2 | 16/04/2021 – 12:34 pm (GMT-4)
Cuban film director Manuel Herrera Reyes denounced that his documentary Girón suffered censorship of several excerpts during its broadcast this week by Cuban television.
“The exposed version of my film Girón in the program “In a certain way” NOT MY MOVIE. A hidden hand has cut several sequences harmful to artistic purposes that have made it an important work in Cuban cinema, “Herrera wrote on his Facebook profile.
The director noted that no one consulted him or asked his permission according to copyright law, to censor scenes from the film, a 1972 Cuban film.
“My labor rights have been violated. I am disappointed with this sample of neo-Stalinism that we felt they were missing and that we had to fight. Why it separates us Alice in Wonderland? What’s this called? Cynicism. 47 years after the premiere, change history! I am sure that if the Americans did this, we would not hesitate to say that he is cynical and shameless “, Herrera denounced.
In his text, he called attention to Cuban cultural institutions, including ICAIC, Cuba Cine and UNEAC.
Although Herrera did not mention the segments that were censored, all indications are that the film’s mutilations correspond to participants in the Playa Girón fight by the revolutionary side that later left the country at odds with the communist regime, such as pilots Rafael del Pino and Alvaro Prendes.
Herrera, 79, is a veteran film director with an award-winning career at the Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry (ICAIC). His filmography also includes films such as The call of the hour (1969), Capablanca (1986) and Sapphire, blue madness (1997).
Herrera is awarded the Distinction for National Culture. He is the husband of the well-known actress Eslinda Núñez.
Cuban television has been broadcasting documentaries and films on the Girón theme for several days, as a tribute to 60 years of invasion.
Herrera’s publication had dozens of interactions and several comments highlighting the unfortunate fact that censorship continues to be exercised imposingly on Cuban television.
Film producer Reymel Delgado Rodriguez He stressed that this type of action of Cuban television is a total lack of respect for the artist and opera, which Cubans can no longer afford.
Journalist Joel del Rio He said in his commentary on Herrera’s text that television censorship was “a policy as absurd as it is offensive.” He also indicated that no one explains anything, no one shows their face and that the managers and officials of the Cuban Radio and Television Institute (ICRT) “cut because they feel all-powerful behind their prejudicial decisions.”
Herrera shared a second message on Facebook, which is a quote from a text by the late Havana historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler, in the book Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the lost diary.
“It is a bad service that is offered to peoples when historical facts are hidden from them, due to childhood fears or fear of probable consequences. Everything can be explained, everything in its context can be understood, analyzed, capitalized in a fair way” Herrera.
Girón is a 118-minute documentary. It was an ICAIC production with a screenplay by Herrera and Julio García Espinosa. The music of the song was provided by Sergio Vitier and Carlos Fernández Averhoff, and the photo is by Julio Simoneau.
At the end of 2020, Cuban artist Orestes Hernández publishes a text on the climate of political censorship and fear that today’s Cuban society is alive. He stressed the sustained repression to which the artist community was subjected by the island authorities since the 27N demonstrations.
He also denounced censorship in Cuba, actress Rebeca Proenza who responded to Buena Fe leader Israel Rojas, after saying that 27N responded to the “imperial objectives of domination”. The young woman reminded Rojas that she also suffered censorship when in a video she proposed the lesbian kiss of two women on stage.