From revolutionary Havana to dystopian Havana. Representations of the city in Cuban cinema

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53971/2718.658x.v14.n23.41697

Keywords:

city, space, Cuban cinema, Havana, Cuban Revolution

Abstract

This essay analyzes the representation of Havana in Cuban cinema projects economic and social relations of its inhabitants through time. In doing so, I choose films made at three different moments in the post-1959 context. In this way, my analysis enters a direct dialogue with public policies and strategies for the conservation and development of urban space within the revolutionary period. First, I analyze the representation of Havana in Memorias del subdesarrollo (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968), where the city functions as a proxy between the revolution and the leading intellectual during the first years of the regime. Then I go over Buscándote Habana (Alina Rodríguez, 2006), a short documentary that explores the marginalized spaces of the city through the testimony of illegal Cuban migrants. Finally, I analyze a dystopian Havana in the fiction short Tundra (José Luis Aparicio, 2021).

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References

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Lezcano, W. (2022, Agosto 25). “Tundra no es una película para entender Cuba, sino para sentirla', dice el cineasta José Luis Aparicio”. Recuperado de Diario de Cuba: https://diariodecuba.com/cultura/1661436710_41788.html

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Pérez, Á. (2021, Octubre 17). “Tundra’, arriesgado cortometraje del cubano José Luis Aparicio, tendrá su estreno mundial en Río de Janeiro”. Recuperado de Rialta: https://rialta.org/tundra-arriesgado-cortometraje-del-cubano-jose-luis-aparicio-tendra-su-estreno-mundial-en-rio-de-janeiro/

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Published

2023-07-08

How to Cite

From revolutionary Havana to dystopian Havana. Representations of the city in Cuban cinema. (2023). Recial, 14(23), 131-146. https://doi.org/10.53971/2718.658x.v14.n23.41697

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