The film has won awards at several film festivals, but has been censored on the island.
Crónicas del absurdo [Chronicles of the Absurd], the film by Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula that has traveled around the world in cinema events in recent months, won the Special Jury Prize at the International Independent Film Festival of Buenos Aires (Bafici) this Saturday. Censored on the Island, it is not the first time that the film received recognition abroad.
“Congratulations to the whole team. We are very happy,” wrote Coyula on his social networks and explained that the film had won the award in the competition of Vanguard and Genre.
Starring actress Lynn Cruz, wife of the director, the film “narrates with artistic brilliance the debacle of the Cuban nation,” said the jury, made up of filmmakers and critics Leandro Listorti, Sol Miraglia, Sook-Yin Lee and Jara Yañez.
“Although it gives a good description of the Castroist depravity in its processes of repression, the succession of corrupt officials and the promotion of abject values, it is no less true that it specifies humanity’s resistance to such a perverse hegemony, and this is the opposite message: a message of hope and regeneration,” they said.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture of Buenos Aires, the Bafici is the most important film festival in the country
Organized by the Ministry of Culture of Buenos Aires, the Bafici is the most important film festival in the country. In its 26th edition, the event featured three competitions that included both feature films and short films. In addition to Avant-Garde and Genre, the other two categories were Argentina Competition and Internacional Competition.
In late 2024, Crónicas also won the Best Film Award at the Envision event of the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. In addition, it was shown at other festivals like the one in Miami, E Tudo Verdade in Brazil and the ZagrebDox in Croatia.
However, not a single Cuban cinema has screened the film. The closest that the film has come to being seen by the public of the Island was during its presentation at the Koubek Center Theater in Miami. “It went a long time without being shown in a cinema with a majority Cuban audience,” said Cruz about the screening
In an interview with Jorge Fernández Era for 14ymedio, both Cruz and Coyula talked about the censorship of Crónicas at the Havana Film Festival. “I always send my films to Cuban festivals so that it is documented that they are rejected,” said the director.
“I always send my films to Cuban festivals so that it is documented that they are rejected,” said the director
As he added, the limitations of dealing with certain subjects that are uncomfortable for the regime discourage the production of many filmmakers. “The premises of my last four feature films would never have been approved by the Icaic (Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry). So, the only way to function is to stay away from the institutions,” he explained.
The actress, for her part, criticized the willingness of some artists to comply with the demands of the censors: “The Festival is alive because it continues to open itself up and will continue to do so. What is worrisome is the cinema that is made to fit into those controlled spaces for the few opportunities that filmmakers have to exhibit their works.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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