or how to explain the revolution to children Cuban cinema

In 1959 the ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográfica) was founded to support the revolution, as a propaganda instrument of the government. At first production was limited to show the political and economic situation on the island. After the economic embargo (“El bloqueo”) was imposed on Cuba by the United States in 1961, filmmakers began to work on a more introspective look, to show the people of a new socialist country. At this year’s edition of the Festival de Lima a special programme is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the ICAIC, which includes films of the most important directors, like Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Juan Carlos Tabio, Humberto Solás and Juan Padrón.

Cuban animated vampires

When we talk about Juan Padrón, we also speak about Elipio Valdez, the mythical animation character he invented for Cuban youth. Padrón created a special character who explained the revolution to children. Elipio was the protagonist of the first animation film to be made in Cuba. In 1985 ¡Vampiros en La Habana! became a box office hit on the island and started a long journey through the world, changing the animation tradition with its cocktail of music, animation and history. The film became a reference point for students at film schools and universities throughout the Americas. “In full moon night / mix with great precision two ounces of mint / and a chameleon egg.” This is the recipe to create “Vampisol”, the magic potion from the film that lives on in the collective imagination of a generation. 18 years after the completion of Vampiros en La Havana, in 2003, Juan Padrón finished the second part of this film in Más vampiros en La Habana, a co-production between Cuba (ICAIC) and Spain. This is another one of the films in the programme celebrating 50 years of the ICAIC.

De La Habana a Guantanamera

Titón, de La Habana a Guantanamera is a documentary directed by Cuban actress Mirta Ibarra. It tells the story of one of the fundamental and founding directors of post-revolutionary Cuban cinema, Tomás Gutierrez Alea - her husband. The film premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival last year and before coming to Lima it was also shown at the Chicago Latino Film Festival. Gutiérrez Alea is another ICAIC founder. In the sixties and seventies he also belonged to what is now known as the “Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano” movement, which tried to find other ways to express oneself than those known from Hollywood films and European auteur cinema. It offered a vision of social and political change, considering films to be a tool for the construction of a “new man” (“hombre nuevo”). Gutiérrez Alea is remembered for co-directing Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresa y chocolate, 1994) with Juan Carlos Tabio. Films of both directors are present in the Cuban retrospective. La última cena (Gutiérrez Alea) and Plaf o demasiado miedo a la vida (Tabio) are unforgettable films, and an invitation to reflection and dialogue about our past and future through different eyes.

Claudio Sánchez