More “Counterrevolutionary” Artists Speak Out For Their Freedom (Part 3)

More "Counterrevolutionary" Artists Speak Out For Their Freedom (Part 3)
/ Angel Santiesteban
Posted on January 4, 2016


Ángel Santiesteban-Prats, Havana, 21 December 2015 — In order to
complete my personal impression about the G-20* assembly in the Fresa y
Chocolate Cultural Film Center this past November 28, I must recognize
the solidarity and support of the filmmakers for their colleague, Juan
Carlos Cremata, who, through writing, like Enrique Colina among others,
showed their disgust and rejection of the assault dealt by the State
against the artist, restricting his thinking and his work.

The abuses and injustices committed by the officers and political police
have been the last straw for the patience of the unionized filmmakers
who — with new verve — have come together with their claims showing that
they have matured as people, a society and artists.

The wolf, who for more than half a century has sunk his teeth into the
sheep that don't abide by the rules of the fold, has paused now to
wonder why, for the first time, the job of making them submit has been
made difficult, and he waits, hoping that they will show some weakness
or divide themselves in order to make his job of the bogeyman scaring
the children easy.

The dictatorship prefers us to be alone.

I was amazed at the existing cohesion among the constituents of the
G-20*, the clarity of their demands, like the Film Law that is
indispensable to them in order to continue creating, but, above all, how
well disposed they are to continue struggling until they achieve what
they demand.

They are not naive, they know that in the eyes of the dictatorship they
have been converted into rebels who should be drowned, and if a crack
exists, it would be inside one of the columns that integrate the group;
and then, beginning with secret conversations with State Security, it
would cede before the pressure and would begin to distort, scare, divide
and misconstrue the objectives presented from the outset.

Let's hope that intelligence reigns over fear and serves to save this
force that conveys their demands as artists, converts itself into a
national necessity and triggers a new pattern in the country's history.

Their laudable, noble and courageous abilities are the preamble of a new
era in which artists recover the dignity that has been lost for more
than five decades, letting them be devoured and beaten by the
totalitarian Regime for not receiving their punishment.

It is new times, and democracy is the only system possible for any
government; now there's no space for authoritarian regimes
(totalitarian) as, for example, Argentina and Venezuela, countries in
which the opposition has just won the elections.

Later will come those that are missing, and of course the Castro clan's
dictatorship will have no other option but to cede. With the arrival of
freedom, Juan Carlos Cremata and all Cuban artists will recover the
cultural spaces that they should not have lost through censorship and
prohibitions. Juan Carlos Cremata deserves that space for his talent,
strength and commitment.

Let's hope that without more delay, the Film Law gets approved for the
benefit of the seventh art.

Ángel Santiesteban-Prats

Havana, November 2015, under conditional "liberty."

*Translator's note: A group of Cuban filmmakers who demand the approval
of a Film Law in Cuba. They defend independent production companies. At
this meeting they debated censorship and analyzed the case of Juan
Carlos Cremata, whose play "The King is Dying" was censored. Cremata was
denied the right to stage another play in Cuba.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Source: More "Counterrevolutionary" Artists Speak Out For Their Freedom
(Part 3) / Angel Santiesteban | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/more-counterrevolutionary-artists-speak-out-for-their-freedom-part-3-angel-santiesteban/