Cada evento cultural organizado por las instituciones cubanas es también un acto de censura y el recién concluido Festival Internacional de Cine de La Habana no ignoró ese hábito. Paralelo a él, el grupo teatral “El Ciervo Encantado”, de manera independiente, decidió mostrar cuatro audiovisuales que hubieran podido participar bien en cualquier Festival, pero por oscuras razones quedaron fuera de éste.
Los dos últimos cortometrajes de Eduardo del Llano, por ejemplo, correspondientes al año 2017 y 2018 de la famosa serie de Nicanor O’Donnell, no fueron rechazados directamente del programa del Festival, pero los “degradaron” a la sección no competitiva. Esto, considera el autor, es una manera sutil de censura, ya que le impediría premio y promoción y además no reconoce a un director que ha ganado tres corales. Del Llano, por tanto, decidió retirar sus obras del evento.
Como de costumbre, tendremos que acudir a Internet o al Paquete Semanal, entonces, para ver “Dominó”, el relato de Nicanor de 2017, que discute en clave de humor el tema del dominio de Cuba y la libertad de prensa dentro de la Revolución y “Rállame la zanahoria”, de 2018, que evocando el cine negro, delata una ética oscura en el mundo del arte. Ambos narrados con la acostumbrada pericia del autor y protagonizados por Luís Alberto García.
Pero si las piezas de Eduardo del Llano aún pudieran ser admitidas aunque sea en una sala pequeña y oscura del ICAIC, a la siguiente pareja de documentales exhibidos en “El Ciervo..” no podremos acceder, probablemente, ni por el Paquete.
“La teoría cubana de la sociedad perfecta”, de Ricardo Figueredo, repasa con preocupación las prohibiciones que moldean nuestra vida en Cuba: desde la censura política, hasta a los juegos de azar como la bolita, desde la parametrización hasta la persecución de la marihuana.
“La teoría…” recorre los vetos que padecemos y sugiere que por tanta negación acumulada el país se ha vaciado de futuro. Se trata de un documental necesario, tanto para recuperar la historia como para ayudar a comunicarnos. Todavía no ha sido “lanzado a la calle”.
Tampoco ha sido “soltado” aún para Internet el documental “Pablo Milanés”, que dará de qué hablar, pues trata de los primeros años de la vida artística del cantante, cuando las esperanzas, sueños y proyectos de creación chocaron de pronto con el muro de la realidad represiva.
Sabemos con vaguedad que a finales de los 60’s Pablo Milanés fue recluido en las llamadas “Unidades Militares de Apoyo a la Producción” (UMAP) adonde iban a parar religiosos, homosexuales, seres extravagantes y también gente crítica con la Revolución. En este documental el músico cuenta por fin su experiencia: fue internado en un campo de trabajo forzado debido a sus opiniones políticas – que incluso emitía como revolucionario -.
“Fui elegido para mandarme a un campo de concentración y fue brutal para un muchacho de 23 años”, dice Pablo, que no se mide al hablar. Lo engañaron diciéndole que ingresaría en el Servicio Militar para llevarlo allí, donde incluso llegó a padecer el síndrome de Estocolmo (afección que, pensamos, cargó quizás también consigo cuando salió de la UMAP).
Con suficiencia, el director Juan Pin Vilar maneja el relato, consiguiendo tanta intensidad en la primera etapa dedicada a la búsqueda artística, como en la parte del castigo. Queda el deseo, sin embargo, de saber más de la verdadera historia política y humana detrás del lirismo de canciones idealizadoras de Pablo Milanés. Queda el deseo de escuchar más sobre las UMAP, incluso. Pero eso ya constituiría otra obra que sólo podemos aspirar a que se escriba más.
NOTE: The UMAP camps served as a form of alternative civilian service for Cubans who could not serve in the military due to being, conscientious objectors, Christians and other religious people, homosexuals, or political enemies of Fidel Castro or his communist revolution.
The majority of UMAP servicemen were conscientious objectors. A small portion or about 8% to 9% of the inmates were homosexual men, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Catholic priests and Protestant ministers, intellectuals, farmers who resisted collectivization, as well as anyone else considered “anti-social” or “counter-revolutionary”.
Former Intelligence Directorate agent Norberto Fuentes estimated that of approximately 35,000 internees, 507 ended up in psychiatric wards, 72 died from torture, and 180 committed suicide. A 1967 human rights report from the Organization of American States found that over 30,000 internees are “forced to work for free in state farms from 10 to 12 hours a day, from sunrise to sunset, seven days per week, poor alimentation with rice and spoiled food, unhealthy water, unclean plates, congested barracks, no electricity, latrines, no showers, inmates are given the same treatment as political prisoners.” The report concludes that the UMAP camps’ two objectives are “facilitating free labor for the state” and “punishing young people who refuse to join communist organizations.” The Cuban government maintained that the UMAPs are not labor camps, but part of military service.
Each cultural event organized by Cuban institutions is also an act of censorship and the recently concluded International Film Festival of Havana did not ignore that habit. Parallel to him, the theatrical group “El Ciervo Encantado”, independently, decided to show four audiovisuals that could have participated well in any Festival, but for obscure reasons were left out of it.
The last two short films by Eduardo del Llano, for example, corresponding to the year 2017 and 2018 of the famous Nicanor O’Donnell series, were not rejected directly from the Festival program, but they “degraded” the non-competitive section. This, the author considers, is a subtle way of censorship, since it would prevent him from receiving a prize and promotion and also does not recognize a director who has won three choirs. Del Llano, therefore, decided to withdraw his works from the event.
As usual, we will have to go to the Internet or the Weekly Package, then, to see “Dominó”, Nicanor’s story of 2017, which discusses in a humorous way the theme of Cuba’s dominance and freedom of the press within the Revolution and “Ralame el zanahoria”, from 2018, which evokes black cinema, betrays a dark ethic in the art world. Both narrated with the customary expertise of the author and starring Luis Alberto Garcia.
But if the pieces of Eduardo del Llano could still be admitted even in a small dark room of the ICAIC, the next couple of documentaries exhibited in “El Ciervo ..” will probably not be able to be accessed by the Package.
“The Cuban theory of the perfect society”, by Ricardo Figueredo, reviews with concern the prohibitions that shape our life in Cuba: from political censorship, to gambling like the little ball, from the parameterization to the pursuit of marijuana .
“The theory …” goes through the vetoes that we suffer and suggests that because of so much accumulated denial the country has been emptied of the future. It is a necessary documentary, both to recover the story and to help communicate. It has not yet been “thrown into the street”.
The documentary “Pablo Milanes” has not been “released” yet for the Internet, which will be a talking point, since it deals with the early years of the singer’s artistic life, when hopes, dreams and creative projects suddenly clashed with the wall of the repressive reality.
We know vaguely that at the end of the 60’s Pablo Milanés was imprisoned in the so-called “Military Support Units for Production” (UMAP) where religious, homosexuals, extravagant beings and also people critical of the Revolution went. In this documentary the musician finally has his experience: he was interned in a forced labor camp due to his political opinions – which he even issued as revolutionary -.
“I was chosen to send me to a concentration camp and it was brutal for a 23-year-old boy,” says Pablo, who does not measure himself when speaking. They deceived him by saying that he would enter the Military Service to take him there, where he even suffered from the Stockholm syndrome (a condition that, we think, he also took with him when he left the UMAP).
With sufficiency, the director Juan Pin Vilar manages the story, getting so much intensity in the first stage dedicated to the artistic search, as in the punishment part. There remains the desire, however, to know more about the true political and human history behind the lyricism of Pablo Milanés’ idealizing songs. There remains the desire to hear more about the UMAP, even. But that would already constitute another work that we can only aspire to be written more.
NOTE (AV): The UMAP camps served as a form of alternative civilian service for Cubans who could not serve in the military due to being, conscientious objectors, Christians, and other religious people, homosexuals, or political enemies of Fidel Castro or his communist revolution.
The majority of UMAP servicemen were conscientious objectors. A small portion or about 8% to 9% of the inmates were homosexual men, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, Catholic priests and Protestant ministers, intellectuals, farmers who resisted collectivization, as well as anyone else considered “anti-social” or “Counter-revolutionary”
Former Intelligence Directorate agent Norberto Fuentes estimated that of approximately 35,000 internets, 507 ended up in psychiatric wards, 72 died from torture, and 180 committed suicide. A 1967 human rights report from the Organization of American States found that over 30,000 internees are “forced to work for free in state farms from 10 to 12 hours a day, from sunrise to sunset, seven days per week, poor nutrition with rice and spoiled food, unhealthy water, unclean plates, congested barracks, no electricity, latrines, no showers, inmates are given the same treatment as political prisoners. “The report concludes that the UMAP camps’ two objectives are” facilitating free labor for the state ” “Punishing young people who refuse to join communist organizations.” The Cuban government maintained that the UMAPs are not labor camps, but part of military service.
Agencies/ Cibercuba/ Yania Suárez/ Internet Photos/ Arnoldo Varona/ www.TheCubanHistory.com
THE CUBAN HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD.