Cuban film awarded in Cannes is screened in Havana

"La Espera" (The Wait), an independent Cuban production that won the gold statuette for Best Drama at the Cannes World Film Festival in 2023, is now on the screens at two movie theaters in Havana.

The first fiction film made in the eastern province of Guantanamo, directed by Daniel Ross, was screened at the Yara and Acapulco theaters on Thursday.

The film features Regino Rodriguez Boti, grandson of poet and intellectual Regino Boti, whose house-museum was the main setting for the motion picture.

Critics have praised the lyricism of this 86-minute-long film, which presents the story of a man marked by the pain of his wife’s death and surrounded by other social conflicts, according to Granma newspaper.

Ross did not work with professional actors because he was looking for the most natural and casual performances.

The traditional Guantanamera song plays a key role in the film, as a sort of guiding thread.

In addition to Cannes, “La Espera” has already toured several international circuits such as the Yale Latin and Ibero-American Festival, in the United States; the Lift-Off Global Network International Film Festival, in the United Kingdom; and the Eagle Eye International Film Festival, in Germany, where it won an award.

At the Gibara International Film Festival, the Cuban Film Press Association granted “La Espera” a Special Mention.