Cuba Denounces US-Based Aggression Against Its Filmmaking Industry

Rome - Cuba denounced a new aggression from the United States against the Latin American nation's film production at the International Audiovisual Market (MIA) Fair, which concludes today in Rome.

Alexis Triana, president of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (Icaic), stated in declarations to Prensa Latina, published by Cubarte, that "we are taking advantage of our presence at this important world fair for the seventh art to expose and condemn the scam being carried out by a false Cuban Film Commission from the city of Miami."

"With complete impunity, an entity that sells itself as the Cuban Film Commission has been operating until now in that North American city, using a fake logo of that organization, as well as of the Cuban Audiovisual Association, to try to usurp the name of a commission that actually operates in Cuba, and thus deceive potential clients," he asserted.

To try to create an image of veracity, these criminals use a ".org" website to appear as an official entity, while claiming a non-existent headquarters in Havana.

Furthermore, to attract business related to film projects, they use false offers of tax facilities of up to 40 percent and filming permits that are completely unviable as a hook. These are illegal actions, evidence of which can easily be found on the internet, Triana explained.

The genuine Film Commission, based in Cuba, was created by Agreement 8613 of the country's Council of Ministers on June 14, 2019, presided over by the Minister of Culture. Through Agreement 9971 of 2024 from that body, it was ratified as the governmental instance for the development of film and audiovisual production.

In recent meetings of this entity, whose activities are coordinated by Cuban filmmaker Maritza Ceballos, the importance of attracting foreign capital for film and audiovisual production in general was assessed.

Those meetings defined the concepts and regulations that support the promotion of Cuba as a film destination, and the first projects were presented, as well as potential co-productions and services that can be offered in coordination with the different entities represented in that state body.

"We are also relaunching our film industry, and Cuba already has 75 independent audiovisual production companies, while it has been approved that creation collectives can become independent film companies even as cooperatives, which represents a gigantic step forward," added the president of Icaic.

The experiences that Icaic is currently having with foreign production companies and their linkage with the Audiovisual Creation Collectives that work independently were also assessed positively.

In this sense, Triana highlighted that "we are already on the second Dominican film being shot in Cuba, and production companies from France and Russia are also preparing to film feature films on the Island."