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Cumbite
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea | Cuba | 1964 | 82 min.

The first of several Cuban films made with the Haitian community in Cuba, Cumbite tells the story of a Haitian who returns to his home village after years of living in Cuba. Based on a novel by Haitian author Jaques Romain, this ground-breaking feature is perhaps the first Latin American film to address the theme of cultural contradiction in underdeveloped society

New York Premiere, 1995 Human Rights Watch Festival. Distributed by Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC) Calle 23 No. 1155, Vedado, La Habana, Cuba, Tel: (53 7) 3 90 13 Fax: (53 7) 33 30 78.

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea


(Second from left) The foremost director in Cuba today, Gutiérrez Alea is known for his satirical critiques of government bureaucracy from "inside" the Revolution. Unwavering in his commitment to Cuba's Marxist Revolution, Gutiérrez Alea has been criticized abroad for being apolitical and for not taking on Castro's policies more fully. Gutiérrez Alea states that he agrees "with the Revolution. I'm not going to question it because I'm not interested in doing that. Now, within the Revolution there are things that I know can be improved, that are not right, and I'm interested in revealing these things."

It is the struggle within the Revolution that gives Gutiérrez Alea the inspiration for his films.

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