Chronicles of the Absurd

A fiercely defiant reckoning with the oppression faced by Cuba’s independent artists who refuse to conform to state-imposed politics and artistic norms.

In Cuba, artists must be sanctioned by state-approved institutions that monitor their work to ensure compliance with government guidelines. Those who operate outside the system are stripped of rights and subjected to constant harassment and intimidation.

Independent filmmaker Miguel Coyula and actress Lynn Cruz know this all too well. Their response? To document the repression. Using hidden audio recordings and a sharp, minimalist aesthetic, they launch a scathing counterattack against a Kafkaesque, authoritarian regime that systematically silences freedom of expression.

Awarded at the IDFA documentary festival in Amsterdam, this is a powerful and uncompromising act of creative resistance.

• Johan Blomqvist