English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, 22 July 2021 — Cuban filmmaker Fernando Pérez said that to overcome the crisis in Cuba that led to the July 11 protests a “new political language” needs to be built without violence and without the dark “acts of repudiation,” he stressed in an interview with AFP news agency. The multi-awarded director, winner … Continue reading “Cuba Needs a New Political Language, Says Filmmaker Fernando Perez”
14ymedio, Madrid, January 9, 2024 — The deputy ministers of Culture Fernando Rojas Gutiérrez and Kenelma Carvajal Pérez were dismissed from their positions on Monday, January 8, and will be replaced by two much younger faces, those of Lizette Martínez Luzardo, 36 years old and up to now director general of Cultural Policies, and Lillitsy … Continue reading “The Cuban Government Dismisses Fernando Rojas, Despite His ‘Revolutionary Loyalty’”
Fernando Dámaso, 14 January 2019: Cuba’s history runs from 1492 to the present day, and men and women have contributed to it, for good or ill, throughout this period. Because of that, I have never understood why they talk and write about science, art and sport, to name but three examples, as being pre-January 1st … Continue reading “One Single History / Fernando Damaso”
Fernando Damaso, 24 May 2016 — Historically, Venezuela has been a country of dictators, as have others in Latin America: Simon Bolivar was one, regardless of his merits as the Liberator of America from the Spanish yoke; and then the Monagas brothers were (1846-1858); followed by Guzmán Blanco (1870-1888), Cipriano Castro (1899-1908), Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-1931), … Continue reading “A Dead End / Fernando Damaso”
Tomb to which the Animal Arrived The existence in Latin America and the Caribbean of presidents closer to comic theater than politics is not an exclusive, since they have also existed and do exist in other regions of the terrestrial globe. What happens around here is that these characters like to interpret their roles with … Continue reading “Wrong Careers / Fernando Damaso”
CAMAGÜEY, Cuba, October 21, 2013, Fernando Vázquez Guerra. On Friday October 18 , at 8 am, the dissident Ernesto San Juan Vazquez, with his mother, Xiomara, and his sister, Yaimara, accompanied by everything they possessed in what was their home (refrigerator, cabinet, stove, TV, bed, radio, etc.), planted themselves in Cristo park — opposite the … Continue reading “Camaguey Political Police Back Down / Fernando Vázquez Guerra”
This past week has given us the media circus orchestrated by Mr. Evo Morales, self-titled first indigenous president of his country (if I remember correctly, his predecessor was also of indigenous origin), together with his friends. Nobody talks about his irresponsible statement in Moscow, when he said he was willing to take Mr. Snowden with … Continue reading “A Coca Farce / Fernando Damaso”
Photo: Rebeca Every year, when reading essays by film critics on the various works presented at the so-called Festival of New Latin American Cinema, what stands out is the never-ending lament on the need to win over a public “unfortunately (this is the word used) conditioned by the Hollywood esthetic.” There are never any complaints … Continue reading “Laments of a Festival / Fernando Damaso #Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, 26 December 2023 — After perpetrating numerous acts of censorship against the works of several filmmakers at the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Culture topped it all off last June. The broadcast on Cuban Television of an unauthorized version of the documentary La Habana de Fito (Fito’s Havana), directed by Juan … Continue reading “The Assembly of Filmmakers Challenges Censorship in Cuba”
EFE (via 14ymedio) Havana, 1 November 2023 — The independent Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC) claimed on Sunday that the problem with the country’s official film institute “is not its president” — a reference to a recent change in leadership at the organization – but with its industrial, financial and artistic underpinnings, which ACC says … Continue reading “Cuban Filmmakers Say Change in Leadership at Film Institute is Not Enough”
EFE/14ymedio, Havana, 22 September 2023 — The independent Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC) accused government officials on Thursday of cutting off internet access during its last meeting in which several members were participating remotely. In a statement posted on social media, the ACC said there were problems with the internet connection during the meeting, which … Continue reading “Cuban Filmmakers Accuse Officials of Cutting Off Internet During Their Meeting”
14ymedio, Havana, August 3, 2023 — During Tuesday’s opening ceremony at the Gibara International Film Festival in Holguín province, Cuban actor Luis Alberto García dedicated his Lucía de Honor award to the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers. In a controversial acceptance speech, which was ignored in official media coverage of the event, the artist alluded to … Continue reading “‘Cuba Will Either Have a Free Cinema or None at All,’ Says Cuban Actor”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Juan Carlos Espinosa, Havana, August 2, 2023 — The unauthorized broadcast of the documentary La Habana de Fito, by director Juan Pin Vilar (Havana, 1963), in a Cuban state television program this June it has raised a storm inside and outside Cuba and provoked a closing of ranks of filmmakers against the Ministry of … Continue reading “Juan Pin: ‘The Fact That There Are No Tomatoes in Cuba Has Nothing To Do With the Blockade’”
14ymedio, Havana, 5 July 2023 — A half-hour blackout delayed the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers’ meeting scheduled for Monday at 9am at the theater on 23rd and 12th in Havana. The producers, who had invited about thirty professionals from other provinces and those living abroad to join the meeting via Internet, proposed creating “an organizational … Continue reading “The Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers Requests that Censored Authors and Works be Restored”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 June 2023 — More than a hundred Cuban filmmakers expressed their disagreement with the authorities about the decisions made with a documentary about the Argentine singer Fito Páez and his relationship with the Island. The creators, grouped in the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers — which includes the prestigious director Fernando Pérez and … Continue reading “Cuban Filmmakers Meet To Express Their Disagreements With the Cultural Authorities”
