English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, December 5, 2019 — A group of elderly men meets in what was once a park, commenting on the news of the day as they recall a bygone era which they refer to simply as “communism.” Each of them is reconstructing a country based on his own personal recollections. The portrait … Continue reading “A Future Cuba as Imagined by the Director Eduardo del Llano”
14ymedio, Mario Penton, Miami, 1 November 2017 — The film director, screenwriter and writer Eduardo del Llano has denounced that the Cuban television censors are hounding him and accuses the authorities of wanting to force him to emigrate. According to a statement written by the artist and shared through the social networks of Carlos Lechuga, … Continue reading “Cuban TV Censors Come Down on Director and Screenwriter Eduardo del Llano”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 10 January 2016 – A Cuban jaded in the cynicism of the present travels back in time to the year 1960 searching for the lost epic. The story of someone who wants to regain the enthusiasm around a social project that turned into something very different from the dream, will move and … Continue reading “Eduardo del Llano’s ‘Epic’ / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
I wish it were true that this is a city where the high-life is picking up, as promised in the ads for the book Havana Libre along with some happy photos posted, in advance, on the internet, including the Cubancentric comments against its author: the New York photographer Michael Dweck. I wish there was, indeed, … Continue reading “Michael Dweck (protagonist in the Exit of Eduardo del Llano?) / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Dimas Castellanos, 18 November 2016 — The evil of corruption–the act of corruption and its effects–has accompanied the human species since its emergence. It has been present in all societies and in all ages. Its diverse causes range from personal conduct to the political-economic system of each country. In Cuba it appeared in the colonial era, … Continue reading “Corruption Versus Liberty: A Cuban Dilemma / Dimas Castellano”
Una Noche (One Night) is the film which best reflects why it is that young people leave Cuba. That’s how a female friend of mine, who is a lover of the seventh art, laconically replied to my question, after visiting the film exhibition in the 34th Festival of New Latin-American Cinema, which took place in … Continue reading “One Night: A Critical View of Cuban Social Reality / Dimas Castellano”
Article from Eduardo del Llano. [Original is here.] In the Press The press continues to offer a disguised Cuba. Let’s start with the official media. If Raul Castro was seriously seeking a transformation of the Cuban press (and I want to believe that indeed, he emphasized the issue) he will be quite disappointed with the … Continue reading “Del Llano Unchained / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo #Cuba”
Corruption — the action of corrupting — is the result of many causes, that range from personal conduct to the political-economic system of each country. It is an ancient social phenomenon to that occurs to a greater or lesser extent in all societies and has been present throughout the history of Cuba. In the colony, … Continue reading “Corruption and the Morality of Survival / Dimas Castellano”
In “Vinci” the episodic film on the life of Leonardo, Eduardo Del Llano borders on indigence. “Don’t fool yourselves; my film is “buenisima” as its screenwriter and director Eduardo del Llano rebukes us in his eponymous blog. The sentence could not be more precise. That something is buenisima is said in Cuba in television adventures … Continue reading “Del Llano Flames Out With "Veni Vidi Vinci" / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The accords of the Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), along with those emanating from its five previous congresses, have demonstrated not only their inability to solve the serious problems of Cuban society, but also to enforce the approved guidelines. The separation of the functions of the Party from those of the … Continue reading “Father Varela, Man of the Present / Dimas Castellanos”
The 32nd Festival of New Latin American Cinema, which ended in Havana last December 2, showed that the seventh art is on the upswing in Latin America and that Cuba is no exception. Among the over 500 participants, the Cuban films–independently of their themes, of their directors’ degree of success, and of the quality of … Continue reading “Social Criticism Widespread in Cuban Films / Dimas Castellanos”
(Published Friday May 27, 2011 on the site: http:www.vocescubanas.com) The common characteristics that identify the human race also have important differences that cannot be ignored. The social character–the most defining and essential peculiarity of man–manifests itself in the diversity of associations that he creates for collaboration, promotion and the defense of his interests; reality that … Continue reading “Cuba: the Illogic of the Single Party / Dimas Castellanos”
“History is lived forward, but to understand it we must look back.” Kierkegaard The interaction between the lack of administrative capacity, economic inefficiency, hopelessness, widespread corruption and the massive exodus, have made the current crisis in Cuba the deepest of its history. The combination of these factors, sufficient to break any human group that aspires … Continue reading “Seeing the Past From the Viewpoint of the Present / Dimas Castellanos”
To catch the pulse of reality is hard, and to portray that rhythm in a short film of less than an hour is even more so. However, Eduardo del Llano not only does it, he makes you laugh over what you would normally mourn. I see his work and wonder how it is possible that … Continue reading “Flags / Claudia Cadelo”
The Limits of Immobility By Dimas Castellanos The multiple factors that made possible the paralysis of our history in recent decades, while interacting on a different stage, have placed the limits of immobility on the daily agenda. The attempts to convert citizens by the masses, to ignore the vital function of rights and liberties, and to … Continue reading “Essay from Voices 1 by Dimas Castellanos / Posted in: Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
