Introduction

Abstract

Introduction Aisha Z. Cort (bio) The articles and interviews of this Close-Up interrogate the numerous dimensions of Contemporary Cuban cinema. The pieces included endeavor to explore the use of film not only as a narrative mode for the official voice of the Cuban nation but also a narrative tool for counterhistories. The authors of the investigations that follow have centered their projects around an exploration of major sociohistoric and sociopolitical developments in the revolution and their intersection with themes of identity politics, counternarratives, and techniques of film production. The cultural currency of film in Cuban revolutionary society has provided for a uniquely crafted and skilled film culture in Cuba. It is rich in not only nuance, but also inventiveness and interpretational innovation. Nationalized in 1959 with the formation of Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos, commonly referred to as ICAIC, through over sixty years of the revolution, Cuba's film industry has long held a privileged position within Cuban and also global society, serving as an informal measuring stick for the nation's progress. The early years of the revolution produced seminal films from directors such as Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Humberto Solás, and Julio García Espinosa who inserted themes of race, class, and gender into the revolutionary dialogue. Alternative voices such as Nicolás Guillén Landrián, Sergio Giral, and Sara Gómez served as a warning to those who would posit in their works serious questions regarding the incongruities that existed between the tenets of the Cuban Revolution and artistic and racial dialogue and expression. Contemporary directors such as Gloria Rolando, Eric Corvalán Pelle, Miguel Coyula, and Damián Sainz utilize a variety of genres, embrace new filmic techniques and resources such as international partnerships to develop and distribute their films globally and also to more freely interrogate the themes in their films that might have been considered controversial and antirevolutionary within contemporary Cuban society, which, coupled with various [End Page 174] instances of sociohistorical and political change in Cuba, has furthered the evolution of Cuban cinema in more recent years. Within the context of debates around the relationship between art and revolution, it is critical to examine Fidel Castro's 1961 meeting with intellectuals, during which he launched a phrase that defined Cuban cultural policy for years to come, "Dentro de la Revolución todo; contra la Revolución nada" (Within the Revolution everything, against the Revolution, nothing). "Palabras a los Intelectuales" (Words to the Intellectuals) (as they have been known from then on) was an intervention delivered at the conclusion of three days of meetings whose goal was to discuss and define the boundaries of artistic creation within the Cuban Revolution. They were inspired by the tensions between two artistic organizations of the early years of the Cuban Revolution, Lunes de Revolución and the ICAIC.1 In this speech Castro not only laid the groundwork for the cultural aesthetics of the revolution, but also set the precedent for future conflicts, which would inevitably arise between the tenets of the Cuban Revolution and Cuban artistic expression. The tensions between Lunes de Revolución and the ICAIC originated largely from the censoring of the 1961 film P.M. and, on a smaller scale, from debates over which organization should be entrusted with disseminating cinematographic criticism. P.M. was a short film directed by Saba Cabrera Infante (brother of Lunes de Revolución's editor, Guillermo Cabrera Infante) and Orlando Jiménez-Leal. In this film, the directors portrayed Havana's nightlife from the point of view of the city's Afro-Cuban population.2 ICAIC, the official organization of Cuban film workers, supported the revolutionary government's decision to ban the film, while Lunes de Revolución did not. The positioning of these two groups on opposite sides of the fence with regards to the issue of artistic censorship helped to transform Lunes de Revolución, previously an ally of the revolution, into an enemy. Pitted against each other in this manner, the tensions between ICAIC and Lunes de Revolución brought to a head the previously veiled issue of the limits of artistic expression within the Cuban Revolution...