Cuba Gay Film ‘Chamaco’ Opens

HAVANA TIMES — The independent film Chamaco, directed by Juan Carlos Cremata, made it onto Cuban cinema screens on Monday — two years after the completion of its filming — to address the issues of male prostitution, homosexuality and police corruption in Cuba.

“With this film I’m championing not only the fight against homophobia, but also showing that one can make movies outside of the Cuban Film Institute that can be accepted,” said the director in an interview with the website of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX).

The film had circulated across the island “on terrible pirated copies,” and only now is it being screened in the cinema circuit. The delay in its release “had nothing to do with the content matter,” but production problems, said the director.

Cremata believes that today “there’s a lot more freedom to speak, not only politically, but socially, about these issues. People are more used to sharing their opinions, so the cinema has to speak to what people are talking about.”