• Persona

  • Hapi Berdey Yusimi in Yur Dey

  • Tundra

  • Casa de la noche



Cuban Contemporary Short Films I: Dreaming of a Nation



In Conversation

  • Eliecer Jiménez Almeida
  • Nils Longueira Borrego

    Nils Longueira Borrego is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema and Television Arts at California State University, Fullerton. His teaching includes courses in Latin American cinema, Mexican cinema, the Western, documentary cinema, and writing about the moving image.

  • Lázaro González

    Lázaro González is a filmmaker from Cuba, a doctoral candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Film & Media, and the guest curator of Cuban Cinema without Borders.

This first selection of Cuban contemporary short films offers a profound exploration of Cuba’s culture of resistance. Now! revisits Santiago Álvarez’s eponymous piece by shifting the focus from racial struggles in the United States to the state violence against Cuban citizens dissenting in public demonstrations. Continuing Eliecer Jiménez Almeida’s gaze, Persona captures five intimate stories of survival and resistance against a totalitarian regime. From a less realistic perspective, Casa de la noche immerses us in the spirit of Havana, revealing a utopian and melancholic vision amid the city’s degradation. Similarly, Tundra’s dystopic story examines the paralyzing impact of fear and unfulfilled desires in Cuba. Finally, Ana A. Alpizar’s fictional piece offers a hilarious register that situates us in the barely represented stories of those who left Cuba to pursue the American dream. 

—Lázaro González

Films in this Screening

Now!

Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, Cuba, 2016

FILM DETAILS 
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 5 mins
source
  • ikaik films

Casa de la noche

Marcel Beltrán, Cuba, 2016

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Spanish
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • DCP
  • 13 mins
source
  • Mediocielo Films

Tundra

José Luis Aparicio, Cuba, 2021

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Spanish
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • DCP
  • 30 mins
source
  • Estudio ST

Persona

Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, Cuba, 2019

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Spanish
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 27 mins
source
  • ikaik films

Hapi Berdey Yusimi in Yur Dey

Ana A. Alpizar, United States, 2021

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Spanish and English
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 13 mins
source
  • FILA20 Films

Event Accessibility

If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 642-1412 (during open hours) with as much advance notice as possible. More information on accessibility services.