Cuban Song

Asia Pacific Premiere

Cuban Song is a reverie, a meditation, a hymn to Cubans and their vitality. In this sensitively crafted mosaic, every image captures the soul of everyday life in Havana — observing the ordinary, accessing the extraordinary and the unusual, and rendering the joy of discovering another culture. The film finds its rhythm and breath in the music that pervades Cuban life. An irresistible soundtrack drives and narrates the camera’s sensitive observations of the mundane and the unexpected with lyrics of love, longing and betrayal. A woman prepares a meal in her tiny kitchen, construction workers toil as people sing on the street, Fidel Castro appears on television playing the paternal role and majestic waves crash into a pier as the song cycle builds to a crescendo that always leads back to Cuba.

This timely glimpse into the lives of ordinary Cubans under Castro not only represents the slowly crumbling time capsule that is Cuba. As the theme song says which comes in like a lament, pulsing and pushing the film as it builds around the days: “When will I arrive home?” This is a nice metaphor for Cuba as she steps out towards the future and freedom.

It is the last film made by director and cinematographer, Fernand
Bélanger. Sadly, on July 6, 2006, he passed away, leaving behind the first cut of Cuban Song. This film was completed by his co-directors and longtime collaborators, Louise Dugal and Yves Angrignon. They finished the film, respecting the spirit of their friend’s work. This final film also gives us privileged insight into the art of this great filmmaker, too soon departed.