La bonita
Close-up shots without commentary of often painful cosmetic treatments reveal how heavily women can be burdened by the dictates of beauty.
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EICTV x IDFA: Celebrating student documentaries
As film schools all over the world experience a period of great uncertainty, IDFA and the International School of Film and Television of San Antonio de los Baños de Cuba (EICTV) celebrate 12 films from this globally renowned institution that have screened in the IDFA Competition for Student Documentary. Read more about the EICTV x IDFA retrospective here, and watch the films below.
We made this collection in close collaboration with the EICTV and are very thankful to the whole team working in San Antonio de los Baños.
Available to watch online
Available to watch online
The Crossing
In high-contrast black-and-white footage, accompanied by an expressive soundtrack filled with the sounds of nature, a man struggles through the Sierra Maestra, the mountain range that was the birthplace of the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s.
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The Farewell
A photogenic look at the life of a Cuban former miner who decides to go his own way, in spite of his years.
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I Am
After the death of Fidel Castro, a little girl in Havana causes a media circus with a message written on a large cardboard sign. But what does it actually say?
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Iceberg
An intimate and lyrical portrait of Teresa, a frail fisherwoman in her sixties living on a small island with her granddaughter Maria.
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Inertia (All Pantographs Go to Heaven)
A light, experimental ode to the Cuban Hershey train and its passengers. The various stages of the journey are impressionistically captured in a collage of images.
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The Load
A striking, beautifully filmed observation of life aboard a freight train: a microcosm where a group of men are forced to spend a lot of time together.
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Motriz
In her tiny Cuban shop, Maria repairs household appliances and chats to her customers and neighbors about her life and work.
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The Olden Heralds
An elderly couple leading a simple existence in the Cuban countryside watches an old TV set that’s thrusting a new political era into their lives.
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The Sight
A circus audience feasts its eyes on a magical show, then suddenly seems to become part of it.
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Sweet Salty Wind
Three children wander along the Cuban coast. Here, in their own world, they are free. The sound of the wind and waves is their music, and shells are their toys. As the day slips by, we see a darker aspect to their intimacy and playfulness.
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The Task
It's a regular workday for an elderly Cuban guard, and there's not much going on until a young filmmaker points her camera at him.
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