Suzuki who invites him in to do the work [for 2006's 'Tales from Earthsea'] and then creates a narrative of discord between Goro and his father.' Hayao Miyazaki's ubiquity comes with other problematic elements. 'What Miyazaki means as a buzzword that can now be boiled down to an aesthetic, a vibe, or an AI filter,' said Leader. 'The real person that is existing right now in Japan isn't the Miyazaki fans know. Instead, Miyazaki is the meme of him saying [of artificial intelligence animation], 'It's an insult to life itself.' It happens with any creator. They get flattened once 1000s around the world are tattooing them onto their body. Steven Spielberg fought for many years against being the guy who makes films where a kid looks up at the sky, or the Scorsese thing where he only makes films about gangsters. Miyazaki has reached that level.' 'I feel like the boy in the Heron is very interesting,' said Denison. 'A lot of people have been commenting about the fact that it's not as original as some of his other films. I think that's because it's that much more personal. This is a master animator looking back over his career, over his relationships, and what people in his life have meant to him, and building a story around that it is just that much more personal for him.' Leader points out how Miyazaki's work has evolved since the early '90s. 'The Balkan conflicts with Yugoslavia radicalized him and changed his view of the world. Then, you see that happen again in the early 2000s with the war on terror and post-911 American imperialist stuff in the Middle East. You do see his worldview change through the films. Also in his old age, his films become about him again.' There have been times when the image Ghibli sells directly conflicts with its actions. 'There are these women behind the scenes that you keep seeing in all these documentaries whose names are never listed, who don't get a lot of credit for the work they do,' said Denison. 'That was one of the things that drew me to write the book. I wanted to think about how the studio with this stellar reputation for making feminist animated heroines relegates all these women to the backgrounds. 'In the early days of Japanese animation at places like Toei Animation, where Takahata and Miyazaki trained, women weren't allowed to train as directors. It used to be the case that women retired after they got married as an expected part of the industry. It's also the case that women have been at the bottom lines of the industry and been very exploited. The practice of working from home and being paid by the cell is something that applied more to women across the decades.' Though Ghibli did a lot of work to improve working conditions, the studio has never promoted a woman to direct a film. ''Porco Rosso' is the only movie where women got promoted to big roles,' added Denison. 'Everybody was busy working on 'Only Yesterday,' so Miyazaki's usual team wasn't available to him, and so he looked around the studio and elevated the seven people he felt deserved elevation, and apparently they all just happened to be women.' The idea of succession and promoting talent has been a stumbling block for Ghibli, putting the future of the studio beyond Takahata, Miyazaki, and Suzuki into doubt. 'I don't think without the three of them, there's a reason to keep it going,' said Denison. 'I don't think there's the impetus behind it, but it's also a brand name that Nippon TV [which acquired Ghibli in 2023] bought into so they could use the intellectual properties and extrapolate them and keep the theme parks going. They could import directors like Yonebayashi back in and do new films with new directors, but I don't know if I see that happening.' Leader believes that the era of the studio actively making things is over, allowing us to look back on their unique place in the cinematic landscape. 'They were able to create the sense that the studio was having this huge cultural impact, but they weren't a Disney-level operation. Also, other auteurs that we would put Miyazaki alongside, their access to their art is dictated by bigger studios. The Christopher Nolan story is whether he's working with Warner Bros. or Universal, Scorsese has to go to Netflix or Apple to get funding. Ghibli managed to do it in a way that was relatively independent and unsullied of that business. You wouldn't have Miyazaki trying to pitch a Kool-Aid movie.' Best of IndieWire The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme' Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store