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After the great figures of the Latin American continent, the Colombian cinema of "Caliwood" or the women of cinema in Chile last year, Cinélatino, the biggest European festival exclusively devoted to the cinematographies of Latin America, chose to zoom in on the Caribbean. If new cinematographies emerge, in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and elsewhere, Cuba remains a locomotive. Moreover the Cuban delegation in Toulouse, by far the most provided, is representative of several generations of directors and producers, witnesses of the wealth - in spite of the economic difficulties and the political constraints - of the Cuban cinema.
special envoy to Toulouse,
Cuba has been a land of cinema for a long time, as we know from the work of the French historian Emmanuel Vincenot, who has been very interested in cinema before the revolution and the revolutionary era. And the new Cuban leaders, Fidel Castro in the lead, fully aware of the role of the image in popular education and culture and the importance of the narrative of the "new Cuba", were committed to organizing the film production. The Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry, Icaic, will be the first cultural institution founded after the revolution in March 1959.
Money, the nerve of war
The Icaic has just celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in a very gloomy climate, explains Magali Kabous, specialist in Cuban cinema at the University of Lyon 2, invited by the festival. Icaic, which has been an example for all so-called "Southern" countries in the film industry, feels a bit like the Titanic, a magnificent ship in distress.
Money is one of the nerves of the war and is currently sorely lacking. Making movies is expensive, where to find the money if not in co-productions? Work with someone else's money at the risk of losing your soul, your inventiveness? What was the specificity of Cuban cinema will it disappear?
Beyond the economic difficulties of the moment and the constrained political framework, there remains a know-how, an undeniable technical and artistic mastery that institutions of Cuban formations, like the international school of San Antonio de los Baños for example, provide. Generations of film professionals, Cuban and also foreign and even North American, have been trained in this famous school, originally called the School of the Three Worlds of Cinema . His godfathers were none other than Argentina's Fernando Birri or Brazil's Orlando Senna. And among the young filmmakers who have passed through its walls, there are Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada, established in the Dominican Republic and whose film Miriam Miente is competing in Toulouse in the category feature films.
The obligation to co-produce
Another prestigious institution is the Higher Institute of Arts in Cuba, where young independent producer Claudia Calviño, guest of honor at the Cinélatino festival, was educated. A university whose magnificent architecture can be admired in the film Sergio y Serguei which has just been released on the screens in France. With her independent production company, Quinta Avenida , founded in 2004, Claudia Calviño is the happy co-producer of films presented in the selection of Cinélatino as Yuli will be released in France in a few months (after going to San Sebastián ), Candelaria or still the troublemaker Juan de los muertos . She explains the difficulty of their work as a production company: lack of legal framework due to the restrictions imposed on private property, their company can not be considered as a company, they work as a "creative group". No bank account, no possibility to sign contracts, etc. But the new Constitution, passed last February, may move the lines, says Claudia Calviño.
The money to produce the films, it comes from international funds, grants and other subsidies and of course co-productions. With Spain for Yuli, directed by Iciair Bollain, Switzerland for the film Insoumise , by Fernando Perez, with Sylvie Testud in the role of a woman prevented from practicing medicine that disguises herself as a man, or even France director Olivier Assayas is shooting in Havana with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz . A film that makes the happiness of the local press people.
All authorizations of filming in Cuba are issued by the Ministry of the Interior explains us still Claudia Calviño. And then ICAIC, the Institute of Cinema, is watching hard. A few years ago, at the time of the filming in Havana of episode 8 of the famous Fast and Furious saga, the Cubans believed that their island would become again the eldorado of international filming in the tropics. Las ... The dream has fizzled according to Claudia Calviño.
The freedom of your Cuban films, how far ?
The freedom of tone, the humor and the irony that can be perceived in Cuban films coming out in Europe, sometimes astonish. It is because the Cuban regime intends to make film production its showcase; it is the positive side of the coin: in Cuba, the criticism can be heard.
Magali Kabous takes the example of Juan de los Muertos , produced by Claudia Calviño, " a film saved because it's a comedy, " despite its provocative and allegorical rhetoric. Although iconic, the film - it takes place during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the revolution and Havana is invaded by zombies - was broadcast in Cuba, although he did not have much official support. By letting a number of critical films pass, the regime is adorned with virtue, Magali Kabous and Claudia Calviño explain to us. There are several levels of criticism, for the directors to know how far they can go to avoid censorship.
" Censorship is never: it's right, it's not allowed. .. ", according to Magali Kabous. It all depends on who says it (the notoriety of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, author of Strawberry and chocolate with Juan Carlos Tabio, for example, protected him), the tone with which the critics are formulated (and the humor is preferable to the frontal charge ) and the political timing of the film's release.
New generations that grow
The new generations push, create, want to move the straitjacket. They are more connected, traveling more than their elders. A welcome turbulence, but that makes the work of researchers more complicated, because the production is multifaceted and more difficult to embrace, says Magali Kabous who works precisely on this body of film. You can discover their creations, especially in the Muestra de Cine Joven , a festival held in April to discover the work of young directors, including short and medium-length films. A complementary festival of the traditional international festival of Havana that takes place in December. There are many talents in Cuba but filmmakers do not have the space and freedom they need, insists Claudia Calviño, who is campaigning for recognition of independent cinema.
In spite of the financial and political constraints, the Cuban cinema manages to exist, the programming of Cinélatino is the proof. Neither superhero nor zombie, between Batman and Romero, he invented himself day by day with the means of the edge.