State Security has decided to increase repression against the founders of the Independent Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC).whose internet access was cut off on Thursday at the central cinema 23 and 12 in Havana, where they met, and who then tried to prevent her from laying a wreath at the grave of filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián in the nearby necropolis of Colón.
He reported this, according to a detailed complaint posted on the group’s Facebook wall, which calls for an end to censorship and freedom of expression in Cuba The meeting “started very well” with around 80 participants, “but problems soon began.”
“Suddenly they blocked the internet connection for all cinema attendees, leaving those from the province and other countries who were already connected blind and deaf. No video, no sound.” We were “struggling with problems all morning,” the connection would come through for a few minutes and then we would drop out, someone would try to speak and the connection would be lost.”they emphasized.
“We remember that the authorities are obsessed with registration. Only they can record, edit and reuse. They are disturbed by cameras, testimonies, recordings, the media and social networks. It is a practice that we use frequently.” observe. We condemn and reject these procedures because, since the beginning of our meetings, we have always tried to establish a respectful and participatory dialogue with everyone who has asked for them.”they explained.
According to several participants on their social networks: The connection worked fine in the area around the cinema, but was interrupted when entering the room.
“We had as listeners a small group of students from FAMCA (Film Faculty of the Higher Institute of Art) who decided to participate of their own free will and guided by pure curiosity and professional interest. While they were there, they were warned by telephone to “take care of your interventions.” From the ISA, the Secretary General of the UJC intimidated the young people so that they did not participate in the debate. Something they neither intended nor wanted to do. That was their first approach to the congregation,” they added.
A second, more overtly repressive episode occurred at the end of Thursday’s meeting. According to the ACC rapporteur, they had previously made public the idea of “laying a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the Assembly at the site where the remains of Nicolás Guillen Landrián have rested since 2003. This would happen at the end of the meeting and “On this occasion we spoke to his widow Gretel Alfonso, who is supposed to accompany us. A gesture that seems fair to the career and work of an artist who was excluded for decades because he was ‘cursed’ and who ultimately made it a reference for new generations of Cuban creators.”
But days earlier, according to the ACC, “several of us began receiving concerns and suspicious comments through many different channels that suggested we abandon this tribute. They also called the filmmaker’s widow for the same reason.”
According to the complaint, the mayor of the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución and Tatiana Viera, coordinator of government objectives and programs in Havana, had previously informed them of this “We had not requested permission to deposit this victim,” which, as far as we know, is neither mandatory nor part of the tight framework of prohibitions in place in Cuba.
“We accept our mistake because we do not know what is certain, but we explained the type of action we wanted to carry out and assured them that it was neither a procession nor anything that would hinder the normal work of the cemetery could.” Few of us had the intention of organizing a tribute full of symbolism, without any speeches or speeches. She expressed her concern because he had told her in a call to Fernando Rojas (Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture) that almost 100 people could be there.
Eventually, the filmmakers agreed “that only 15 members of the congregation, accompanied by Gretel Alfonso, would come to the funeral niche. No press, no crowds, just respect and silence, as we always thought. These two officials accepted our proposal.”
But already at the gate of the cemetery, “we were surprised to find that plainclothes officers were watching us the entire time.” Two police cars were parked very close to the entrance, where we again met the mayor and the provincial government coordinator, whom we had met hours before. Now they were also accompanied by the cemetery director.
“More ‘photographers’ appeared inside, one even carrying a camera, but in gravedigger’s clothing. The official told us that we would not have access to the grave as it was a private grave. Gretel spoke to her but demanded ownership documents because she could. “Be a scammer. She calmly told them that she did not need to show any paper or document to honor the memory of her late husband and that those who were with her were her attendants. They reiterated to us that what we were doing was not authorized. “It was inevitable to remember the death of a bureaucrat,” they explained.
“After this new incident, we were finally able to access the area far from the center of the cemetery where the filmmaker’s remains were located. The flowers were laid down, we spent a few minutes there in silence and returned. At the entrance we met the one small group of FAMCA students waiting to do the same,” they noted.
And finishes the statement: “Time and time again, meetings of a group of filmmakers are viewed with suspicion and must be silenced and, if possible, canceled.” The authorities want to solve the cinema’s problems, but call on the same officials who did everything to destroy it. Young and restless film students, you should not speak up in a meeting where cinema is being discussed. Several citizens decide to humbly honor the memory of an artist, but must first obtain permission to do so. At what point does something so natural and everyday become perverse? “When did we allow absurdity and irreverence to rule our lives?”
The ACC was founded by the filmmakers last June after the illegal exhibition and manipulation of an incomplete version of the documentary La Habana de Fito by Juan Pin Vilar on Cuban television. Their opposition to this resulted in a declaration signed by more than 600 professionals in the industry, including renowned figures such as the director Fernando Pérez, the actor Jorge Perugorría and the official troubadour Silvio Rodríguez.
The group’s demands led to the dismissal of the president of the state-run Cuban Institute of Film Arts and Industry (ICAIC) and the government announced the reactivation of the so-called Temporary Working Group (GTT), presumably to deal with “the problems of cinema.”
Despite it, The fundamental issues that filmmakers must address are left unaddressed by this group. On the other hand, pressure on the union and assembly members has increased in recent weeks.