New York/The documentary #SOSCUBAdirected by Cuban-American filmmaker Hugo Pérez, will have a second screening at the DOC NYC festival, one of the main gatherings dedicated to documentary film in the United States. The presentation will be followed by a conversation with the director and the Cuban artist and activist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, one of the protagonists of the film.
The 94-minute feature film reconstructs the experience of a group of Cuban artists who decided to organize an independent biennial outside of the State’s cultural institutions. That initiative, conceived as a space for creative freedom, ended up facing censorship, surveillance and repression by the authorities.
Through testimonies, archival images and a contextualization of the political and cultural events of the Island, #SOSCUBA examines how artistic creation became a form of civic resistance. The documentary addresses the personal consequences of challenging the state monopoly on culture and the difficulties of exercising freedom of expression in Cuba.
The film refers to the experience of the 00 Biennial, organized in 2018 as an alternative to the Havana Biennial, and the emergence of a generation of creators who claimed their autonomy from power. In this context, the figure of Otero Alcántara, founder of the San Isidro Movement and one of the best-known faces of Cuban artistic and citizen protest, stands out.
The play participates in the US competitive section of DOC NYC and is produced by AJ Leon, Melissa Leon, Jessie White and Ramfis Myrthil. The photography is by Anyelo Troya, William Charles Moss and Alejandro Mejía, while Hugo Pérez also creates the editing.
After its world premiere, the documentary will have this new in-person screening and can also be seen within the festival’s virtual programming, available from November 14 to 29. The film is presented in Spanish and English.
