Lisanka
LISANKA
Kuba, Rusija/Cuba, Russia 2010, 35 mm, 113'
directed by Daniel Díaz Torres
screenplay Eduardo del Llano
cinematography Angel Alderete
music Kelvis Ochoa
sound Raul Atondo
editing Damián Fernández Font
cast Mirelys Leja, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Rafael Ernesto Hernandez, Enrique Molina, Kirill Zolyqin
producer Frank Cabrera, Daniel Díaz Ravelo
production Ibermedia, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos, Mosfilm
Women engage in male professions in the period of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The beautiful, freespirited Lisanka climbs onto a farm tractor and defies the world of machismo that surrounds her.
Lisanka is a girl's name in Cuba as well as a symbol of Slavic influence on the island. The Lisanka in this story is really nice, she is beautiful, and she is intelligent enough to compete with men. The revolution is young, and for the first time in the island's history, women are allowed to work in what have traditionally been men’s professions. Lisanka is a “traktorist”. In the period in which the film takes place, October 1962, the biggest crisis of the Cold War was occurring, the so-called missile crisis: The Soviets were threatening the United States of America with nuclear missiles from inside the territory of Cuba.
“Everybody knows about the October Crisis, the Caribbean Crisis, when the world was –again – at the edge of destruction. They know the American version, maybe the Russian version...but not the Cuban version. What the Cubans felt, in the eye of the hurricane, when the radio spoke about nuclear bombs and nobody had any real idea of what exactly that meant. Today, we can look at it with humour, because humour and good will is the only way for sanity to survive. Today, the spirit of those days seems naïve, irresponsible and very far from us. But, being honest, have things changed that much?” (Eduardo del Llano, screenwriter)
Daniel Díaz Torres is one of the most important Cuban filmmakers since the triumph of the Castro Revolution. He has a different manner of filmmaking compared to his colleagues, most of whom were more allied with the socialist system while others made films that were not about revolutionary themes. Daniel was in between. He made comedies like Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (Alice in Wonderland) and Tropicanita (both written by Eduardo del Llano, a well-known Cuban writer and filmmaker), which criticized the system in a funny and crazy way. He was never against Castro, yet he has made films that have criticised the Cuban way of life and the lack of possibilities of getting answers to actual questions.
With Alicia, he became famous worldwide because the film was not screened in Cuba, save some individual screenings. Nobody abroad understood what had happened, but the government felt insulted by the film and wouldn't mention why. This was the beginning of the international career of DDT.
For me, DDT is the best example from inside the Cuban Revolution of being creative in a critical way. He has inspired many young filmmakers who did not have the experience of Cuba’s revolutionary avant-gardists.
Helmut Groschup
Director of International Film Festival Innsbruck,
Kino Otok Programme Board Member
Kuba, Rusija/Cuba, Russia 2010, 35 mm, 113'
directed by Daniel Díaz Torres
screenplay Eduardo del Llano
cinematography Angel Alderete
music Kelvis Ochoa
sound Raul Atondo
editing Damián Fernández Font
cast Mirelys Leja, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Rafael Ernesto Hernandez, Enrique Molina, Kirill Zolyqin
producer Frank Cabrera, Daniel Díaz Ravelo
production Ibermedia, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos, Mosfilm
Women engage in male professions in the period of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The beautiful, freespirited Lisanka climbs onto a farm tractor and defies the world of machismo that surrounds her.
Lisanka is a girl's name in Cuba as well as a symbol of Slavic influence on the island. The Lisanka in this story is really nice, she is beautiful, and she is intelligent enough to compete with men. The revolution is young, and for the first time in the island's history, women are allowed to work in what have traditionally been men’s professions. Lisanka is a “traktorist”. In the period in which the film takes place, October 1962, the biggest crisis of the Cold War was occurring, the so-called missile crisis: The Soviets were threatening the United States of America with nuclear missiles from inside the territory of Cuba.
“Everybody knows about the October Crisis, the Caribbean Crisis, when the world was –again – at the edge of destruction. They know the American version, maybe the Russian version...but not the Cuban version. What the Cubans felt, in the eye of the hurricane, when the radio spoke about nuclear bombs and nobody had any real idea of what exactly that meant. Today, we can look at it with humour, because humour and good will is the only way for sanity to survive. Today, the spirit of those days seems naïve, irresponsible and very far from us. But, being honest, have things changed that much?” (Eduardo del Llano, screenwriter)
Daniel Díaz Torres is one of the most important Cuban filmmakers since the triumph of the Castro Revolution. He has a different manner of filmmaking compared to his colleagues, most of whom were more allied with the socialist system while others made films that were not about revolutionary themes. Daniel was in between. He made comedies like Alicia en el pueblo de maravillas (Alice in Wonderland) and Tropicanita (both written by Eduardo del Llano, a well-known Cuban writer and filmmaker), which criticized the system in a funny and crazy way. He was never against Castro, yet he has made films that have criticised the Cuban way of life and the lack of possibilities of getting answers to actual questions.
With Alicia, he became famous worldwide because the film was not screened in Cuba, save some individual screenings. Nobody abroad understood what had happened, but the government felt insulted by the film and wouldn't mention why. This was the beginning of the international career of DDT.
For me, DDT is the best example from inside the Cuban Revolution of being creative in a critical way. He has inspired many young filmmakers who did not have the experience of Cuba’s revolutionary avant-gardists.
Helmut Groschup
Director of International Film Festival Innsbruck,
Kino Otok Programme Board Member
Schedule:
- Sunday, 12. 6., 10.00, ART KINO ODEON
- Sunday, 12. 6., 21.00, Open-Air Cinema MANZIOLI
