WASHINGTON, DC, 19 September 2012 — At an American University screening for the documentary short documentary, “Solar del 11,” I introduce Cuban filmmakers Maria Elisa Perez and Duniesky Canton Fernandez. The film documents a public housing unit in Havana. The three chronic ills of Cuban society are housing, food and transportation.
Winners of a documentary competition sponsored by American University’s Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS), the Cubans are visiting the United States for the first time. This trip marks the first time either of them has visited a foreign country.
They made the film during a Backpack Video Journalism Workshop that I conducted at the Advanced Institute of Art (ISA) in Havana during fall semester 2011, when I accompanied a group of AU Abroad students studying in Cuba, and taught my “Photojournalism and Social Documentary” course. CLALS Director Eric Hershberg funded the workshop with a grant from the Reynolds Foundation. (Photo by Esther Gentile.)
Above, the Cuban filmmakers conduct a discussion with the audience. (Photo by Bill Gentile.)
Above, the filmmakers. (Photo by Bill Gentile.)
Above, the audience watches “Solar del 11.” (Photo by Bill Gentile.)
Above, the audience watches “Solar del 11.” (Photo by Bill Gentile.)