Screened as part of NZIFF 2012

Habana Muda 2011

Directed by Erich Brach

This frank documentary account of unfolding complications in the personal life of Chino, a young Havana deaf-mute man with crooked porn star looks, sheds surprising light on life and sexual freedom in Cuba today.

Cuba / France In Spanish with English subtitles
61 minutes DigiBeta

Director

Producers

Nicolas Duval Adassovsky
,
Farid Tourab
,
Eric Brach

Photography

Javier Deulofeu Labrador

Editor

Jacqueline Mariani

Music

Kelvis Ochoa
,
Yasek Manzano

With

Eglicel ‘Chino’ Gainza Furones
,
Jose Antonio Cordero
,
Anaylis Albaguez Vallejo
,
Elis Gainza Albaguez
,
Elizabeth Gainza Albaguez
,
Belkis Vallejo Pedroso
,
Jose Gainza, Martha Claudia Moreno
,
Jana Sosnowski Moreno
,
Jose Manuel Marquez

Festivals

Amsterdam Documentary 2011

Elsewhere

This frank documentary account of complications in the personal life of a poor, young, Havana husband and father sheds surprising light on life in Cuba today. Director Erich Brach spent three years in Havana filming Chino, a deaf-mute who works on a farm to support his feisty wife Anaylis (also deaf) and their two children. Chino, with his crooked porn star smoulder, also hooks up regularly with Jose, a gay visitor from Mexico City. Smitten, Jose offers tantalising prospects of opportunities in Mexico, and provides generous gifts to Chino, to his children and to a bemused Anaylis as well. We meet the wider circles of all three and see how unsettling this relationship is for everyone concerned, the gallant coloniser included, and yet how very unpredictable and tenacious love can be. Brach’s eye is attentive to the eloquent sign language of his subjects. He is a sympathetic and non-judgemental observer, discreetly unpacking a complex nest of hopes and dreams. The sensual allure of their island culture informs every beautiful frame. — BG

Screening with With Fidel Whatever Happens.