Diaries

My Students’ Film Assignments

Talent still comes to the fore and gold nuggets twinkle in the trash. In the audiovisual and graphic production course I teach, I asked my students to put together an educational spot on a subject of their choosing as an assignment.

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A Rock Band Very Few Know in Cuba

Cuarteto de Nos is an Uruguayan rock band that made a very powerful first impression on me with their music video – the only one I’ve seen, in fact – for the song Ya no se que hacer conmigo (“I No Longer Know What to do With Myself”), from the album Raro (“Weirdo”).

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Would Cubans Choose Annexation or Independence?

In recent years, the citizens of Puerto Rico and the Falkland Islands (a.k.a Islas Malvinas) were consulted regarding the status of their respective territories. Both preferred annexation or integration to a First World metropolis over independence. If Cuba were granted the possibility of choosing, what would its citizens decide?

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What Future Awaits the World?

Just when we thought the Cold War was over and the world would start moving towards global denuclearization, along comes this bit of news to give us yet another cause for concern, feeding our worries about the United States’ already dangerous practice of trying to impose like-minded and submissive governments around the globe through the use of force.

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Cuba’s Elderly: Protecting the Last Leaf

In The Last Leaf, the ill person, who would look out the hospital window from her bed and see how the winter winds stripped the leaves off an old climbing plant, became obsessed with the idea that her life would end when the creeper’s last leaf fell.

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Caracas Fire Fighters to the Rescue

I’ll make a point of looking at the pine tree facing my room more often. Actually, I already do this several times a day. It’s something unavoidable for me: I sit down in front of the computer to get some work done, look out the window and set my eyes on the pine tree. (16 fotos)

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An Underdeveloped New Year’s in Havana

A year ends and another one begins – such is the circle of life. I often wonder why people congratulate one another on the street. Is it to celebrate the fact we are still alive? If that’s the reason, I can understand that.

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On Cuban Blogger Yoani Sanchez’ Silence

Some time ago, in 2011, when blogger Yoani Sanchez was being vilified and celebrated with equal hysteria, I commented that what was truly valuable about her blog, Generation Y was the effectiveness of its message regarding Cuba’s Kafkaesque and uncivil reality.

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Learning to Say Goodbye

I had recent news of two deaths; one at the end of last year and the other early this year. First came the death of brother of a good friend who lives in the United States, then the mother of Veronica, my friend and colleague.

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