Gómez was one of the most inventive filmmakers of postrevolutionary Cuban cinema. Through their intimate engagement with documentary subjects, her films look at the complexities of the Caribbean island’s social, political, and economic transformation. Her focus on social class, gender, and racial inequity within the socialist society challenged the political discourses of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Gómez died at the age of thirty-one, leaving behind one feature film (One Way or Another) and nineteen documentaries, which became a source of inspiration for future generations of independent Cuban filmmakers. As the film scholar Susan Lord acknowledged, “It is indeed worth underscoring the impact of her short life, not just on those who knew her but also on the formation of the ICAIC [Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos]; on ethnographic and autoethnographic filmmaking practice; on political discourses of race, gender, and revolution; and on that which could be represented.” The pieces selected for this program were recently restored by the Vulnerable Media Lab at Queen’s University, Canada, and by L’immagine Ritrovata, Italy. They are illustrative of Gómez’s ethical representation of subaltern subjects. 

— Lázaro González

With thanks to Luciano Castillo, Cinemateca, Cuba; ICAIC, Cuba; Vulnerable Media Lab, Queen’s University; Department of Film & Media, UC Berkeley.