Bianka Ballina.Thesis. Final Draft
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© Copyright by Bianka Lucia Ballina, 2013 All rights reserved Acknowledgements I would like to thank my advisor Professor Ana Lopez for being a vital source of support, advice, and inspiration in my academic development. Her impressive knowledge of Cuban cinema and relationships with some of the most respected members of the Cuban Cinema Studies field made this work possible. I would also like to thank my committee members Professor Jennifer Ashley and Professor Guadalupe Garcia for their help with this thesis and for opening spaces through which I could explore my academic interests. Professor Ashley provided crucial feedback throughout the writing process, always encouraging me to strive for the best. Thanks to Professor Garcia I was able to rediscover Cuba in a way that allowed me to merge my academic interests and personal experience as a “partial” member of the Cuban diaspora. I am also thankful to Professor Mimi Schippers for her comments on parts of this thesis and helping me refine my understanding of the feminist theories that inform my analysis. My appreciation to the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University for their support, especially Professor Jimmy Huck and Ms. Barbara Carter. I owe much gratitude to the people and institutions in Cuba that facilitated my research during the summer of 2012. At the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), I would like to thank those people at the Cinemateca, ICAIC Library, and Muestra Joven who made this research possible. ii Many thanks to the Mediateca at the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión de San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV) for allowing access to their archives. Finally, I would like to say thank you to my family. To my parents for all their support and encouragement. Upon my return from Cuba, they helped me think through my initial confusion by talking to me about our experiences living in Cuba at the onset of the Special Period. To my brothers for being true embodiments of their generations and circumstances. I would also like to thank my colleague Hannagan Johnson for her endless curiosity and providing much needed reassurance as I wrote this thesis. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements..................................................................................................ii List of Figures.........................................................................................................vi Introduction..............................................................................................................1 1. “No soy un artista ni quiero serlo. Sólo filmo lo que me gusta.” Generational debates and the Emergence of Cine Joven...................................7 Generational Conflicts, Digital Technologies, and Cine Joven...................8 Defining Cine Joven...................................................................................12 Nuevos Realizadores and the Special Period in Time of Peace.................17 Nuevos Realizadores and ICAIC’s Muestra Joven.....................................23 The First Generation of Nuevos Realizadores...........................................25 The Second Generation of Nuevos Realizadores.......................................28 Censorship and the Muestra Joven............................................................31 2. “Lo bueno es que son como la voz esa de ese mundo bajo de Cuba.” Portrayals of Life since the Special Period by Nuevos Relizadores...............42 New Cultural Debates at the Beat of Reggaeton.......................................43 Revolution: Crisis, Duplicity, and Hip Hop...............................................56 El futuro es hoy: Uncertainty, Esplanades, and Old Machines.................62 Cómo construir un barco: Migration, International Politics, and Silent Discontent.................................................................................67 Buscándote Havana: In-Migration, Squatting, iv and the Marvelous Real.............................................................................72 3. “Y te voy a dejar bien claro que no estoy aquí para darte gusto.” Sex, Violence, and Family Relations in Cuba’s Emerging Feminist Cinema..............................................................................................85 Women and Cinema in Cuba......................................................................85 The Emerging Feminist Cinema................................................................92 Tracing Divergent Feminist Interpretations through El grito..................101 4. “Así conocí el amor, no tengo otro modo.” Dangerous Sexualities and Alienation in Cine Joven....................................118 Homophobia and State Policy in Revolutionary Cuba............................121 Gay Cuban Cinema/Cuban Gay Cinema.................................................132 Representations of Homosexuality by Nuevos Realizadores...................135 Exploring the Margins and Beyond.........................................................142 Conclusion...........................................................................................................160 Bibliography.........................................................................................................163 v List of Figures 2.1 AL2 in Maykell Pedrero’s Revolution.........................................................77 2.2 El B in Revolution......................................................................................78 2.3 Los Aldeanos as a symbol of Cuban struggle in Revolution......................78 2.4 Tumultuous waters hit the malecón in Sandra Gómez’s El futuro es hoy..........................................................................................79 2.5 The run-down buildings of Malecón Street in Havana in El futuro es hoy..........................................................................................79 2.6 Lowering the puzzling object in El futuro es hoy......................................80 2.7 Dragging the strange object through the streets of Havana in El futuro es hoy..........................................................................................80 2.8 A man and his ship in El futuro es hoy.......................................................81 2.9 Securing the Tribuna Antiimperialista in El futuro es hoy.........................81 2.10 “Las muchachas que aprendieron a soñar” in Granma from El futuro es hoy.........................................................................................82 2.11 The devastation produced by a rusty machine in El futuro es hoy..........................................................................................82 2.12 The structure of an unauthorized boat in Milena Almira’s Cómo construir un barco...........................................................................83 2.13 A house in a pool in Alina Rodríguez’s Buscándote Havana....................83 2.14 Welcome to Havana, the Capital of all Cubans from Buscándote Havana...................................................................................84 3.1 La piña dancing around her house in Laimir Fano’s Oda a la piña.........113 3.2 Female body as visual center in Oda a la piña........................................113 3.3 “Mira que piña es lo que sobra en este país” from Oda a la piña...........114 vi 3.4 La piña looks back at Rita Montaner in Oda a la piña............................114 3.5 Facing the rhythm of the streets in Oda a la piña....................................115 3.6 The grandmother dreams in Patricia Ramos’ El patio de mi casa...........115 3.7 Dreaming of romance in El patio de mi casa...........................................115 3.8 The housewife’s mercy in Maryulis Alfonso’s Misericordia...................116 3.9 Preparing the deadly meat in Misericordia..............................................116 3.10 Soft lighting sets a romantic environment in Milena Almira’s El grito.....................................................................................................117 3.11 The images on screen materialize the description of rape in El grito.....................................................................................................117 3.12 Reacting to the threat of violence in El grito...........................................117 4.1 Mariposa’s transformation in Jessica Rodríguez’ Tacones cercanos.......150 4.2 One side of Mariposa in Tacones cercanos..............................................151 4.3 A different perspective on Mariposa in Tacones cercanos.......................151 4.4 Another view of Mariposa in Tacones cercanos......................................152 4.5 The elegance of a therapeutic setting in Tacones cercanos.....................152 4.6 Therapeutic setting in Tacones cercanos.................................................153 4.7 Mariposa in public in Tacones cercanos..................................................153 4.8 Mariposa in Fifth Avenue in Taconoes cercanos.....................................154 4.9 Fifth Avenue in Tacones cercanos...........................................................154 4.10 Raúl bathing his mother in Jessica Rodríguez and Zoe García’s El mundo de Raúl.....................................................................................155 4.11 Sleeping with mother in El mundo de Raúl.............................................155 4.12 The power of looking in El mundo de Raúl.............................................156 4.13 Watching the quinceañera rehearsal