“La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered” Poster. (Courtesy of La Manplesa)
By Ella Prieto, Managing and News Editor
On Thursday, the documentary “La Manplesa: An Uprising Remembered” was screened at the Majestic Theater, followed by a question and answer panel featuring the director and producer of the film. This event was sponsored by the Eisenhower Institute, the Office of Multicultural Engagement, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Musselman Library, the Public Policy Department, Peace and Justice Studies, Cinema & Media Studies and the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program.
The event began with remarks by Assistant Director Mauricio Novoa, welcoming the audience to the viewing before the movie was played. The movie highlighted the stories of those involved in the 1991 Uprising in Mount Pleasant, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C.
Mount Pleasant, referred to as La Manplesa by Spanish speakers, was mostly populated by immigrants from El Salvador, who fled from their home country due to the Civil War there. After forming a community in Mount Pleasant with various other marginalized groups, they started to be harassed by police officers. This culminated in the shooting of Daniel Gomez, a young El Salvadorian man who was unarmed.
The film “weaves together the collective memory of one of D.C.’s first barrios and dives into the roots of the ’91 rebellion” through “testimony, song, poetry, and street theatre.” It connected the uprising in 1991 to the current protests against police brutality seen today, and the film aims to honor the untold stories from America’s past, as well as explore how artistry prompts memories of important history.
After “La Manplesa” played, a question and answer panel was moderated by Toni Esquivias ’25 and featured the film’s director Ellie Walton and producer Quique Avilés.
Walton grew up in Mount Pleasant and was nine years old when the Uprising occurred. She cites it as an inspiration for her filmmaking journey. Avilés fled El Salvador due to the Civil War when he was 15 years old and has since lived in Mount Pleasant for 44 years. Apart from being a producer, he was also featured in “La Manplesa” for his experience in the Uprising and his work as an artist, poet and activist.
The first two questions were posed by Esquivias, who began by inquiring why it was important to tell the story of the uprising from an artistic perspective.
“A lot of the folks who were there [the Uprising] were also artists…the role of artists in creating that file of memory really stuck with me…[artists] allow us to see some of the stuff that has been erased or been normalized, so as a filmmaker…it became important to show how artists have this responsibility to document,” explained Walton.
The second question regarded the importance of highlighting Latinx voices from underrepresented diasporas, such as El Salvador and other countries in Central America.
Avilés answered that each diaspora has a different experience, which is something many do not realize. Furthermore, where certain communities are located also affects their time in America.
Avilés siad, “The immediate thing that comes to people [when thinking of Latinx diasporas] are the Chicanos, the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans, the Dominicans. And those are very different experiences. Miami is not D.C., New York is not D.C. and California is not D.C. So our [El Salvadorians] experience is a very east coast experience.”
The first question from the audience asked what Walton’s vision was when shifting the film’s narrative from the 1991 uprising to the protests of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
Walton answered that it was not her intention to originally do so. As they filmed, George Floyd was killed, and protests erupted across the nation. This in turn led to the inclusion of interviews in “La Manplesa” discussing those recent events.
Another student questioned how many things changed in the film from pre-production to production. Walton began by explaining that her style of filmmaking is to go in with no script and see where the story takes her, so things are never set in stone. Additionally, she began this film with the idea of talking to people at the Youth Center in Mount Pleasant but then changed her plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The next question inquired why Walton chose to make this film 30 years after the Uprising had occurred. She answered that it was due to her feeling that many new residents in Mount Pleasant did not know the important history of the area, and she wanted to educate them while also honoring those who had been involved in that history.
Avilés also commented that it was important to provide a representation of Latinx people, and this film was a way for many individuals to feel seen.
A Gettysburg College professor cited a point in the movie where activist Pepe Gonzalez lamented that nothing had changed from the Uprising of 1991. He asked how Walton and Avilés continued their work despite that feeling and what advice they would give to students to stay motivated.
Walton explained that she almost ended the film with that dialogue from Gonzalez but ultimately decided against it, and she instead ended the film with Día de los Muertos to illustrate how people are still celebrating and protesting in Mount Pleasant despite challenges.
Avilés added that small moments of connection and creativity are also a way to keep the fire alive with positive moments. Additionally, he feels hopeful when he witnesses the work of the second generation of Latinx immigrants.
“A lot of the folks [immigrants], their children are getting their degrees from universities…and my question to them is how are you going to use your gifts, your talents, your brilliance, your skills to make this a better world,” said Avilés.
Next, a student questioned how the media portrayal of Latinx people led to the media coverage of the Uprising in Mount Pleasant.
Walton discussed the ways that the media pushed the narrative that the shooting had nothing to do with White people because it was a Black police officer who fired the shot. In reality, as explained in the film, white supremacy and society played a huge role in creating the environment that made the shooting occur.
Avilés commented on how the media moves on quickly, which allows for historic moments such as this uprising to be forgotten over time.
A student then asked how the other marginalized groups in Mount Pleasant showed up for the Latinx community during the Uprising.
“They showed up,” said Avilés. “Because of the television…people from Maryland and Virginia came, kids, a lot of kids, a lot of Black kids… and these were the days before computers and cellphones.”
The final question asked about Walton’s decision to use oil painting rather than a digital reenactment of the shooting of Daniel Gomez. Walton explained that her brother had done the painting and used that to present the spirit of the voices from the Uprising, as well as the emotions and feelings from it. She felt that oil paintings did that best and allowed the creativity to flow.
The event ended with a round of applause from the audience and a thank you from Walton to Novoa for organizing the event.
