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This film is part of the Madrid.15M.cc project, together with
a book, a website, and other local and themed projects,
all under the umbrella of 15M.cc.
This documentary is not an 'official' 15M film, nor does it represent the movement,
or anyone, in any way. It is exclusively the director's personal view
of the 15M he experienced, which is just one among so many others.
15M.cc presents
A Madrid.15M.cc production
The 15M movement is many different things.
In fact, 15M was badly needed but nobody expected it to happen.
It's like a breath of fresh air.
A change in the atmosphere.
A new climate. Not so much a new structure,
as a new climate.
Well I think the best description is the sign in Sol square:
'We were asleep, we woke up: square occupied'.
A whole bunch of myths,
especially myths about this country, are ending, they're worthless,
they're no use to most people, and so many other things are starting,
new images, new ways of living, of thinking.
For me, this is 15M.
I think 15M reflects the people's feeling
that they can't live and breathe freely
in which democracy is lacking.
For me 15M is a collective wake-up call.
So in the end it became a space for thinking,
for proposals, undefined but dynamic decisions,
constantly being redefined.
A collective mind functioning in the same way.
I refuse to define what 15M is because I think
it diminshes the movement.
Well I don't think you can reach
a consensus on what the 15M movement is.
Interview with José Luis Sampedro
- "What do you think of the 15M movement?" - "I think it's excellent,"
"I think it's a wake-up call, I think it's important,"
"and that it has already managed to stir things up a lot..."
"Excellent. A wake-up call. Important." A personal vision of the 15M movement
A film by Stéphane M. Grueso
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
Many of us met up and recognised each other in the streets of Madrid
and in other Spanish cities at the demonstrations
called by 'Real Democracy Now' and many other organisations and citizens' groups.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets all over the country,
protesting against the economic situation and lack of democracy.
These protests were different, with no flags,
the atmospere was new and exciting. It was different, fresh ...
But, where did this come from? How did we arrive at this new situation,
this "climate" as the 15M movement has been called?
Hands up! This is a crisis! Hands up! This is a crisis!
15M BEFORE 15M
One of the many precedents and beginnings of 15M happened in Galicia in 2002
during the Prestige disaster: the oil spill, tar and volunteers.
Civil society acting on the margins of the state, which watched impassively not knowing what to do.
In my case, this was one of the first times I took part in voluntary or community work,
and I realize now that it was one of the beginnings of my 15M.
A massive demonstration took place in the streets of Madrid today...
I was in Berlin during the massive demonstrations against the Iraq war in 2003,
and they were as big as in Spain.
Everyone took to the streets and everyone was in agreement.
Civil society sending a clear message to the minority political establishment.
Another clear precedent for 15M.
The famous night of the cell phones on March 13th, 2004,
two days after the bomb attacks in Atocha train station on March 11th,
is another reference point for 15M.
At the PP head office in Génova street, demanding the truth.
Spontaneosly called protests, no parties, no flags,
using the new technology of the moment, sms, ...
The harshly repressed sit-ins in public spaces of V for Vivienda, (Housing), in 2006, is another reference.
And speaking of housing, one of the key concerns for everyone,
including the 15M of course, which is nothing other than
a cut-back in population.
Lastly, in 2009 and 2010,
the fight against Intellectual Property, and the Sinde Law.
[Protest at the Goya Awards ceremony]
The online emergence of the distributed movement #nolesvotes (don't vote for them).
The power of the anonymous masses.
Doubts as to whether protests could move from mailing lists to the streets.
Well, in the end, it happened.
[CONVENED BY REAL DEMOCRACY NOW]
[Demonstrations in 50 cities against the political and social system]
But in 2011, something different also happened outside Spain.
Something new and previously unheard of.
[Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt]
The protests in North Africa inspired the 15M movement.
Seeing how common people, all sorts of different people could unite to defend their rights
in the face of injustice and unfairness was a wake-up call.
And not only in Africa. Also in Greece and other countries.
The spirit of struggle and outcry caught on throughout the world.
At the start of 2011, we witnessed countries in the Arab world
rising up, not only against bloody and repressive dicatorships,
but also, and this is fundamental, against the economic situation.
And, above all, against the political decisions
being taken in response to that economic situation.
The same things had been happening in the Arab world as in Spain:
massive privatizations, deterioration of social rights,
destruction of public health services, cutbacks in investment in public education.
And an ever widening rift between rich and poor.
The experiences in Tunisia and Egypt
were obviously in the collective mind of the 15M movment,
and in the minds of the those who decided to camp.
In fact, the camp model of protest
and the taking of the square were copied from them.
Before May 2011, many people had already started to create their own 15M.
Things were happening: actions, lockdowns, protests, humor ...
[malestar.org (discontent): Friday meetings in public spaces]
We see what's happening in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen...
And this long list, which now includes Portugal,
and Iceland long before,
these are states where supposedly 'spontaneous' revolutions are taking place.
They are not spontaneous.
[malestar.org: Executions on May 2nd, 2011]
Aim!
Fire!
[Risastencia: Laughter protest]
Since everybody laughs at us, what with the crisis, politicians, bankers...
Why shouldn't we laugh at all this and at them, too?
That's why we are here, to laugh at these things.
Let's all crack up lauging!
[Our slogan is: "We'll laugh at you until you take us seriously"]
[flo6x8: action at Santander Bank, Seville]
The most significant task was contacting all the associations in Madrid one by one.
I imagine that other nodes were doing the same, as this was nationwide.
And it was a very direct contact, explaining the reasons for the demonstration,
inviting them to participate, and making a commitment to work together
like with the Anti-Evictions Platform (PAH) with whom we work closely.
Today we have decided to leave aside our symbols,
our own interests...
The May 2011 protests were not conventional in any sense.
There were lots of new faces on the streets.
And I went along because I didn't know who these people were
and that appealed to me. I had been observing for some time
this new kind of horizontal and distributed organisation.
The demonstration was organized by Real Democracy Now
and other organzations I didn't know, such as Youth without a Future.
Youth without a Future was formed in the bleak times of demobilisation,
and brought together the remnants of the anti-Bologna student movement
and university assocations.
We got together and said, "We have to do something".
We started having meetings and became a platform.
Our slogan was: 'No house, no job, no fear'.
Practically every young person could identify with that,
even if they weren't in that position, lucky them,
they knew people experiencing this. And our aim was to revitalize things.
It may sound a bit arrogant, but we wanted to get across to people:
Here's what's going on. If you don't think we need to mobilize,
it's because we're doing it wrong.
FROM TAKING THE STREET TO BUILDING THE SQUARE
We're back in Madrid on May 15th, 2011. The demonstration had ended
for all of us who went home.
There were several incidents in Callao (near Sol) and a police intervention
that many deemed excessive. It was unfortunate, but all too common.
And while many, including me, were sleeping soundly,
in Sol Square something very unusual was happening
which gave birth to this marvelous rebellion: the Sol Square Camp
Tonight, nobody is leaving! Tonight, nobody is leaving!
We can set up the camp right here, ok?
And that's when it started. "Why don't we stay over? Right?"
"They did it in Egypt... Why not here? We need to have a square too."
And someone grabbed a microphone and said:
"Hey, some people are saying we should stay. What can we do?"
"What if we keep protesting? What if we sleep here?"
It was exactly one week before the elections.
"What if we stay here until election day?"
Let's make as much noise as we can, bring all the people here that we can
so the demonstration doesn't just end today.
Let's make a stand and create a movment.
Now we have to decide what we are going to do
while we are here.
This is a call for people to join the movement now.
Let's not wait until tomorrow or the day after, but do it right now.
Let's invite other cities to take their squares and do the same.
Someone said "Assembly!" and everyone sat down
and that's how the 15M format started:
a space where no conclusions can be reached
and practically no decisions can be made.
But where being able to express themselves is necessary for many people,
and being able to share what is happening.
Those who can't sleep over tonight but can stay here for a while
to keep us company and support us are very welcome, all right?
And it would be great if tomorrow some people could stay in the camp
as there are others who have to go to work.
Even if there are fewer of us, we need to show that we're mobilising
and that we'll be here until election day, ok?
Those of you who can sleep over, come over here;
let's start getting together and organizing.
That night, about 40 people slept in the square.
I found out about acampadasol, the Sol square camp,
at 9.00 in the morning on Monday.
Here is my first photo.
At first, I didn't understand what was going on
but I loved it, so I started to help, like everyone else.
I know how to document and communicate
and that's what I did: symbols, logistics...
The first assembly I took part in early in the morning.
Marian working with the 3G.
Pablo talking to the media. The first press conference.
We didn't know there would be dozens after that.
Another assembly later in the day: here with Miguel and Marta.
At 8 p.m., the first big assembly. Lots of people.
Javier and Pablo
Dani, who spent the whole day trying to set up wifi in the square and stuff like that.
My cousin Julio. I didn't know him from Seville yet we lived in the square. So strange...
That first day events were livestreamed from the square.
And at that big assembly, we read the first manifesto of acampadasol.
[The first manifesto of acampadasol.]
Who are we? We are people who have come here freely and voluntarily.
After the demonstration we decided to stay together
to continue defending our dignity and social and political consciousness.
We don't represent any party or group.
We share a will to change.
We are here because we want a new society
which values life over economic and political interests.
After the main assembly, small thematic groups started meeting.
After 15 or 16 hours in the square, I went home to sleep.
I was very excited. I didn't understand what was happening
but I was very happy.
Then came the second night: the eviction and then everything took off.
Acampadasol was born.
And the following night, I remember that about 250 of us
slept in the square the second night. Another difficult night
because we would go to sleep at four in the morning
and two hours later, the police would suddenly arrive to throw us out.
Stop, please! No violence!
Video temporarily unavailable.
The police eviction of those few people had the opposite effect.
Thousands of people came back to the square that afternoon.
And we came back to stay.
...the financial powers who control everything through their economic power.
We have a right to be outraged.
At the first general assembly, when Miguel said:
"This is an assembly, the assembly is starting" and everybody sat down and was quiet
There in the crowded square, I thought: "This can't be, I must be dreaming".
Very, very nice.
This is much more than a meeting. This is an assembly.
We are going to be in charge of reading a manifesto and coordinating things.
But the assembly is every single one of us.
As we have always said, we're not a collective, we're not an association.
We don't belong to any trade union. We are PEOPLE.
Until now we have been hanging out here in Sol
meeting together in assemblies, creating work committees...
There are two very important questions that we want to ask everybody, ok?
First: Do we want to stay here tonight?
YESSSSSSSSS!
The Revolution has begun! The Revolution has begun!
It's the system, not the crisis! It's the system, not the crisis!
And at daybreak, everything took off and it just got crazy.
That first week the Government could have fallen.
All the squares in the world could have risen up and started something new.
Anything could have happened, because our energy was boundless.
All of our personal concerns and problems suddenly seemed to just disappear.
We're changing the world and we can change it for the first time.
This feeling of hope, of really being able to change things,
that anything could happen and now is the time to define it,
was really unique; it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.
Real democracy! Real democracy!
And right then, we started building our town,
our mini-city: acampadasol, the Sol square camp.
Hanging tarpaulins, ropes, cardboard on the ground.
A lot of people helping.
And in a few minutes, the awnings and tents were set up.
It grew from day to day. And we grew too.
I remember a sofa flying over our heads,
being passed from hand to hand into the square from Carretas street.
It was fantastic. The square was ours.
Acampadasol, the physical presence of the 15M movment in Madrid
started in Sol square, the Puerta de Sol.
Was it just by chance? Did it need to be in a square?
Was this one chosen on purpose? Why did this happen?
Because squares have always been marketplaces
where financial transactions take place. And the bigger the square
there has always been a sympol of power: an institution.
Something that is there. A church or very often a municipal institution.
Ok, so squares are important. I suppose it was a question of being visible
and, let's not forget, of copying what we saw in Egypt.
Tahrir Square, one of the most central and important squares in Cairo.
Since then, Puerta del Sol has for me changed in meaning
and will never just be any square.
I looked up a dictionary of the period I study
'Covarrubias', a dictionary from 1611, the first one in Castilian Spanish.
If we look up the word 'plaza', it says: "From the Latin word platea."
"Large and spacious place inside the town."
"Public place where goods are sold...
...and where residents conduct their common affairs."
In that definition from the 1600s, the words 'public' and 'common' appear.
I think that is what a square is, a place that is, above all, public
and in particular, where common affairs are conducted.
In acampadasol we had a residential area and one for services
in the middle of the square. And of course the ágora for the assemblies.
You could find all sorts of services:
kitchens that served hot food three times a day, study and conversation areas,
the library with thousands of catalogued books,
the media centre for the press.
Our nursery which I think was the best equipped
in the Madrid area, and had the best carers.
The first aid area and the tents for each commission
where we worked nonstop. A completely self-sufficient city.
We took care of each other and we took care of our surroundings.
Very often we use spaces intuitively
and history teaches us that that's what those spaces are for.
That what we are doing is reclaiming, occupying a space that is ours
and which has always been ours. Both the word and the space.
And I believe that is really interesting.
WE ARE THE MEDIA
I think there were different phases in the way the media treated 15M.
The first was absolute denial and obstruction because they didn't understand anything.
The traditional media took out the three lenses
they use for the news, and said:
"OK, with this lens? I don't understand what's happening here."
"And with this lens? I don't understand, I don't get what's happening here."
I think they didn't see it coming, and it was beyond them.
They didn't understand what was happening at all.
And then finally,
some of them came to their senses while others, unfortunately,
stuck to their guns, manipulating the news and publishing lies.
Because you can agree with the movement or not,
but the person who has been there and seen it, knows what the reality is.
And we may see it a little bit distorted, but it is what it is.
And because they did not understand it completely, they decided not to report it in a new way,
but tried to pigeonhole it in one of the compartments
where they classify all news that comes in.
"Who does this benefit? Rubalcaba? Rajoy? Chacón? Esperanza Aguirre?"
"Who?" And until they realised that it was not about that,
they didn't start reporting news. I think they began to report
because the pressure, including in the social networks, was so great
that it got to the stage where people were saying
if the media continue like this, we will shout
you don't represent us'. And I insist, it is the media, not the journalists,
because there were journalists at all times, from the first day in Sol.
It's not true to say there weren't any journalists.
That very Monday, May 16th, the media pretty much ignored...
the previous day's demonstrations, which, despite having been called
by organisations like Real Democracy Now and others that were unknown,
had been hugely successful, with thousands of people taking part,
in dozens of cities around the country.
Only a few centre-left newspapers mentioned the protests on their front pages.
Tuesday May 17th, Strauss-Kahn's story of power and skirts filled the front pages.
And only Público and El País continued to analyze the phenomenon,
of what they called "the indignant ones,"
but always in view of the upcoming elections.
In the rest of the national newspapers there was silence.
By Wednesday May 18th, tens of thousands had taken Sol
and people had started to build a mini-city. At last!
However, on the front pages: bullfighting, Rajoy, Rajoy, Rajoy, Rajoy,...
Queen Elizabeth II What can I say, I don't know...
The following day, on the 19th, all the national Spanish papers
finally featured on their front pages what, in my opinion,
should have been the image of the day a few days back.
The main square of Spain's capital filled with thousands of citizens
demanding change and democracy. ABC, El Mundo, and even La Razón.
But, do you know which was the first big newspaper that featured on its front page
a picture of Sol thronged with people, to the shame of our national newspapers?
The Washington Post. And of course, a few hours later,
when our national newspapers appeared,
they realized that maybe it was time to consider putting
"what was happening in Sol" on their front pages.
The 15M movement has used technology brilliantly:
it has understood, used, tapped, developed, reinvented, and hacked this technology.
Many big businesses and governments should study us and learn from the movement.
How so much can be done with so little.
And this did not start with the 15M. This knowledge of networks came from before,
but with 15M it has multiplied and accelerated.
As to the internet tools, buying the domain and all that,
it was people who already had experience in social movements
in communicating through internet and that sort of thing.
Everything started really fast: the Twitter account @acampadasol...
was created in the square in the early hours of May 16th, 2011,
the first night of the camp.
That same night a blog was created and emails sent
from the square to mailing lists asking for help and devising strategies.
"If we communicate this, if you give us permission and we set up a communication group
and devise a strategy, this could lead to many other people
feeling the same as us; they would see our actions
as an opportunity and take their squares too."
So, I created a Twitter account, @acampadasol
I can't remember very well, to be honest. I think I saw on Twitter,
that someone was already talking about acampadasol and I thought that name
could work to talk about this.
Our way of working is based on copying;
our form of communicating is copying the best we find,
mixing it, combining it and offering it free
so that others can do the same.
[We have just set up a camp in Sol square in Madrid, and we will not leave until we reach an agreement.]
This was the first tweet that was sent from the @acampadasol account at about 4am.
After that, everything grew very fast.
During the first days the main domains were bought:
such as tomalaplaza and takethesquare.
And, through internet, hundreds of Twitter and Facebook accounts
and mailing lists were transmitting information nonstop.
The dissemination and documentation of the 15M movment
via internet had just begun.
The coverage of 15M in social networks has been spectacular.
The community management of the @acampadasol Twitter account has been fantastic.
They have not spread rumours.
Those of us who manage this account have great respect for
collective decision-making processes and for an assembly movement.
And we are very aware of the need to use a tone
that can be accepted by everyone.
Things began to happen that surpassed by far the communication strategy
of traditional social movements.
And the political communication strategy of any self-respecting political organisation.
They would give anything to have the wealth of communication enjoyed by the 15M.
Once the initial challenges had been solved
other more concrete media projects were developed.
AudioviSol, a news-video service of the 15M movement in Madrid.
Agora Sol Radio, a radio station that began to broadcast
only a few days after the camp was set up.
madrid15m, a monthly newspaper with a large print run.
Or TomalaTele, a video aggregator site
for live and streamed broadcasts.
IN LEGITIMATE DISOBEDIENCE
Sol is not asleep tonight.
The more than one hundred people who camped here yesterday
have become thousands today.
After the eviction and in less than 24 hours the movement has become organized
and they have attracted more and more people
who are protesting against a system they consider to be unfair.
They are demanding economic and political changes.
The days went by and our city grew. We continued organising.
We already have stoves and the most basic services.
The police are watching us, but they don't intervene.
Many people are staying to sleep
and there are more and more people in the square.
The night of the 20th of May was the eve of the elections.
Day of reflection.
A court order had banned people from congregating in Sol.
As an upstanding citizen, I met Marga, Amador and some friends
to break the law.
Sol was completely packed. At midnight,
like in the fairy tale, we became illegal. The Electoral Commission had said that
there was a sort of tension about the legitimacy of being in the street
of being all together. We are here to protest
against a serious situation; they are condemning a lot of
people to harsh living conditions, and we have every right
to gather here to reclaim the true meaning of the word 'democracy'
the power of the people as an open and public discussion
and you are not going to tell us that we are illegal
because of this nonsense about the day of reflection.
We... I don't know... shouted in silence. It was amazing to see
the number of people who were there.
And it was not everybody minding their own business;
everybody was there for the same reason because we all shared the same concerns,
so we all became silent at the same time. We all knew what we had to do,
and we behaved in accordance with the situation
because we realised what was happening. That was beautiful. Really beautiful.
And that was when the "silent shout" was born one of the 15M icons.
It was the first time, as far as I knew, that I was breaking a law.
Disobeying authority.
The Supreme Court no less
where the appeals had ended.
I can assure you that I have never been so sure that I was doing the right thing.
What joy!
Without us, you are nothing! Without us, you are nothing!
It was like a gift we gave each other.
A free gift. Just being there at a certain moment,
at a certain time, at a certain place. Just that.
And tomorrow we vote, tomorrow we vote!
[Sunday, May 22nd, 2011]
[Municipal and Regional Elections (in 13 Autonomous Regions)]
[The Popular Party won both with a comfortable majority]
[At the same time, life continues in acampadasol]
[Here, people keep working, thinking, and building]
WHO ARE WE THE MEMBERS OF 15M? WHAT IS THE 15M?
Who are we, the 15M people?
Those of us who met on the streets and in the squares?
What kind of people were we, the acampadasol dwellers?
Well, there was and is, a little bit of everything.
Obviously, there were more "young people"
and "left-wing" people, as a rough classification.
But there were whole families, old people,
People with different socio-economic backgrounds.
And what I find, ultimately, more interesting:
many people with no previous background in political or social activism,
of whom I was one. A lot of new faces.
Very enthusiastic people, very keen.
For me, what is most important is that there has been an upgrade
in the political dimension of life. Like an update.
Like with sofware, when you upgrade to a better version.
Because politics in the sense of managing the commons
has been completely undermined.
As if nobody cared anymore.
The dominant idea, the stereotype
is that everyone minds their own business.
Other people's concerns are their tough luck.
Maybe some concern for friends and maybe not.
But 15M belies that.
This is the main difference between before and after.
Because what happened before was we felt alone.
We all knew that things needed to be done.
But, as as individual, what can I do?
The idea was not what can we do? Because that 'we' ...
you don't know how to contact others, how to organise.
Then you thought, what can I do?
And 'what can I do?' faced with all this, leaves you without alternatives in the end.
So, I don't know what I can do really.
This business of "they don't represent us" chanted in Sol
becomes, for a lot of people,
"we don't need them", or not much, anyway.
In what sense? In that many people have realised that relating to people,
proposing things, reaching agreements,
can be done in a city. In this case, Sol City.
In other words, this has been an experiment
in the power we have when nobody is controlling us,
when we agree; when we willingly cooperate,
which creates something bigger than us, more important,
and which cares for us. And I think that acampadasol cares for us.
In fact, the whole 15M experienece, not just acampadasol, cares for us.
The people who protest are normal people. And normal people have these problems.
We think we have these problems in common.
It's not a matter of "I'm going to find my answers for me and my family,
for me and my friends, for me and my political tribe,
to build a squat on a piece of land on the outskirts of Madrid
and to grow our food."
No, we all have these problems.
Therefore, in a way, we have to talk to everyone.
This problem affects all society. Society as a whole needs to get into action.
There has to be a dialogue with many different people, right?
That's what I see in the 15M. We don't want to be seen as marginal.
Because what we are talking about affects us all, millions of us.
That's why I reject stereotypes: we are not perroflautas; we are not anti-system
the system is against us. We are talking about problems in society.
We don't want to separate ourselves from society.
Instead, we want society to deal with those issues.
We should think about them together.
No one person has the solution, so let's think about them altogether.
We don't want the movement to be stereotyped as
a minority movement.
WHATEVER YOU KNOW TO WHATEVER DEGREE YOU ARE WELCOME
In the early days of acampadasol commissions and working groups were set up
as needs arose in the camp:
action, communication, food, coordination,
infrastructure, legal, respect...
And this process grew and was self-regulating.
One of the working groups created was Economy
which wanted to approach social change
through the economy.
This is seen as one of the fundamental problems.
The Sol Legal commission was created by a number of lawyers
who saw the need to give legal and technical support
to the camp and the movement
that was developing from the camp.
We spend our time talking to people.
Our purpose is to coordinate, to liaise and put people in contact.
And, also, since we have experience,
there may be camps being set up right now
and they need to be connected.
In Europe, it worked in the beginning with the expats
And then mixed assemblies were held with local people.
In the case of the United States there is a direct relationship.
In Wall St the reference point was Sol and the way things worked.
One of the things that amazed me was the work of the people in the
Assembly Energizing groups and the Respect Commission;
with infinite patience they mediated in the conflicts that arose...
and trained us in these new practices of the commons,
which were new for many of us.
I, personally, on May 16th, 2011,
took part in the first assembly in my life.
[Assembly of the Respect Commission]
There are people talking about things that have been spoken about five or six times.
I am hearing things that have been discussed since the first day.
Decisions have been made about these issues and the most appropriate measures.
I believe that we should listen to those who are
taking action instead questioning everything, because there are some of us
who have attended five 2-hour meetings today,
And, in all honesty, we are a little tired.
And it began organizing itself to provide legal and technical support
to the people who were arrested in the first days.
Because from the start, this movement
and these events have been harrassed by the police.
During the May 15 demonstration the police charged and made arrests.
So, when the camp was starting, there were many questions.
"What is legal? What is illegal? Is the camp legal or not?"
And there was a first group of people that began to meet.
They created a text explaining how the right to meeting works,
what is guaranteed by Article 21 of the Consitution.
All kinds of people joined the Economy group.
Experts, well-known economists,
lecturers and specialists in different areas, journalists, etc,
There were writers, meeting up with philosphers,
and all sorts of creative minds
which has led to some impressive synergies.
We have learned so much from each other
and we have realized that so many things can be done.
Anything is possible: the space provided by the general assembly
is a meeting where we can say what we want to do
in what group it can be done that everyone can contribute
that everyone can make suggestions in the assembly, which are debated
and then taken to the working groups where they can be worked on the important things...
There we were in the Puerta del Sol, in acampadasol trying to change the world.
And something wonderful had happened: people were copying us.
Us! And we in turn we had seen the best of other protests
and we had adapted them to our circumstances, remixed and reused.
So now we were being copied all over the country and the world.
It was fantastic. All that information flowing freely around the globe.
Yes, friends, this is it!: copyleft.
Those days, in hundreds of cities all over the world camps were being set up.
Both small and big. In Spain and abroad.
It was not about conquering the world or overthrowing the system.
It was more a matter of the symbolic significance.
But it was very intense. And very exciting.
COPYLEFT: Allowing your creation to be freely copied and transformed.
and demanding the same of those who use it.
The best expression of copyleft of the camp has been its ability to be replicated.
What was being shared by all was precisely
the information that was being produced all over the world.
When I retweet something I am saying "please copy me".
So the model which said
"forbidden to copy, all rights reserved"
was no longer valid intellectually.
And it is not working in practice either.
It was happening in towns, cities,... everywhere.
People were gathering in the streets and squares to do something that was very, very dangerous.
Something that the authorities did not like at all.
Something we had not done for years.
To get together and talk about the public affairs.
Yes, it was just that: meeting, talking about people's problems
big and small, to find solutions.
and to do as much as we could to help our neighbours.
It was happening.
And it was global.
SOME OF THE 15M ACHIVEMENTS
The philosopher Zygmunt Bauman and a sector of society had branded 15M
as a movement of emotions not of thought. As if we spent
the whole day in assemblies, waving our hands and loving each other,
but without offering solutions or creating alternatives.
Well, that description seems to me to be unfair and is, in fact,
one of the reasons why we made this film.
In acampadasol almost 15,000 proposals were collected and classified,
suggestions made by citizens to improve democracy, among other things.
In any event, anybody who has followed the 15M movement closely
would have noticed the wealth of proposals and actions.
You bet the 15M has accomplished things...
HOUSING
15M supports the Anti-Eviction Platform in its fight against evictions.
Hundreds of evictions halted in a year and a half.
Searching for a solution to housing the evicted.
Changes in laws have been forced through.
Banks have had to buy back properties in auctions at 60% of their rated value instead of 50%.
The minimum tax exemption went from 625 to 900 euros.
The fact that today everyone knows what in lieu of payment means
is probably thanks to 15M.
JUSTICE
15MpaRato, a group of people related to 15M, offers legal assistance
to people who bought shares in Bankia and feel swindled.
They raised a public collection for them,
and openly and transparently provided them with a lawyer.
Thirty-two Bankia directors were accused
including the government's deputy prime minister, Rodrigo Rato.
15MpaRato announced on its website what it was going to do and how it was going to do it.
And they made the campaign's expenses publicly available!
ECONOMY
#OperaciónEuribor is an investigation into the European interbank offered rate
which many mortgages and other financial instruments depend on,
while the Public Prosecutor and other institutions look the other way.
The idea is to offer tools to find out if the bank is cheating you.
To make up for the fact that the state doing nothing.
Lastly, #OpOposición attempts to halt foreclosures
while the vality of Euribor is being studied.
A Barcelona court has already allowed opposition proceedings.
Will there be many more?
VIOLENCE / NON-VIOLENCE STATE VIOLENCE
A lot has been said about police brutality which has been experienced,
suffered and documented in Madrid during the first year and a half of the 15M.
Even though non-violence has been one of the hallmarks of 15M,
and the movement has endured numerous provocations,
we haven't been able to avoid being beaten up again and again.
In this documentary, we could show dozens of photos and videos of the police
brutally up beating protestors during the 15M protests,
children, students, old people... There are lots of images online.
But I am going to talk about our own personal experience
and how we came across this violence.
Or more accurately, how this violence found us.
It was August 17th, at a protest called by grassroots lay
and Catholic organizations to protest against
the excessive expense to the public of the Pope's visit to Madrid.
Up until then in Madrid there had only been isolated incidents of police violence
bur nothing like the police charges in Barcelona, in the Plaça de Catalunya
which were the most blatant example of police brutality against 15M.
The demonsration was badly organised. There were a lot of people.
The police weren't effective and hadn't secured the route.
They didn't separate the demonstraters from the pilgrims.
There were too few organisers and they had little information.
In Puerta de Sol, the protestors and pilgrims were all mixed up.
I was with Pablo Soto when we saw the police were closing off the square.
On the side of the lay proestors, we suddenly realised that
the square had been closed off and we were trapped inside.
They were letting the pilgrims get out
but not the demonstrators of a protest which had been duly notified.
At one point, when you ran off towards Montera street,
all the police ran the same way
because they were starting to charge up the street.
At that point, I was taking photos at the other end of the square.
The journalists ran off but I can't run so I stayed where I was
trying not to call attention to myself.
But when the journalists ran to the other end of the square,
they stopped charging over there and began charging where I was.
The police aren't stupid.
Well, nothing serious happened, I was just knocked over.
What struck me was the feeling of helplessness
when a policeman insulted me. But I don't want to create an issue.
That's the way they are and I think... Well, I was scared then,
but, once I was helped out of the square, I didn't go home.
And I wasn't afraid to go back the next day.
He went back the next day, and the day after, and the day after that.
Pablo has mobility problems. He can't get up by himself.
Fortunately another friend found him and helped him,
because the police knocked him to the ground and ran off.
Patricia tells us the second story of that night.
Patricia, Pablo and I are the founders of the 15M.cc project,
and this documentary forms part of the project.
Patricia was working in the square, reporting on events
and she had an encounter with a police officer.
At a certain point, I was left behind on my own in that corner,
and I continued recording:
I kept on recording videos and taking photos.
And then, I saw what there was a man... a police officer.
He came over to me and asked what I was doing.
I told him I was a journalist and that I was recording what was happening.
Police officer: Give me your identity card.
Patricia: What for? Police: Because I need to identify you fully.
Police: This is not a complete identification, parents' names, home address...
Patricia: First, don't raise your voice to me. Police: What? I'll beat the *** out of you!
Police: Show me your ID card. Patricia: What did you just say to me?
Patricia: For goodness sake! Police: You ***... You're under arrest.
She: What do you mean, arrested?! Police: Put the handcuffs on!
There are some people who think that I "was asking for it."
And I sincerely believe that we are wrong and we've forgotten
what it means to know our rights.
This man could not possibly have considered me to be a threat, I was not.
In the real meaning of, "real threat," that I could do something violent, no way.
I am a small girl of 1m60 surrounded by four guys who are 2 metres tall,
So, what kind of threat was I...? That was my threat, a telephone that records
and that can tell the tale. That was the threat but I was no threat at all.
This was our mini experience that night. Other friends of ours,
also journalists, were dragged into a police van and insulted and threatened.
So yes, nothing happened to us, but... what about the others? And in other places?
And on other nights?
Personally, I'm sad, horrified, pained, and above all,
disappointed to have discovered this strategy of terror, and how the entire
policy apparatus was designed to terrorize individuals and stop them
from exercising their 'annoying' civil rights. That's really bad.
And very inappropriate for a state governed by the rule of law.
The problem, the detail, is that Patricia, Pablo, me and thousands of others
are here to stay.
We think what we have at stake is really too important.
So that you all will see what you are doing...
WE'RE LEAVING SOL WE'RE MOVING INTO YOUR CONSCIENCE
Now is the time to work in the neighbourhoods and towns.
We are the masters of our own acts.
We came to Sol on our own terms and we'll leave
when and how we choose. And never, never by force
or due to outside agents nor internal dysfunction...
We arrived mid-June
and the truth is, it was hard for us to come to an agreement.
Endless assemblies and discussions, but in the end, we managed.
We decided to take down the Puerta del Sol Encampment
for a month and move out to the neighbourhoods
where, by the end of May, the first local assemblies had already started.
We would leave an information desk in the centre of the square and move
the library and some other material and documentation
to different social centres in Madrid.
We decided to leave Puerta del Sol exactly or better than we had found it.
"Operation Spotless" was started.
Only one wooden structure was left in Sol, an information desk
that would be knocked down on August 2nd by the City.
After four weeks of encampment, we left Puerta del Sol.
Since last May 28th, we have been holding assemblies in the neighbourhoods
and decentralizing Sol's activities.
But up to now, we haven't been able to erect an encampment.
From that time on, we would meet on Sundays in Sol
for a general assembly, and work out of the neighbourhoods.
How time flies... It seems like centuries since that 15th May 2011.
And it's only been a year and a half.
One thing is for sure, in all this time, we haven't stopped protesting, fighting,
thinking and building... The economic crisis, which is really a fraud
and, especially, the irresponsible behaviour of our political leaders
hasn't allowed us to return to the life we had before.
So this is how we keep going: in the street, in groups, alone, in networks,
at home, from our workplaces, if we still have them.
And also from within the embrace of of the 'making 15M' family.
Many things have happened over the past 18 months.
[4.189.619] [UNEMPLOYED in MAY 2011]
[#19J Demonstrations Against the Euro Pact]
[#MareaVerde (GreenTide) Protests Defending Public Education]
[#17S Occupy Wall Street]
[#15O Global Demonstration: 1,060 cities, 90 countries]
[4.420.462 +230.843] [UNEMPLOYED in NOVEMBER 2011]
General Elections in November 2011. The PP (People's Party) wins by an absolute majority.
[4.750.867 +330.405] [UNEMPLOYED in MARCH 2012]
[February 2012. Valencia Spring: student protests]
[#1215MM First anniversary of 15M]
[Support for striking civil servants, miners... and other protests]
[#25S #RodeaElCongreso (SurroundCongress) Police Brutality, Arbitrary Detentions]
November 2012. 530 evictions per day.
20% of Spaniards (1 in 5) live below the poverty line.
The youth dropout rate is at 52%.
I'm trying not to lapse into sentimentality.
We're ending the film and have arrived at the moment
where we ask the people that we lived with during
the Madrid encampment, my people, what is to become of us, where do we go
and what is to become of what we are building amongst everything
and what, for the moment, with more or less certainty, we're calling the 15M movement.
I have no idea... I can tell you what I would like, and be a bore because
I've repeated it four times, but I would like an encampment
lasting until we have a new constitution.
That is what I want. And the 15M be
the social movement that brings this about.
That brings about this yearning for democracy.
What scenario do I see? Well, that's hard to say... The scenario is tough.
It's going to be very difficult.
We want the world to be a reasonable place. It's not that
we're asking for something outlandish. A reasonable place where
there is dignity in life, something that works, that we don't have... right?
I don't know how to tell you more than that I believe the strength of the moment is
to always reload, refresh from within ourselves,
using all of our potential.
So I think that the strength of what we have is the strength of respect,
inclusion, horizontalism, collective intelligence,
non-violence...
If we manage to construct tools that generate the ability to pressure
from our numbers, that can pressure multinationals, that can pressure
local, independent and state governments. And to act so that
we cause them enough damage so that they must heed our demands
Then we could achieve many things.
If a method comes out of this that is not institutionalized, constant
pressure from the people, I'll leave with a song in my heart.
We're focused on tools for coordinating globally.
If the whole world thinks the same way, it doesn't matter where we are.
The only important thing will be the 15M style. That means:
self-convened, neither left nor right, inclusive, etc.
With those characteristics... copyleft... it will be in this style.
And anything not in this style, doesn't matter. In my opinion, ok?
For example, the elections coming up. A lot of people are going to vote.
It doesn't matter. It's the same to me. A lot of people go to football games, no matter...
If we're able to focus a little on the idea that we really have to
reinvent ourselves, that we have to find new methods to achieve all of this
we have to see what we do, I believe that sooner or later, we're
going to find the right keys, right? If we always concentrate on what
we want to achieve and stay focused on getting there, it'll work, right?
Over this year and a half, I have learned many things, one of which
is to believe what Miguel is saying. Yes, that Miguel with the megaphone
and the cardboard in Sol. One Miguel amongst many.
Since this film is a personal vision, I'll allow myself
to save the last word for me, with sincere humility.
I believe that the 15M movement has been a success. The mobilizations,
encampments, assemblies and all that has happened has been really positive.
But I believe the most important thing about the 15M is also what
is the most difficult to see: how people have changed.
People who will never be the same. People who turned into a problem
for their governments and a help for their neighbours.
Into good citizens, yeah.
That 15M that isn't seen but is still there, and, what's more, I believe will never go away.
So now, what has to be done is try to use our imagination, keep going,
follow up, reinvent ourselves... Maybe even get rid of this annoying trademark
that could be the very name of "15M."
At the end of the day, we only want to do what every generation tries
to do for so many year: change the world.
And so, as Miguel says, we'll go looking for the right key.
And we're about to find it,... right?
so now what are we going to do
evicted
poverty
the country we're already in
stopping evictions
losing fear
creating the republic of the 99%
what are we going to do
eXpain / www.exlandia.net Let's declare the government irrelevant
we have declared the government
irrelevant
the world is changing
you're the one changing it
Madrid.15M.cc is not responsible for the preceding video as that would be an 'occupation' of the documentary.
The documentary's producers did not know beforehand what it was going to be about. They only signed over a place in the credits.
Madrid.15M.cc has NOTHING to do with its content.
You can download the 40 conversations and the documentary at http://Madrid.15M.cc
This project was self-financed, to learn more visit http://acorta.net/ayudanos15mcc