Country: Cuba

Jibaro

Yamíl Alessander is a young transgender man who lives in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Cuba. Victim of discrimination and non-acceptance, he makes the decision to go deep into the forest and survive in a hostile environment. The grave of trees to make charcoal and agricultural work, in the midst of solitude, sustains a stoic resilience in defense of her gender choice from the same place where it is argued, by the Cuban government, that the fight for social justice began at the end of the 50s by the Rebel Army.

Osmanys Sánchez Arañó

Graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte: Bachelor of Arts in Audiovisual Media Arts with a profile in Photography. From 2006 to 2016 he is part of the Telecentro Palma TV in Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba, working as a television cameraman. He has given workshops, lectures and seminars on photography for Colombian children and adolescents organized by the Sintradistrital Union of professionals and the State University of Colombia. Winner of the short film contests for a life free of violence against women and girls in Cuba and For equality, non-discrimination and the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community, organized by the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry.

Inside San Isidro

In November 2020, the rapper Denis Solís was kidnapped by the National Revolutionary Cuban Police. After a summary trial, he was sentenced to eight months in prison for the alleged crime of contempt. In response to this arbitrariness, a group of activists barracked in Havana in a house that served as the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement, an independent cultural organization to which the musician belonged. From there they began a peaceful protest despite the siege of the State Security police.

Katherine Bisquet

Katherine Bisquet (Ciudad Nuclear, Cuba, 1992). Writer, documentary filmmaker and activist. B.A. in Spanish from the University of Havana. She has published the poetry books “Algo aquí se descompone” (Colección Sur Editores, Havana, 2014) and “Uranio empobrecido!” (Rialta Ediciones, Querétaro, Mexico, 2021). She has also directed the film “En San Isidro” (Inside San Isidro, short documentary, CCC Collective, 2023). Co-creator of Rialta Magazine’s column Cuban Cinema in Quarantine (CCC, 2020-2022), an initiative aimed at the research, preservation, and promotion of Cuban cinema. She was a resident at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, 2021/2022, Berlin, DE. Winner of the 2022 Ciudad de Alcalá Poetry Prize, Spain, with the poetry book “Esquizopatria”. Selected for one of the scholarships of the Florida International University program for threatened Cuban scholars in the humanities to carry out the literary project “La blanca memoria”. She currently resides in Madrid after being exiled from her country by the Cuban State Security.

Souvenir

A melancholic cry denouncing poverty and repression in Cuba against those who justify the failures of the regime.

Teteo

Marla, a reggaeton dancer from Cuba, suffers from body dysmorphia, a demon she lives with and that prevents her from doing what she loves the most, dancing. On a night out with her friends, the demon appears many times: it makes her feel uncomfortable in her own skin and makes her aware of other people’s gaze. However, this time she has decided not to give up and confront her own reflection.

Future

Daniel and Adrian are two friends who like to frequent a place in ruins located on the Havana seafront. As Daniel is about to leave the country, they decide to spend one last time together in this place.

Angel Suárez Avila

Angel Suarez (1990) is a Cuban filmmaker and editor. He graduated from the International Film and TV School of Cuba (EICTV), specializing in Montage. He has collaborated as an editor in films that have been selected in important film festivals such as Jihlava, Vancouver, Doxa, among others. His short film Twilight Dream co-directed with Amanda Cots was part of the TRANSFOCO section of the 12 Lanzarote Film Festival.