Films from the Cuba Media Project of the Americas Media Initiative

Directed by Various

The Cuba Media Project of the Americans Media Initiative provides an opportunity for audiences in the United States to have access to the work of independent Cuban filmmakers. These films have been made outside the traditional channels of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) or Cuban TV. As such, these films directly address the everyday concerns of Cubans today; the films present a critical perspective that challenges stereotypes around censorship and freedom of expression in Cuba.

Icarus Films is proud to be the exclusive distributor of the Cuba Media Project's growing collection of contemporary documentaries and short films from Cuba.


Alabba

An exploration of the fascinating history of Santeria.

A Bridge Over the River 

Profiles Lency, a man who lives in Cuba's central mountains who has a creative solution to all of life's daily problems there.

Codigo Color, Memorias 

An exploration of racism and skin color in Cuba during the 1950s.

Cuban Animations from the Young Directors Film Festival

Eight animated shorts from the most important showcase for young cinematic talent in Cuba.

December Days

Shows how the Cuban military mission to Angola—a massive solidarity effort from a small country—touched the lives of ordinary Cubans.

Elena

Follows several residents in the "Elena" building, located in Central Havana, over a three-year period. 

Freddy Ilanga: Che's Swahili Translator

A documentary about Freddy Ilanga, an African man whose life was abruptly transformed through a chance encounter with Che Guevara.

The Infinite Island

In this doc-fiction hybrid, a peasant journeys through the Sierra Maestra to buy a new mule.

Major Leagues?

Profiles members of the Cuban National women's baseball team, who pursue their passion in a soceity filled with machismo and prejudice.

New Comedy Shorts from Cuba

This DVD collects two recent comedy shorts from Cuba.

Rethinking Cuban Civil Society: Something Deeper than the Truth 

Unveils the complexities of a Cuban society frequently misrepresented by the media.

The Singular Story of Unlucky Juan 

A documentary that shows how the economy affects the daily lives of ordinary Cuban citizens – and how badly it squeezes those who don’t have access to hard currency.

Tierralismo

A beautiful film about the Alamar "organiponico" (organic cooperative farm) located outside of Havana.

Zone of Silence 

Five Cuban intellectuals discuss censorship as a historical, political and social phenomenon.

"It isn't often that Cuban filmmakers get the opportunity to showcase their work in the United States. The Americas Media Initiative provides one of these rare opportunities. Cuba-not the diplomatic juggernaut familiar to US audiences, but rather its landscape and people-come to life in this collection: its landscape in the form of a silent man and his mule's forlorn crossing of the Sierra Maestra (The Infinite Island); its sports and gender issues (Major Leagues?) its politics in the voices of artists, authors and musicians (Zone of Silence); its Afro-Caribbean religious practices (ALAbba).


These films introduce the viewers to compelling and profound characters, emblematic of life in Cuba when the iconoclasm fades back and allows daily life to run its course. We thus meet Lency, a rural Cuban McGyver whose ingenuity knows no limits (A Bridge Over the River), and Freddy Ilanga, a retired neurosurgeon born and raised in Africa, and brought to Cuba after serving as Che's Swahili translator in the era of Cuban support for Congolese rebels (Freddy Llanga: Che's Swahili Translator). Freddy's story, as well as those of Russian and Eastern European women spirited from the Soviet Union to Cuba by their love for visiting Cuban students (They Would All be Queens), showcase the particular 'intermestizaje' brought about by Cuba's unique political trajectory in the twentieth century."

—Julia Sweig, Nelson & David Rockefeller Senior Fellow and Director, Latin America Studies and Global Brazil Initiative Council on Foreign Relations

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An exploration of the fascinating history of Santeria.

Eliezer Perez Angueira | 2013 | 40 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

Profiles Lency, a man who lives in Cuba's central mountains who has a creative solution to all of life's daily problems there.

Rigoberto Jimenez | 2013 | 30 minutes | Color | English; Spanish

An exploration of racism and skin color in Cuba during the 1950s.

William Sabourin O'Reilly | 2016 | 30 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

Eight animated shorts from the most important showcase for young cinematic talent in Cuba

2013 | 35 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

Between 1975 and 1991, Cuba sent more than 400,000 soldiers and civilians to Angola to support of the country's left-wing government. Two thousand of them never returned.

Carla Valdes Leon | 2017 | 45 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

Follows several residents in the "Elena" building, located in Central Havana, over a three-year period.

Marcelo Martin | 2014 | 43 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles

A documentary about Freddy Ilanga, an African man whose life was abruptly transformed through a chance encounter with Che Guevara.

Katrin Hansing | 2013 | 24 minutes | Color | English; French; Spanish | English subtitles

In this doc-fiction hybrid, a peasant journeys through the Sierra Maestra to buy a new mule.

Rigoberto Jimenez | 2013 | 36 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

The Cuban band leader Frank "Machito" Grillo.

Carlos Ortiz | 1987 | 58 minutes | Color

Profiles members of the Cuban National women's baseball team, who pursue their passion in a soceity filled with machismo and prejudice.

Ernesto Perez Zambrano | 2013 | 27 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

This DVD collects two recent comedy shorts from Cuba.

2013 | 44 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles

Unveils the complexities of a Cuban society frequently misrepresented by the media.

María Isabel Alfonso, Ph.D. | 2019 | 37 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles

A comprehensive, accessible examination of the particularities of the Cuban economy.

Ricardo Figueredo Oliva | 2018 | 52 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles

An intimate portrait by Camila Guzmán Urzúa about growing up in Cuba during the "golden years" of the Cuban Revolution.

Camila Guzmán Urzúa | 2007 | 80 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles

An in-depth portrait of a Cuban agricultural collective that has drawn international acclaim for its sustainable practices.

Alejandro Ramirez Anderson | 2014 | 49 minutes | Color | Spanish | English subtitles

Five Cuban intellectuals discuss censorship as a historical, political and social phenomenon.

Karel Ducasse | 2013 | 40 minutes | Color | English; Spanish | English subtitles