On Location in Cuba: Street Filmmaking during Times of Transition

Epilogue: Reflections on Cuba, Filmmaking, and the Times Ahead

Every day I’m more convinced that the existence of a film industry in Cuba is a miracle. —Esteban Insausti e PI lo g u e Reflections on Cuba, Filmmaking, and the Times Ahead Before taking leave of this generation of Cuban culture workers, it is worth our while to reflect on the island’s audiovisual future. In the preceding pages, we witnessed the transformation of “Cuban cinema”; what is connoted by the category has shifted dramaticallyover the past twenty years. The endeavor of filmmaking, once confined within a concertedly national paradigm—emphasizing autochthonous cultural production designated principally for domestic consumption—is now increasingly propelled by transnational linkages and responsive to global forces. The boundaries of “cinema” have been pushed outward as well. The accessibility and ease of digital media and communications networks have expanded the forms of expressive culture considered under the rubric of “cinema” well beyond 35-millimeter films projected in theaters. 0 Epilogue For Cuba’s culture workers, the past two decades of accelerated change have been both arduous and exhilarating, due to the convergence of an economic crisis, new media technologies, and an entrepreneurial generation of new cineastes. Industry filmmakers once wary of these developments now express hope for the island’s audiovisual future. “It would be great if I could spend the last years of my life watching films by young people and hearing what they have to say, filmmakers whose aspirations are not to have a villa or a castle with a swimming pool,” mused Humberto Solás not long ago. “Fortunately, before I die it seems that I will see the reemergence of the avant-garde.”1 Indeed, it appears that the efforts of filmmakers like those treated herein—as well as many others—have helped revive the island’s fledging film field and transform it into a robust audiovisual terrain. It bears remembering, though, that the future of Cuba’s cinema is not guaranteed. In fact, several pressing problems persist. Cuban filmmakers , producers, and others face a series of challenges at this juncture. Foremost among them is distribution. New audiovisual technologies have increased access to production but have not necessarily expanded distribution channels. Filmmakers the world over struggle to get their films before audiences, and Street Filmmakers are no exception. While they have developed strategies for making films without the industry apparatus, they have yet to figure out how to disseminate them to significant numbers of viewers on and beyond the island. This poses a serious impediment even for experienced auteurs. Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti decided to return to the ICaIC for his next feature after the highly successful Viva Cuba. Despite having devised a new filmmaking mode consistent with the Cuban context—one relying on low budgets, a small team, and modest resources—he remains dependent upon the industry’s distribution network.The key factor motivating Cremata Malberti’s decision to team up with the national film institute on another project was distribution; the ICaIC’s infrastructure would increase the odds of this film reaching a broad audience.This experience and others like it beg the question, To what extent can innovative efforts flourish if the state apparatus is needed to successfully penetrate the international market? A key challenge for Cuba-based artists—and those of virtually every small nation with limited domestic audiences—is that of reaching worldwide consumers. Street Filmmakers have cleared the production hurdle only to 1 Epilogue find that the next one they face, that of distribution, appears even more imposing. This new generation of Cuban filmmakers is connected to global communications networks; they rely extensively on YouTube and other sites for uploading their work and communicate with their counterparts around the world via e-mail, in chat rooms, and over Internet telephone. But newcommunications technologies have not mitigated the problem of distribution. The Internet can proffer access, it’s true. But the widespread nature of this access poses another problem. Because virtually every artist who is connected can upload audiovisual material, visitors to the site encounter a plethora of options. The work by young Cuban artists who have not yet made a name for themselves often goes unnoticed.Given the barrage of material—an amount growing exponentially—it is unlikely that the work of any individual or group will stand out and reach large numbers of viewers. So although Street Filmmakers do take advantage of the Internet, this has not and likely will not...