2 months ago
For decade upon decade, galore Cuban exiles person prayed for nan downfall of nan island’s communist government, established successful nan 1959 coup led by “comandante” Fidel Castro. Remarkably, among nan foremost critics of Cuba’s single-party despotic norm is 1 of Castro’s ain daughters, Alina Fernández Revuelta.
Fernández Revuelta escaped Cuba successful 1993 pinch nan assistance of a disguise and forged personality papers. Ever since, she has been a beardown advocator for nan benignant of liberties denied Cuban citizens nether nan reign of her begetter and his successors. The documentary Revolution’s Daughter, which held its world premiere Friday nighttime astatine nan Miami Film Festival, explores nan acquisition of Fernández Revuelta and different emigres who near Cuba down physically but not emotionally.
“We’ve been a bizarre experiment,” Fernández Revuelta said of Cuba during a Q&A aft nan premiere. “We’ve been undergoing 67 years of ‘building nan revolution,’ which is absurd… because ‘revolution’ is simply a short infinitesimal successful history. I deliberation astir what nan French would person done if their gyration lasted 67 years. Nobody successful France would person a head. So we are a phenomenon. We are thing indescribable. We are absurd.”
Revolution’s Daughter is produced and directed by Thaddeus D. Matula and produced by John Martinez O’Felan, Joe Lamy, Allen Gilmer, and Javier Gonzalez. Fernández Revuelta serves arsenic an executive producer.
Introducing nan film, Matula told nan packed assemblage astatine nan Koubek Center, “Alina I had met a number of years agone and erstwhile nan opportunity came on for a documentary to beryllium done astir her, she didn’t want to do it. But she was like, ‘I’ll do it if Thaddeus is doing it. And erstwhile that benignant of a situation aliases ballot of assurance happens, past you had to do it.”
“Of people I asked for you specifically,” Fernández Revuelta told Matula connected stage. “You’re a genius. Everybody knows that.”
The filmmaker said he consulted pinch his protagonist connected nan attraction of nan documentary.
“I listened to Alina. I was like, ‘What do you want this movie to be?’” Matula recalled. “And she said very overmuch precisely what she says successful nan film: ‘It’s not conscionable astir me. It’s not 1 voice, it’s astir each of these voices.’”
Among nan different voices successful nan documentary are chap Cuban emigres, including vocalist Gloria Estefan, writer and creation professional Ricardo Pau-Llosa, artist José Bedia, nan precocious clever clever and creator Margarita Cano, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, and actor-comedian Bonco Quiñongo. Each of them reflects connected nan richness of Cuban civilization and nan mislaid imaginable for nan state arsenic it slid into governmental repression nether nan norm of Fernández Revuelta’s father.
The documentary premieres astatine a pivotal infinitesimal for nan Cuban authorities which is possibly person to falling than astatine immoderate clip since 1959.
“[T]he country’s system is successful free fall, its electrical grid is failing, millions of its citizens person near and nan Cuban authorities is facing disconnected against possibly its astir menacing foe: President Trump,” nan New York Times reported successful February. “Mr. Trump has closed disconnected Cuba’s entree to lipid shipments, helped cripple its captious tourism manufacture and declared that Cuba’s authorities is ‘going down for nan count.’”
A captious improvement came successful early January erstwhile nan Trump management seized Venezuela’s socialist strongman Nicolás Maduro whose authorities had been propping up Cuba pinch vitally needed lipid shipments. With that proviso since trim off, Cuba has entered situation mode, lacking power sources to powerfulness nan electrical grid. (Earlier this month, nan Trump management allowed a Russian lipid tanker to scope Matanzas, Cuba, but its cargo would only support nan state fueled for a fewer weeks astatine best).
Fernández Revuelta offered praise for a personnel of Trump’s furniture – Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, whose parents were calved successful Cuba and immigrated to nan U.S. a fewer years earlier nan Castro-led revolution.
“It’s nan first clip that personification successful an management really pays attraction to what’s going connected successful Cuba. I deliberation we beryllium that to Marco Rubio, obviously,” Fernández Revuelta commented. “It’s a bizarre opportunity and nan business successful Cuba is much exposed correct now because we person internet, we person telephone; we salary for that from present [in nan U.S.], of course, but what’s going connected successful Cuba is good known. It’s intolerable to hide. So, a batch of group are much conscious of what’s going connected there, and we request to support praying nan message.”
Revolution’s Daughter will surface again astatine nan Miami Film Festival adjacent Saturday, April 18 and from location will play astatine different movie festivals successful nan U.S. and astir nan world. Producer/executive shaper Allen Gilmer revealed he’s astatine activity connected a fictionalized telling of Fernández Revuelta’s communicative and astatine nan Q&A he introduced 2 actresses who will play Castro’s girl successful nan upcoming film.
“We person a biopic and past I thought that nan documentary touch was 1 successful which we really sewage nan heartfelt communicative of what Cuba really meant, alternatively than conscionable a communicative of a personification that was leaving, that near Cuba,” Gilmer explained. “And there’s nary much of an American communicative than nan Cuban diaspora successful nan United States. If you were to return conscionable nan GDP that it created and nan creator achievements and each nan arts and put them backmost into Cuba, Cuba would beryllium nan astir successful state successful Latin America, not only Latin America, astir apt each of America astatine this point.”
