Festival de cine INSTAR

Introductory note to the dossier on Cuban cinema

For more than twenty years, Cuban cinema has been experiencing mutations (in its means of production, expressive dialects, themes, and styles). The total loss of the political and cultural autonomy of the Cuban film institute (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos – ICAIC), the worsening of the economic crisis, growing censorship, and the massive and historic exodus that has occurred over the last half-decade have undermined both the creation and the dissemination of works originating in this environment. At the same time, filmmakers have sought ways to reinvent themselves as creators and civic agents. This has given rise to questions such as: What categories best define Cuban cinema today? Are dichotomous formulations that analysts and academics have used to define this field of study—institutional cinema vs. independent cinema; national cinema vs. diasporic cinema—still of use? What are the dominant features of current Cuban cinema that could be the basis of a theoretical framework? Does it still make sense to talk about a national cinema? Material Ghost called on working filmmakers and scholars specializing in this topic to share their conceptual vision of the expanded field of Cuban cinema. These are their responses.