Whoever Deserves It, Will Be Immortal

Sergio, Ubaldo, Yolexquis and Winston belong to different generations of the Cuban gay community. In this student film they reflect on their own experiences with discrimination, the good sides of being queer and the first years of the Cuban Revolution, when homosexuals were sent by train to concentration camps. Anyone who dared to jump off the train was met by armed soldiers.

In Nay Mendl’s short documentary, made at the Cuban film academy EICTV, Sergio, Ubaldo and Yolexquis read excerpts from the diary of Winston Hernandez (1944-2020), who was persecuted for being who he was. One of them also recounts how he was not allowed to graduate as a nurse at the time and has instead been making clothes for many famous Cubans for years. In this way, Mendl adds layer upon layer, connecting the past with the present, and bringing queer characters and queer histories to life.