FESTIVAL DIARY: A Love for Cinema

As if in a déjà vu from other festivals, familiar faces of Cuban cinema return to Havana's screens. This is the case of Neurótica Anónima, the latest feature film by Jorge Perugorría, which arrives at the 46th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema with the force of a profoundly personal work. Several media outlets have echoed the event:

The film, conceived "like a custom-made dress" for Mirtha Ibarra—as the director himself confessed—starts from a premise as simple as it is moving: Iluminada, an elderly woman who has been an usher for thirty years at the Cine Cuba, faces the possible closure of her sanctuary in a society gripped by a pandemic of mental health issues.

This starting point opens a flow of symbols that engage in a dialogue with recent history, with the memory of the seventh art, and with the intimate obsessions of its creators.

At the Festival's press conference, Perugorría emphasized the project's artisanal and affectionate nature, inspired by an original idea from Ibarra and a shared passion for cinema.

The actress not only portrays Iluminada but also co-wrote the script with him, revisiting one of her own theatrical works that enjoyed notable success. The film, dedicated to Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Titón, and Juan Carlos Tabío, also captures the legacy of Cuban cinema from recent decades, from its critical vocation to its capacity to reflect on reality with humor, irony, and humanity.

Perugorría summarized it as an act of gratitude toward those who make cinema and as a commitment to the country.

One of the main attractions of Neurótica Anónima is its cast, a true constellation of performers that make up what the director called a "brotherhood" in defense of Cuban cinema.

The screen brings together Joel Angelino, Fernando Echavarría, Osvaldo Doimeadiós, Andrea Doimeadiós, Néstor Jiménez, Paula Alí, Tahimi Alvariño, Mario Limonta, Hilario Peña, Félix Beatón, Luis Silva, and many other emblematic names. This plurality does not dilute the story; on the contrary, it enhances the choral richness of the narrative, which combines the poetic with the rawest aspects of Cuban daily life. There are winks to classics, self-referential nods, double-edged humor, and scenes bordering on the surreal, always with the emotional force that distinguishes Ibarra.

The film does not shy away from contemporary conflicts: power outages, long lines, small private businesses, retirees' problems, emotional exhaustion, and domestic violence are all present.

But also present is the defense of dreams, the desire to rescue rather than close down, the need to believe in culture as a space for resistance. Iluminada, who once left the countryside to study art against all odds, must confront not only the potential collapse of the Cine Cuba but also her intimate reality, marked by an alcoholic and violent husband. In this process, the protagonist becomes a metaphor for a country struggling not to renounce its memory or its creative vocation.

With an original score by José María Vitier and produced by ICAIC alongside other production companies, Neurótica Anónima competes for the Coral Prize with the strength of a film that, while not perfect, possesses the spirit of the best Cuban cinema. Its 90 minutes alternate comedy and drama, nostalgia and hope, the everyday and the extraordinary.

And although each viewer will have their own interpretation, the film leaves one certainty: it is a love letter to cinema and, above all, an invitation to feel and to think. 

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff