English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, 15 March 2018 — The actress Alicia Bustamante died on Thursday as confirmed by family and friends on social networks. The actress had an extensive career in theater, film and television, in addition to serving as a teacher and theater director. On learning of the death of the artist there have been the first reactions within … Continue reading “Alicia Bustamente, One of Cuba’s Best Actresses, Dies”
Jorge Enrique Lage interviews Miguel Coyula (extracts) 6 [Miguel speaking]… I am against censorship, as we’ve seen what happened with that film in the Havana Film Festival in New York; it spreads beyond the geographical limits of the island for extra-artistic interests. I mean, politics touches everything. The worsening of the position goes back to … Continue reading “Censorship / Regina Coyula”
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 23 August 2016 – Cuban President Raul Castro warned in a message to the island’s intellectuals and artists that the country’s culture is threatened by “subversive projects” and a “global wave of colonization,” although he is confident that they can confront the challenge, according to an article in the official media … Continue reading “Raul Castro Tells Intellectuals That Cuban Culture is Threatened / EFE, 14ymedio”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, 21 May 2016 – Three years after the first meeting of the G20, a group of Cuban filmmakers who are demanding a Film Law, the group continues to wait for an institutional response that addresses their demands. This week a letter was made public reaffirming their demands for greater recognition for filmmakers and … Continue reading “Filmmakers Reaffirm Their Demands / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 3 February 2016 – In a recent interview, the young playwright and actor Yunior García Aguilera affirmed that he was “dissatisfied with everything.” A finalist for the Virgilio Piñera Prize for his work Sangre (Blood), and highly praised by critics for his piece Semen (Semen), this graduate of the National School … Continue reading “Yunior García’s Uncomfortable Questions / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Screen capture — A Cuban filmmaker with the black tape of censorship literally covering his mouth. Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, Havana, 21 December 2015 — In order to complete my personal impression about the G-20* assembly in the Fresa y Chocolate Cultural Film Center this past November 28, I must recognize the solidarity and support of the … Continue reading “More “Counterrevolutionary” Artists Speak Out For Their Freedom (Part 3) / Angel Santiesteban”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2015 — The protagonists of 2015 Cuba have made their mark sometime in the past twelve months. These people from the areas of culture, sports, religion, politics, science or social activism made this year different and unique. They did it from celebrity or from ridicule; from victory or failure; from discretion or … Continue reading “14ymedio’s 14 Cuban Faces of the Year for 2015 / 14ymedio”
The latest: the government’s reaction In the midst of the Assembly of the G-20 (as a group of twenty film directors call themselves), while the filmmakers debated the need for the approval of a Film Act and continued to denounce the hairy hand of censorship with Abel Prieto as its visible creator, as recently happened … Continue reading “More Counterrevolutionary (?) Artists Speak Up For Their Freedom (II) / Angel Santiesteban”
Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Reykjavik, 15-December 2015 — A non-interventionist US president, a Peronist Catholic pope, and a right-wing military dictator exalted by the Latin American left was bound to be a winning ticket. And so it has been. One year after a new era in Cuba-US relations was announced, it is evident that the Castro regime has … Continue reading “US-Cuba Deal at One Year: Castros Stronger than Ever / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
Convivencia, Pinar del Rio, 20 November 2015 — December 17, 2014 opened, without a doubt, a new stage, a new phase in the recent history of Cuba: it was the announcement of the process of restoration of diplomatic relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States. Both leaders welcomed the mediation of Pope … Continue reading “December 17th, One Year On: Balance and Responsibility / Convivencia”
Diario de Cuba, Havana, 4 December 2015 — A statement from the president of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), published on Thursday on the State website Cubarte put a stop to the recent discussions by filmmakers against censorship, in meetings where, “there can be place for the enemies of the Revolution.” “The point … Continue reading “Cuban Film Institute: “There can be no place in our forums for the enemies of the Revolution” / Diario de Cuba”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 November 2015 – The G20 group of filmmakers voted unanimously at a meeting on Saturday in favor of supporting the filmmaker and playwright Juan Carlos Cremata by writing a letter denouncing the censorship of his work and the smear campaign against him. The meeting had its most tense moment when … Continue reading “Cuban Filmmakers Mobilize Against Censorship / 14ymedio, Luz Escobar”
Jeovany Jimenez Vega, 4 November 2015 — The recent termination of Juan Carlos Cremata as a theater director, the previous suspension of “The King is Dying,” his last work on the stage of the Theater Center, and the publication online some days ago of an inflamed letter from the prestigious critic, Enrique Colina, motivated by this … Continue reading “Censorship, the Vital Artery of the Cuban Regime / Jeovany Jimenez Vega”
14ymedio, Enrique Colina, 30 October 2015 – The artistic censorship practiced in Cuba during these 56 years, against works and creators, from a culture in favor of a supposed defense of the Revolution, has paradoxically resulted in a backlash against the political prestige of the Revolutionary Process, the same one that encouraged and developed from … Continue reading “On Censorship And Its Demons / 14ymedio, Enrique Colina”
Somos+, Pedro Lago Segura, 8 October 2015 — If you believe you can change me from your position of power, you don’t know where the real power lies. And if you think that with that sabre-rattling you prevent my voice from being heard by others or me from hearing others’ voices, you are not free in spirit … Continue reading “A Message From my Faith to the State Security Authority / Somos+”
