Toward a Theorization of Censorship in Cuban Cinema of the Revolution
Start Date
9-8-2010 3:30 PM
End Date
9-8-2010 5:00 PM
Description
In the last few years of the 1980s, and more vigorously in the 1990s, Cuban art witnessed a progressive change in the way the Revolutionary government approached it cultural politics. What can now be seen as a progressive opening went much further than the decentralization efforts that took place upon the establishment of the Ministry of Culture in 1976, which allowed for a somewhat autonomous mechanism for the provinces to make decisions independent of Havana and decide—with certain degree of freedom—the course that their cultural production (novels published, theater produced, journals edited, etc.) should take. The afore mentioned changed, towards the end of the 80s and specially in the 90s, aforded a number of writers, film directors, and painters the privilege to obtain official permission by the Cuban government allowing them to publish abroad or travel and give lectures at conferences and universities, including those located in the US. This new “opening” provided for the first time in many decades first person accounts in the United States of the cultural development that had bee happening in Cuba and stimulated new critical perspectives on Cuban artistic production. Apparently, the censorship and the prohibition to leave the island that affected intellectuals such as José Lezama Lima, Virgilio Piñera and Reinaldo Arenas, was something of the past. The Cuban government went even further in their new policy, by giving writers, painters, dancers and other intellectuals and artist permission to reside and work abroad, giving them the opportunity to return to the island periodically at their own volition. Such stance was in direct opposition to the standard emigration practice established from the early 1960s, in which only a very selected few had the privilege of residing abroad without having to leave the island permanently in the condition of exile. This fact is well portrayed in the early 1990s film, Strawberry and Chocolate (1993) directed by the late Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, which documents the struggle of an intellectual who has no other option but to leave the island as an exile, without the opportunity of ever returning.
During my presentation I have two objectives that will use as historical backdrop the changes experienced in late 80s and 90s First of all, I will establish a theoretic formulation of censorship, how and why it has evolved in Cuban arts after the onset of the Revolution in 1959. My second objective is to analyze the instances in which Cuban films have been censured in the Island. The paper will make the argument that even though censorship decreased during the later part of the 80s and in the 1990s, it did persist and has always been motivated by ideological and political instances and was never based on artistic merit. In order to illustrate my argument, specific examples will be used from films and documentaries such as: P.M. (Sabá Cabrera, 1960), Techo de vidrio (Sergio Giral, 1982), Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas (Daniel Díaz Torres1990) and Te quiero y te llevo al cine (Ricardo Vega, 1992).
Toward a Theorization of Censorship in Cuban Cinema of the Revolution
In the last few years of the 1980s, and more vigorously in the 1990s, Cuban art witnessed a progressive change in the way the Revolutionary government approached it cultural politics. What can now be seen as a progressive opening went much further than the decentralization efforts that took place upon the establishment of the Ministry of Culture in 1976, which allowed for a somewhat autonomous mechanism for the provinces to make decisions independent of Havana and decide—with certain degree of freedom—the course that their cultural production (novels published, theater produced, journals edited, etc.) should take. The afore mentioned changed, towards the end of the 80s and specially in the 90s, aforded a number of writers, film directors, and painters the privilege to obtain official permission by the Cuban government allowing them to publish abroad or travel and give lectures at conferences and universities, including those located in the US. This new “opening” provided for the first time in many decades first person accounts in the United States of the cultural development that had bee happening in Cuba and stimulated new critical perspectives on Cuban artistic production. Apparently, the censorship and the prohibition to leave the island that affected intellectuals such as José Lezama Lima, Virgilio Piñera and Reinaldo Arenas, was something of the past. The Cuban government went even further in their new policy, by giving writers, painters, dancers and other intellectuals and artist permission to reside and work abroad, giving them the opportunity to return to the island periodically at their own volition. Such stance was in direct opposition to the standard emigration practice established from the early 1960s, in which only a very selected few had the privilege of residing abroad without having to leave the island permanently in the condition of exile. This fact is well portrayed in the early 1990s film, Strawberry and Chocolate (1993) directed by the late Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío, which documents the struggle of an intellectual who has no other option but to leave the island as an exile, without the opportunity of ever returning.
During my presentation I have two objectives that will use as historical backdrop the changes experienced in late 80s and 90s First of all, I will establish a theoretic formulation of censorship, how and why it has evolved in Cuban arts after the onset of the Revolution in 1959. My second objective is to analyze the instances in which Cuban films have been censured in the Island. The paper will make the argument that even though censorship decreased during the later part of the 80s and in the 1990s, it did persist and has always been motivated by ideological and political instances and was never based on artistic merit. In order to illustrate my argument, specific examples will be used from films and documentaries such as: P.M. (Sabá Cabrera, 1960), Techo de vidrio (Sergio Giral, 1982), Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas (Daniel Díaz Torres1990) and Te quiero y te llevo al cine (Ricardo Vega, 1992).