Cuba Libre

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.

Based on the life of Benny Moré, the film concentrates on a period in the early 1950s when Moré leaves the orchestra of Duany and starts his own 'Banda Gigante'. In flashback we learn of his success in Mexico. Moré is caught in the events connected to Batista's coup in Cuba. Also, he tours Venezuela, where he suffers the machinations of a vengeful businessman. After collapsing and being hospitalised, Moré swears off alcohol. Some years later, he encounters his old band-mate Monchy, fallen on hard times.

On the banks of the Almendares River, the inhabitants of El Fanguito have carved out their marginal space in the heart of Havana. The transformations brought about by the Revolution have been reflected in the neighborhood, but always from its marginality. Testimonies full of contradictions, dramas, and hopes reveal the humanity of its protagonists.

When criticizing a high representative of power, a young poet will be subjected to all kinds of pressure. He will only manage to survive thanks to his elegant fantasy and admmirer. That artist is Julián del Casal, who will live in colonial Havana at the end of the 19th century.