Transnational filmmaking and national identity in contemporary Cuban cinema (2000-2020)
Lead Research Organisation:
Brunel University London
Department Name: Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Since 1959, Cuban cinema has been inextricably tied to the Cuban revolution. Yet the historical conditions out of which both the revolution and the Cuban cinema emerged have been transformed in many ways.
The recent social changes in Cuban society have made a significant impact on a new generation of Cuban filmmakers. They have benefited from a new context, characterized by greater access to new technologies, the emergence on the island of new independent production companies and a new political and social landscape. Within the film ecosystem, we have witnessed to some extent the decline of the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), once a producer of films of great importance such as Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968) and Lucia (1968) that were part of a wider impulse
of continental movements in relation to film culture. By contrast, Cuba is trying to insert itself in the dynamics of a globalized world. This new situation adds layers of complexity to the Cuban cultural system. Where once filmmakers only had to negotiate the representation of reality with Cuban political and cultural elites and audiences on the island, according to a socialist model of creation, they are now more directly engaged with entities and audiences in another countries. This new system of relations, in which the state continues to play a fundamental role, brings into play, firstly, issues of national identity and the idea of national cinema, and secondly, the role that Cuba would come to play in a world of great interdependencies and interconnections.
The recent social changes in Cuban society have made a significant impact on a new generation of Cuban filmmakers. They have benefited from a new context, characterized by greater access to new technologies, the emergence on the island of new independent production companies and a new political and social landscape. Within the film ecosystem, we have witnessed to some extent the decline of the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), once a producer of films of great importance such as Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968) and Lucia (1968) that were part of a wider impulse
of continental movements in relation to film culture. By contrast, Cuba is trying to insert itself in the dynamics of a globalized world. This new situation adds layers of complexity to the Cuban cultural system. Where once filmmakers only had to negotiate the representation of reality with Cuban political and cultural elites and audiences on the island, according to a socialist model of creation, they are now more directly engaged with entities and audiences in another countries. This new system of relations, in which the state continues to play a fundamental role, brings into play, firstly, issues of national identity and the idea of national cinema, and secondly, the role that Cuba would come to play in a world of great interdependencies and interconnections.
