CLOSING NIGHT FILM

SANTA & ANDRÉS

Cuba, 2016 | 105 mins
Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Carlos Lechuga

Sunday, Sept 3
6:30 PM | Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | SFU Woodward’s
*One screening only

Followed by the Closing Night Party at The World Art Centre with live music by Breaking Boundaries.

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Santa, a peasant woman loyal to the Revolution, is sent to guard Andrés, a gay writer who is under house arrest, considered “untrustworthy” for his ideas and sexuality by the Cuban authorities. Set in a small village in eastern Cuba during the early 1980s, this poignant political drama depicts an encounter between two deeply thoughtful souls on opposite sides of a profound cultural divide. Both have experienced deep loss, and both know the damaging effects of isolation and oppression. Even so, the cavernous ideological divide separating them — the same one that has separated Cuban friends and kin for over 50 years — has until now seemed insurmountable.

Polemic and censorship.

 At the Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana in December of 2016, the film was removed completely and banned by the Cuban Film Institute. As quoted from a public letter by Roberto Smith, director of the Institute: “Santa y Andrés presents an image of the Revolution that reduces it to an expression of intolerance and violence against culture, makes irresponsible use of our patriotic symbols, and unacceptable references to comrade Fidel.” This is not the only time, last March, Santa y Andrés was removed from the Havana Film Festival in New York. The film was pulled from the competition after the Cuban Minister of Culture, pressured the directors of the festival to censor the film.

Santa es una solitaria campesina que es enviada a vigilar a Andrés, un escritor homosexual, que no le inspira “confianza” a la Revolución. La historia transcurre en el oriente de Cuba, a principios de los años 80, y trata de la amistad que surge entre dos personas que, aparentemente son muy distintas, pero que poco a poco se van percatando que las cosas que los unen son más importantes que las que los separan.

La polémica y censura: 

Pocos días antes del inicio del pasado Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, en La Habana, el Ministerio de Cultura cubano, solicitó a los directivos del Festival retirar la cinta de la programación. De acuerdo a un comunicado del director del Instituto Cubano del Cine, Roberto Smith, la razón fue la siguiente: ”la disposición sobre la película es una cuestión de principios. Independientemente de sus resultados artísticos y de las posibles intenciones de sus creadores, el filme presenta una imagen de la Revolución que la reduce a una expresión de intolerancia y violencia contra la cultura; hace un uso irresponsable de nuestros símbolos patrios y referencias inaceptables al compañero Fidel”, y concluyó, ”justamente, es por Fidel”. Y no solo fue el Festival Habanero, el Ministerio de Cultura cubano, presionó al Havana Film Festival in New York para que no se presentara la cinta en competencia, y lo logró.  

ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Producers: Claudia Calvino, Carlos Lechuga
Writer: Carlos Lechuga
Cinematographer: Javier Labrador
Editor: Joanna Montero
Cast: Lola Amores, Eduardo Martínez, George Abreu, Luna Tinoco, Cesar Domínguez

Carlos Lechuga (Havana, Cuba, 1983) studied directing at Cuba’s Fine Arts Institute and scriptwriting at the International Film and TV School (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños. After directing several short films he made his feature debut Melaza (2012). His second feature, Santa & Andres (2016) won Best Iberoamerican Film at the Guadalajara Film Festival.

 

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