Cuba between East and West in the programme section Focus

The diplomatic and economic ice age in Cuba has come to an end, change is under way. How do Cuban and foreign filmmakers reflect the status quo of the Cuban society? Can parallels be drawn to the transitions that many Central and Eastern European countries underwent in the 1990s? Cinematic links, current topics and motifs are in focus at the FilmFestival Cottbus from November 8 to 13, 2016. The programme sectiion features 19 short, medium length and long contributions by international and Cuban filmmakers.

 An adolescence in the streets of Havanna in the 1990s is at issue in EL REY DE LA HABANA/THE KING OF HAVANNA, whereas viewers of RETOUR À ITAQUE/RETURN TO ITHACA experience the evening of Amadeo's return into his circle of friends after 16 years of exile.

Feature films and documenations by young talents and experienced directors will be contrasted by two GDR-produced films, including the film CARLOS by Humberto López y Guerra. Like numerous of his colleagues, López y Guerra learned his craft at an Eastern European film school, the former Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen "Konrad Wolf" in Potsdam-Babelsberg. The short film programme Cuba in Shorts reveals surprising insights by young directors into the reality of Cuba today. 

The film festival will screen the film HAVANNA MI AMOR, winner of the German Film Award  ‘Lola’ in 2001, on November 9, in cooperation with the Menschenrechtszentrum Cottbus e. V.  (Centre for Human Rights Cottbus). The film’s director Uli Gaulke will be present. 

Curators of the programme section Focus are the film journalist Wolfgang Martin Hamdorf and the film maker Daniel Abma, whose documentary about gender reassignments in Cuba, TRANSIT HAVANA, will alsopresented at the FilmFestival Cottbus on November 11, 2016.

The Focus Cuba series is supported by the German Federal Centre for Political Education (bpb). A selection of films from the series, augmented by work material, will be made available for streaming on the bpb’s web portal.