Cuban Contemporary Short Films I: Dreaming of a Nation

In Conversation

Nils Longueira Borrego

Nils Longueira Borrego is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema and Television Arts at California State University, Fullerton. His teaching includes courses in Latin American cinema, Mexican cinema, the Western, documentary cinema, and writing about the moving image.
Lázaro González

Lázaro González is a filmmaker from Cuba, a doctoral candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Film & Media, and the guest curator of Cuban Cinema without Borders.

This first selection of Cuban contemporary short films offers a profound exploration of Cuba’s culture of resistance. Now! revisits Santiago Álvarez’s eponymous piece by shifting the focus from racial struggles in the United States to the state violence against Cuban citizens dissenting in public demonstrations. Continuing Eliecer Jiménez Almeida’s gaze, Persona captures five intimate stories of survival and resistance against a totalitarian regime. From a less realistic perspective, Casa de la noche immerses us in the spirit of Havana, revealing a utopian and melancholic vision amid the city’s degradation. Similarly, Tundra’s dystopic story examines the paralyzing impact of fear and unfulfilled desires in Cuba. Finally, Ana A. Alpizar’s fictional piece offers a hilarious register that situates us in the barely represented stories of those who left Cuba to pursue the American dream.

—Lázaro González

Films in this Screening

Now!

Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, Cuba, 2016

FILM DETAILS

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Color
Digital
5 mins

source

ikaik films

Casa de la noche

Marcel Beltrán, Cuba, 2016

FILM DETAILS

Language

Spanish
with English subtitles

Print Info

Color
DCP
13 mins

source

Mediocielo Films

Tundra

José Luis Aparicio, Cuba, 2021

FILM DETAILS

Language

Spanish
with English subtitles

Print Info

Color
DCP
30 mins

source

Estudio ST

Persona

Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, Cuba, 2019

FILM DETAILS

Language

Spanish
with English subtitles

Print Info

Color
Digital
27 mins

source

ikaik films

Hapi Berdey Yusimi in Yur Dey

Ana A. Alpizar, United States, 2021

FILM DETAILS

Language

Spanish and English
with English subtitles

Print Info

Color
Digital
13 mins

source

FILA20 Films

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