Who holds the quarantine?

At a time when the health emergency has revealed the fractures of our system, this documentary series emerges to amplify the voices of those who sustain life itself: those invisible people whose work ensures the well-being of all. Through an intimate and urgent narrative, we explore not only the precarious conditions in which they labor and the risks they face on a daily basis, but also their extraordinary resilience and collective efforts to protect their communities-and, by extension, all of society. Producing this series means making an ethical commitment to reality.

Each stage-from rigorous research and scriptwriting to filming in complex conditions and careful editing-requires not only time and dedication, but also material resources that are in short supply today. That's why your support is essential: by joining this collection, you are not only helping to make essential stories visible, but you are becoming an accomplice in a project that defies oblivion and reclaims the dignity of invisible labor. Together we can make these voices resonate with the strength they deserve.

Promo Edit: Leonardo Salas

Ficha Técnica / Technical Details

Título en español: Quién Sostiene la Cuarentena
Título en inglés: Who holds the quarantine?

Produccion general / General Production: Luis Herrera R. / Cooperativa Audiovisual

Dirección / Directed: Luis Herrera R.
Dirección de Fotografía / Cinematography: Luis Herrera R.
Asistencia de Dirección / Assistant Direction: Patricia Yallico
Guión / Screenplay: Luis Herrera R.
Idea Original / Original Idea Luis Herrera R.
Producción de Campo / Field Production: Patricia Yallico
Edición / Editing: Cooperativa Audiovisual CoopDocs
Colorización / Color Grading: Cooperativa Audiovisual CoopDocsr
Mezcla de sonido / Sound Mixing: Cooperativa Audiovisual CoopDocs

Genero / Genre: Documental / Documentary
Formato / Format: HD 16:9
Año / Year: 2019

Voices from the Frontline: a documentary series that reveals the untold stories of the essential workers who sustained the world during the pandemic, exposing their invisible struggles and extraordinary resilience in the face of systemic neglect.

Chapter #1

What would happen if the field stops producing?

This chapter documents how family farming, heir to the struggle of the 1990 Indigenous Uprising, became the last bastion of food sovereignty during the pandemic. While the confined country depended on its production, peasants faced state abandonment: without adequate protection, without fair marketing channels, without the promised bonuses actually reaching those who feed Ecuador.

Chapter #2

Popular markets in the cities

This short documentary reveals the invisible struggle of 800 longshoremen, shellers and traders at the San Roque Market - the heart that pumps 70% of the food to stores and neighborhoods. Without protection or protocols, they risk their health so that no one goes hungry.

It is an urgent cry: How long will the essential heroes continue to be the most forgotten?

Chapter 3:

Exploited - The militarization of labor protest

While Ecuador declares a sanitary emergency, another silent pandemic advances: the casualization of working life.

In the explosives factory EXPLOCEN, 50 workers have been demanding a collective contract for 8 years and have been on peaceful strike for 250 days. The corporate response: illegal firings of veterans with 25 years of service. The state response: militarization under Ministerial Agreement 179 - a permit to use lethal weapons against social protests.