Brainstorm

Havana, 1974. Almost every day, Ana puts a cuban flag on the balcony. The flag is faded and full of stains. Ana suggests to her husband Nicanor to get another one. From there the couple will be doomed to unexpected complications...

Lorenzo, a Cuban policeman specializing in grave robberies is sent to Havana to investigate the death of a Havana-born German national, Hermann (or German in Spanish) found in a famous grave. Lorenzo recounts his findings to the police chief (Major Anancio) as he investigates Dora, an elevator operator and Herrmann's landlady, Aguila and Silvia (who work for Cultural Affairs), Chrissy (a British-born Socialist Internationalist lover), Xiomara (Hermann's mother and a local drag queen as well), a dwarf, and a false Guatemalan who had raped Chrissy during her internationalist "love/sex campaign" in Guatemala. These are the main, but not the only characters, one must absolutely follow to make sense of the plot.

A biting satire about life in contemporary Cuba. Alicia, a young drama instructor, is sent to the small town of Maravillas de Noveras, which is itself an exaggerated, but very ingenious reflection of the real Cuba. Her adventures there are almost as surreal as the ones experienced by Lewis Carroll's character, reflecting patterns of indoctrination, coercion, absolutism, and many other everyday problems in Cuban society.

Three characters in present-day Havana must choose between clinging to their self-restricting beliefs, or getting rid of them to live more freely. Ballerina Mariana has promised God celibacy if she gets the role of "Giselle"; Social-worker Julia always faints after hearing a certain word; and pot-smoking percussionist Elpidio was abandoned by his mother, coincidentally named Cuba, some time ago and has not yet gotten over the loss.

Javier is an actor with an affinity for writing. When he begins his love story with Luisita, he does not know where the truth begins and ends. Fifteen years later he has converted his story into literature that relates his tragic love story in a creative way.

Julio del Toro is a successful writer in his fifties, who has always had his life under his control, until the day that, returning from one of his frequent foreign travel, this consistent world will fall into crisis. His daughter has started an affair with a Spanish older than him, his mistress poses a serious ultimatum, a young journalist begins to prepare a report on his work, and he faces the question if he is already finished as a creator. While Julio feels increasingly confused and disoriented, the women around him will make the decisions that he is not able to take.

In a tenement in a poor Havana neighborhood, four men are playing a game of dominoes: Rodríguez and Nicanor versus Sangremono and Pepe “the Victim.” Once the game has begun, Rodríguez suddenly mentions that he has heard some astonishing news that concerns the future of the country and every one of its inhabitants…

Cuba, 1961. A young teacher arrives with the intention of teaching a peasant family to read and write…

Nicanor, his wife, and his in-laws watch Cuban television. In a single twenty-minute shot, the differences surface between Nicanor, who supports the Revolution, and his father-in-law Damián Rodríguez, a former Batista supporter. The two women try in vain to mediate, and the conflict seems irreconcilable. However, they have no choice but to make up with each other every night.

A group of actors shows up to audition for the lead role in a co-production with Germany. Through their interviews and interactions, their miseries, desires, and frustrations are gradually revealed. The selection process takes three days; in the end, there is only one winner…

Nicanor has just finished the ritual of preparing himself a gourmet coffee when two strangers knock at his door. They identify themselves as members of State Security, who have come to install microphones in his house to listen to the antigovernment remarks Nicanor makes. Since they only have two microphones, they ask for his help in choosing the best room to install them and tell him that from now on he can only make his comments in that room.

Cuba has changed in the near future, but Nicanor and his friends still meet in a park to talk about politics…

A hundred years from now, there is a world war. The fighting is not over territories or ideologies, but over establishing one form of healthy eating above all others. Nick is a Veg (vegetarian) soldier who is taken prisoner by the Macs (macrobiotics). In prison he meets Ana, a beautiful Ollie (ovolacto vegetarian). Together they look for ways to escape, or at least to survive…

At an unspecified event, everyone votes in favor. Unexpectedly, there is one vote against: Nicanor O’Donnell’s. When Nicanor goes to the bathroom during the intermission, some curious delegates follow him, eager to find out why he dared to vote against. The suspicion that someone is locked in a stall, listening to everything, turns their sympathy into mistrust toward Nicanor. But the one locked in the stall is also a poor wretch.

Rodrigo, a famous European artist, comes to Cuba to create a collage using photos of one hundred Cuban artists. Wanting the photos to reflect the anguish inherent in the creative process, he can think of nothing better than hiring the worker Nicanor O’Donnell to punch the one hundred artists in the face for a fee of five euros per head. Knowing that the collage will be exhibited all over the world, the artists line up to be beaten. Nicanor, who at first believes he has stumbled upon the deal of his life, is dismayed to discover that he must hit elderly people, women, artists he admires…