Minnesota Cuban Film Festival is preserving culture, calling the public to action
- Binta Kanteh
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
This year marks 17 years of the Minnesota Cuban Film Festival.
Hosted at the Main Cinema in Minneapolis, the aim of the festival is to showcase Cuban culture and cinema and also call attention to the impacts of the U.S. blockade of the island nation, which the Minnesota Cuba Committee says is an economic and commercial war on the country.
The film festival is taking place in the midst of an intense U.S. fuel and oil blockade on Cuba, which has produced a dire state of emergency concerning the country’s energy. Venezuela supplies nearly half of Cuba’s oil needs, but the supply has been interrupted since the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the Trump Administration in January.
Most of the films at this year’s festival, no matter the genre, show the impact the long-term U.S. blockade has had over the past 60 years. The trade and commercial locks placed on the country also have an impact on how Cuban films are made and financed.
“Because of the economic situation of Cuba, a lot of the filmmakers have a hard time coming up with enough funds to be able to produce their films. They have a lot of talented people in Cuba doing films – but mostly documentaries. Feature films need a lot of money. They seek funds outside of Cuba; they may go to Germany, Spain, France and other countries. For feature films, the only way they can make it is if they have foreign investment.” Franklin Curbelo said, who curates and sources films for the festival as a part of the Minnesota Cuba Committee.
Hector Sanchez Lopez, a 21-year-old college student, felt compelled to come to the festival to support the broader cause for the country.
“I'm from the Latino community, we share a heritage, It'd be great on my part to also help.” Lopez said. “I'm from Mexico, and currently our government is also sending humanitarian aid to Cuba. I see that as a good thing, because what's going on is basically they're (the U.S) just starving the island to death and sending humanitarian aid is the best thing someone can do.”
Lopez came to watch “Oceans are the Real Continents," a social documentary with no expectations on the viewer but to learn more about Cuba.
This year’s Cuban Film Festival, founded by Greg Klave in 2010, ends April 1.
On Wednesday, the festival’s last film will be “The Mystery of Musica Cubana: La Clave” – a documentary about the musical soul of the country – a blend of Cuba’s African and European roots. Following the film, there will be a live performance by long time Minnesota resident and artist Gloria “La Nina” Rivera.
For tickets and to learn more about the festival, visit www.mncubacommittee.org/mcff.