Can One Person Make A Difference in A City of Millions?

2020

A Barcelona-based activist named Ada Colau founded the Mortgage Victims Platform as the U.S. financial crisis had ricochet worldwide hitting Spain hard spiraling the country into deep recession and causing a mortgage crisis that put people out of their homes. 6 years later she was sworn in as Mayor of Barcelona winning on a platform of housing as human dignity. In his film “Ada for Mayor”, documentary filmmaker Pau Faus follows Ada during the campaign with intimate glimpses of her questioning her own motives. A panel discussion following the film screening will explore the question of where does social change in cities come from? Are bottoms-up grass-roots movements, or governmental policies more effective in creating equitable cities? If you think you know the answer, consider why a radical thinker like Ada Colau would campaign to become Mayor.

Panelists

Tim (Michael) Iglesias

Professor of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law

Joe Eskenazi

Managing Editor/Columnist, Mission Local

Assemblymember David Chiu

California District 17

Noni D. Session

Executive Director, East Bay Real Estate Cooperative

Ronald Sundstrom (Moderator)

Professor of Philosophy, University of San Francisco

Films

Ada For Mayor (Alcadessa)
Spain | Spanish (Subtitled English) | 2016 | 88 mins. | Directed by Pau Faus
Film follows Ada Colau for one year, from her time spent organizing the anti-eviction fight in Barcelona to the day she is sworn-in as its mayor. The intimate chronicle -featuring Colau’s own video diary- and privileged access to the inner-workings of a new citizen platform reveal an extraordinary journey in which two prevalent themes are united: a historic victory illustrative of the political changes taking place in southern Europe, and the inner struggle of someone who fears becoming what she has so often questioned.