Acclaimed Cuban director Juan Carlos Cremata is in Australia to present his two films Viva Cuba and Nada Mas (Nothing More) as part of the Latin American film festivals in Sydney and Melbourne. He spoke to Green Left Weekly's Roberto Jorquera.
Viva Cuba is the story of two 11-year-old friends, Malu and Jorgito, whose relationship is threatened by their parents' differences. When Malu's mother decides to leave Cuba, the two friends travel across Cuba to persuade Malu's estranged father not to sign the necessary documents. The story takes viewers along on the road trip, offering a beautiful vision of Cuba, filled with hope as well as challenges.
Speaking at a press conference, Cremata suggested that in their travels across the island, Jorgito and Malu are "searching for a wish to be together and overcome the differences and find a better future".
In the director's statement about the film, Cremata says "Viva Cuba is the first Cuban film with children playing the lead parts. There have been animation films, but never a feature film for and with children.
"Our intention was to make a film for all ages and not only for children. Our idea was not to defend only a children's cinema, but a cinema where adults can see children's problems, problems that touch them, because they are the guardians of these children. That is why I prefer to say that this is a film for all ages, a film that speaks about the interests of both adults and children."
Cuba's leading contemporary film-maker, Cremata has twice been nominated by Cuba for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. His career spans more than 20 years.
Cremata values the involvement of his family in making the film. "This is very well demonstrated in my second movie, Viva Cuba", he said. "It isn't a movie made with the help of the industry but rather made with an alternative scheme of production. Which means why do I need to make a movie using 60 people when all I need is 15?
"What I'm trying to say with all of this is that the experience of making my second movie, [almost in a family setting] opened doors for me to a system of production much more adequate not only for us but for all of the countries in the Third World.
"There's a saying in Cuba, when you meet someone in the street, and they say, 'Hello how are you?' The people reply 'Inventing!'. In Cuba one continues inventing because I believe invention, the capacity of imagination, generates what's necessary for all the people of our country to survive."
In announcing his visit to Australia as part of the Latin American film festivals, Cremata said, "I am very excited to be in Australia to share my films with Australian audiences, to show something of Cuban life through my films. I often find people abroad have very mixed ideas about Cuba, and to talk to them once they've seen my films is always a revelation. In my films I try to show human stories, but as an artist, a film-maker who loves the possibilities of cinema."
Cremata humbly suggests that his work is in part a product of a rich history of Cuban film, and notes in particular the work of great Cuban film-makers such as Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Umberto Solar. Certainly Cremata follows the tradition in Cuban film of honestly and openly tackling the myriad of challenges facing the Cuban people, and presenting them to Cuba and the world in a thought-provoking as well as aesthetically captivating way.
"Cuban cinema continues being fundamentally driven by Cuban directors and cinematographers, who are learning each year the possibilities of co-production, because we are in a position to cooperate with other countries such as Spain and France, and other countries of the Third World", Cremata said.
"Cuban cinema tries to sell around four or five films each year and I would say the films this year are the best films that I have known."
Cremata aims to raise the different social and political issues that people in Cuba face. He tries to explore those issues to make people think about their impact on other people's lives.
"I believe that every individual is a world, and we all have different ideas of the reality that surrounds us", Cremata explained.
"In the case of Cuba, which is also the case in other countries, not just Cuba, people leave daily. From Mexico people pass daily across the border into the US; boatloads of people arrive on the Spanish coast from Morocco; everyday African immigrants arrive in Italy and so each day people move from one place to another.
"Can you imagine how many people there are in the world, how many people who have a different vision, a different idea, a different story, a different way of doing things? So, the differences generate, of course, contradictions. The only thing I hope to achieve through my film, as much with the first as the second, is to bring this to people's attention.
"This is a different sort of film even though it talks about counter posing positions. It is a very different sort of film to the ones that are currently popular. It's not a film with death, violence, mistreatment or a war, which is what the world is living through now. No, this is a more specific film, this is one of the things that works with audiences, it's a film with children, but for all ages."
In his second film, Nada Mas, Cremata explores black and white cinematography. As he explains, "In reality it's because I have to be careful with the use of colours. It was hard to make Viva Cuba, which was a film in full colour — not so Nada.
"It was also a way of expressing my love for silent film, including the films made in Cuba throughout the '60s, which I think was the golden age of film. Umberto Solar, Thomas Gutierrez Alea, Sara Gomez etc, those who made film in the 1960s and those who made very important films in Cuba, which very much framed how we made films in Cuba and how to look at problems in Cuba."
"Nada is a homage to what had been done before. It is for that reason that it is called Nada [nothing], because it is nothing compared to what has been done previously, not only in Cuban cinema but also internationally. I think that Nada is nothing original. I haven't done anything that hasn't got a history and been done before," Cremata continued.
Green Left Weekly asked Cremata to comment on the situation in Cuba today. "It's hard for me to comment because I spend all my time either outside Cuba representing Cuba through my films or thinking about my next film", he responded.
"Life is hard like in all countries of the world. It's hard to advance. It's not easy for an island like Cuba. However only what is hard is stimulating. Nothing is easy for an island that is confronting the United States. In the US they call it an embargo; in Cuba they call it a blockade."
Asked if Cuba was changing, Cremata responded, "I don't know if I can say that — but the world is surely becoming a different place. I look at Latin America and I am very interested in seeing what is happening with the left in Latin America — there is change. You can't always say it's forward motion. In Cuba I can certainly carry out my art more safely, more easily than anywhere else, including here in places like Australia. It's hard to say if things are improving. It's an odd question for me. Cuba could be better off, but so could the world. At least we are trying to make things better."
From Green Left Weekly, February 22, 2006.
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