Cubamerican
color & b/w. 107 min. José Enrique Pardo, ÑO Prods., dist. by Midwest Tape, www.midwesttape.com. 2015. DVD $30; acad. libs. $325. Public performance. INT AFFAIRS/HIST
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These documentaries represent two sides of the Cuban revolution, both its promise of equality and the darker side of expulsion and violence. Black and Cuba follows the journey of the Black Resistance Reading Group from Yale University to Cuba, exploring the potential and promise of a revolutionary ideal. The compelling, edgy film is composed of an interesting assemblage of interviews, archival footage, and travel videos. Along the way, the academic discipline and history of African American studies in American higher education is examined in edifying detail.
Cubamerican chronicles the other side of the issue from the viewpoint of a diaspora of refugees displaced during and in the aftermath of the Cuban revolution. Not seeking the promise of the Cuban dream, the people interviewed share memories of a shattered past and the loss of the Cuban side to their Cuban American identities. The cast in this beautifully executed documentary includes National Book Award winner Carlos Eire, MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Jorge Pardo, and Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia.
VERDICT These films work perfectly together, introducing a nuanced argument from multiple historical perspectives and proving William Faulkner's dictum that the "past is never dead. It's not even past."
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