Category: Havana

Really interesting documentary about the Cuban government’s push for tackling climate change. They formed Tarea Vida, or Life Task, as a strategic plan for dealing with climate change in both the short and long term in 2017.

Unlike in most places where the populace is desperately crying out for their government to do something, Cuba’s dynamic is reversed. Climate change was taken seriously by the government there, perhaps because its unique political outlook recognised that environmental destruction was an obvious consequence of capitalist exploitation. Perhaps because it has highly educated population who are more likely to be scientifically literate. Perhaps because, as a country, it punches drastically above its weight in terms of its scientists, especially in biological sciences. Perhaps because there is less of a sense of scientists forming part of an elite, remote from the general population, and therefore more likely to retain public faith and credibility. Whatever the reason, convincing the state that action needed to be taken on climate change was not the struggle it has been elsewhere.

In fact this film shows how the government is leading on this issue, and part of their work is ensuring that everyone in society understands how this will impact them directly. This is not viewed as a scientific issue which requires a technological response. It is viewed as a life-and-death issue, which requires a social response. The attitude of the state is that what is at stake is nothing less than the existence of the island itself, and human life on it.

The challenge is on how to filter down that political will into action on the ground. A big task considering it impacts on virtually every aspect of life. The first step is awareness, understanding what climate change is, and how it is responsible for some of the events which are happening now. So there are school programs, incorporating teaching about the natural world and how climate change influences it. But also after-school groups where kids work on projects to do with the environment, whether that is as simple as a litter pick, or something more involved like a school garden.

It also has to involve the world of work, every sector of the economy, and food production. Weirdly, the absolute shitshow Cuba’s economy became after the fall of the Soviet Union actually has some positive legacy in that area, because people have been encouraged to cultivate urban gardens for food self-sufficiency since the 90s. So it’s really a matter of getting their environmental impact down to as close to zero as possible.

Cuba’s contribution to global emissions is less than 1%, but the impetus there to reduce their emissions is huge. Because despite being the minority of the problem, they are feeling the effects of climate change already. The coastline is eroding and the sea level is rising. As a long, skinny island with a high percentage of their surface area in contact with the coast, this literally means seeing the island disappear. Entire communities, villages, settlements, are just going underwater every year.

And that’s the challenge, because although there is government willingness to build new homes inland and move people away from the coast, there is a reluctance in parts of the population to go. We meet one fisherman who says, when it floods, he just takes the front and back door off, and moves his furniture upstairs. He says if there is one brick left standing after the flood, he will rebuild. He ain’t going nowhere.

And that’s what you’re seeing, people are already adapting to the effects of climate change. Life Task isn’t just focused on prevention, as Cuba’s aware that if they cut emissions to zero, and the rest of the world continues to produce them, then, in the words of one scientist, “we’ll all still die”. Plus damage has already been done, even without it being an irreversible change. So many of the projects and provisions are focused on how to we protect ourselves from unpredictable weather effects and rising sea levels, that are already having an impact upon people.

So there is some good news, even with this first phase taking place during the Covid pandemic and increased American sanctions. Farmers are diversifying their crops and taking measures to deal with the floods and droughts brought about by rainfall instability. Since the revolution, Cuba has doubled the area of forests on the island, helping prevent soil erosion. Things are moving in the right direction.

It’s heartening to actually see real progress happening at a national level. And while this whole film is about the challenges, it is also about not declaring defeat just because the odds are against you.

Really interesting collection of shorts from Cuba Platform and Claudia Claremi’s The Woodland.

The Woodland is this really beautiful short film, showing a grandpa out walking with his young granddaughter in the woods of Cuba. He encourages her curiosity and engagement with the forest, its trees, shrubs and plants. She plays with the ferns that drop their leaves when touched, giving each one a bop and saying, “Bedtime!” It is so sweet. The grandfather tells her all about the huge variety of trees and plants, their medicinal uses, their natures and their resilience. He describes himself as a resilient tree, for all that has befallen him in his long lifetime, yet here he is standing. He describes the difference between good and bad trees, those whose properties are healing rather than poisonous. He fills his granddaughter with all his wisdom and knowledge, seeing in her the intelligence and compassion which will put it to good use, and carry it on to the future. He says he thinks she will grow up to be a good tree.

Cuba Platform’s collection of short films focus on different people’s implementation of environmentally conscious practices into their own lives. The first looks at Velo Cuba, a bike shop run by women, who promote and encourage cycling as sustainable travel. They sell bikes on a sliding scale according to means, and offer free kids classes, teaching local kids how to cycle. They offer bike rentals and do repairs. Everything is geared around showing how cycling can be the best solution, both environmentally and financially.

The second looks at a woman who got into recycling paper. Almost by accident, she was looking for a job that would allow her to stay close to home after the birth of her first child, and she ended up making paper products, like piñatas and pokes and what have you. When a client suggested she use recycled paper, she had to educate herself on the whole process. But she got really into it, building her own workshop in her back yard, and ended up focusing solely on that. It was really interesting to see the process. I’d never seen how you make recycled paper by hand before, but it’s less daunting than you’d expect. A process more about patience than fancy equipment. She effectively puts soaking wet paper scraps in a blender with the glue from boiled rice. Then empties it into a basin and sifts the mulch onto a thin frame. Then comes the tricky part, flattening and squeezing out the water, for which she uses cloth and a vice press. Once it’s sufficiently dry, she hangs it up from the workshop rafters to return to that crisp paper you recognise. It’s been so successful she’s been able to hire her retired aunt and uncle to help her cope with demand. She looks really pleased, obviously getting a real sense of satisfaction from what she does.

The third looks at a carwash run with recycled water. Think of how much water is used in carwashing. This carwash uses filtered rainwater as well as recycled water to reduce the amount of water consumed. They also recycle oil, ensuring that car oil doesn’t just end up being poured down a drain and ending up in the sea. 1 litre of oil can pollute 100 litres of ocean water, so it all makes a difference in keeping Cuba’s seas healthy.

The fourth film is about an academic who decides to put into practice what he’s been researching about agriculture. He becomes a farmer, starting from scratch. He learns everything he knows about it from his 70-year-old neighbour, who shares with him a wealth of practical knowledge. The auld yin even knows the best place to dig a well, and helps him chip it out with a pickaxe over the course of 7 months. I mean, it really does put you to shame to see this older guy, still lithe and wiry at 70, smash through rock with a pickaxe, while you watch it thinking about how stiff you’ll be getting out this chair. Like, this guy’s from a generation made of sterner stuff. He looks like the kinda guy who, if a young yin jumped him, they’d just wake up with no memory of even being hit. Even elderly, pure muscle.

The last film is about a couple who open an organic urban farm together. They talk about their journey to bring a successful yield, how their early days were full of trial and error. Sometimes it seems that no sooner do you have a solution to one problem, then another turns up. They had to figure out solutions to pests, weeds and moulds, all of whom were plaguing their first crops. But as time went on, a mixture of old knowledge and inspired solutions help them on their way to their now booming venture.

All these stories share the resourcefulness of the Cuban people, fixing problems and finding solutions with what is to hand. It is also about the conscientious conduct of ordinary people who have a sense of responsibility towards their communities today and the generations in the future. I loved the way it felt like we were maybe just turning a corner in Havana and stopping to hear the story of the person working there. A slice of life with environmental themes.

Fifth List is a documentary about fishing regulation in Cuba. No, wait, stay! I promise this film about fishing regulations is interesting!

Cuba has a pretty unique economic system in the modern world, for obvious historical reasons. Being so different from the one I’ve grown up with in Scotland, it can seem a bit mystifying. By focusing just on fishing, you get a window into the complex relationship between state and private capitalism.

The majority of fishing takes place for the state, but recent changes in government policy mean fisherman can sign up to the ‘fifth list’ which registers them for commercial fishing. I think though I’m still thinking of commercial fishing like what that phrase means in Scotland, conjuring up a business with a trawler, or fleet of trawlers, bring home daily massive catches, for processing and sale on an open market, both domestically and abroad. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about guys going out on something that is basically a rowboat with a vespa engine in it, and in some cases just hook and line fishing.

The state still owns all the capital, so the fisherman don’t technically own their boats, they are allocated a boat by the government. It may be theirs for life, but it never really belongs to them. Like when folk describe themselves as owning their own house when the mortgage means the bank technically owns their house until the day you pay your last penny on it.

If they want to repair their own boats, they have to put in paperwork requesting permission to repair it, and state exactly what they’re going to do. So if it starts making a funny noise, and you apply to tune up the engine, but get in there and find three or four things need fixed, you’ve got to reapply before you can make those changes. Which sounds like an arseache from here, I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be when it means the difference of you going to work that day or not.

Also, you don’t just come home with a bunch of fish and think, I’ll sell half to Captain Birdseye and half to Findus. All commercially caught fish also go back to the state, but like, it’s commercial wing. The best I can figure it, it’s like the difference between the BBC and BBC America, where one of them is allowed to sell ad time for profit. I mean, this film can tell you about how regulation of commercial fishing is going, it can’t explain to you how the entire economy works in Cuba. That would be a much longer film.

The fifth list was a way for the government to bring the black market in fishing into the open economy. People might always catch a little more than they were supposed to, and sell it on the sly to neighbours or whatever. A black market, even one as innocuous as fish, has a lot of corrupting effects, so it was seen as better to give it a legitimate outlet, even if that might have be problematic as well as a logistic nightmare. (Kinda like the WoW token created by Blizzard, if your frame of reference is less Krugman and more Gul’dan.)

Trouble is, it’s like inventing a private sector for an industry in the 21st century when you already have a fully realised economy that doesn’t really fit with what you are creating. So like, Cuba already has multiple policies on environmental protection, overfishing, and balancing fishing with coastal tourism. So you’re creating an industry after the regulations already exist. And without perhaps the infrastructure to get all this extra catch to where it needs to go promptly to stop that whole local black market thing taking hold.

Also, we all recognise here that if you have something that is driven by making money, you then need oversight to ensure it is complying with regulation. Cuba doesn’t really have that, because reigning in unethical practices in private business is just something they have no real experience in. Because work, as standard, is normally organised by the community or local administrative authorities, everything is geared around open communal activity. Private self-advancement is the exception, and they don’t really seem prepped for how that changes the way people view work and the opportunities it affords to get away with all kinds of shit. Just as an example, what’s the employment law around dismissal of pregnant employees? Who regulates health and safety compliance on a boat employing workers aimed at commercial activity? Like, Cuba doesn’t have that, all that infrastructure for chasing up shitty behaviour.

And right now the big emphasis in Cuba is on tackling climate change. So you have the creation of national parks which include waterways and coastlines. Fishing is not permitted there, or within the areas allocated for tourist use. Yet there isn’t something basic, like an off-season, ensuring fishing is prohibited during breeding season. So on one level you have quite detailed policies on climate change impacts for the industry, and on the other hand you don’t have even some of the basics to protect its sustainability in place. It’s all very patchwork.

And that’s what this film covers, (see, told you it was interesting) the range of opinion among fisherman about what the fifth list should look like and what it should do, which regulations would be welcome in protecting the industry for the livelihood of communities and future generations and which are needless red tape. Some are fully on board with being environmentally compliant, but feel like their expertise, or awareness of how problems play out on the ground, isn’t being brought into consideration, and used to inform policy. Some feel like the state has not fully explained its reasoning behind its environmental policies, or the concept of climate change, and that leaves them aggrieved that the regulations seem arbitrary and punitive.

How Cuba develops the fifth list, and gets them on board with the protection of their own industry and own fishing grounds is a huge challenge. Honestly, really interesting film. One of those documentaries that makes you realise how much more you have to learn.

Cuba: Living Between Hurricanes proves you don’t need a high budget to produce an informative documentary. Just point and shoot and tell your story.

The film focuses on Caibarien, a port along the coast of Cuba, telling through this one location, the history of climate change in Cuba. It is a disaster intrinsically linked to colonialism, racism, and the capitalist cycle of exploitation and consumption.

From its founding, Cuba was established as a project of resource extraction to meet the ambitions of Europe’s capitalist class. The slaves settled on the island were kept in a state of unending labour in an economy that was never geared around their needs. This meant all the decisions about the island were not made about what was best for the island, or its people, but the whims of rich, white people a world away. A dynamic I wish I could say died in the past.

But that meant the crops it grew, how the soil was treated, how the forests were managed, was all decided based on what was best for making money for the colonial power. As a result, you have deforestation, the mass cultivation of a single export crop, like sugar or coffee or tobacco, and the land becomes open, flat, and ecologically precarious. So the impact of hurricanes ceased to be an issue for those out on the seas, but spread inland, devastating the whole economy of the island.

Even as these overt systems like slavery and colonial control are dismantled, the power dynamics remain. Modern economic markets such as tourism replicate this, with the caprices of white Europeans catered to by the native populace, providing a playground of luxurious indulgence while the needs of country’s people and environment takes a backseat.

The story in Caibarien is the story globally, that environmental life-sustaining systems were deprioritised consistently until eventually its results became unignorable. Hurricanes became more and more intense, coming with devastating frequency. Other effects like droughts followed by floods also became regular in their appearance.

The challenge of how to tackle this is one that is being positively engaged with by the Cuban government, but it remains an ongoing problem. Climate change requires such a major change in global economics that it’s limited what small island nation can do by itself. Still, moves towards more environmentally conscious practice in all industries, including eco-tourism, are already having local impacts.

Really interesting documentary exploring Cuba’s past and present through the lens of environmental damage and restoration.

I need to stop greeting at these films. Sacha: A Child Of Chernobyl is a short documentary following up with the children who were taken to Cuba for medical treatment after exposure to radiation following the Chernobyl disaster.

When Chernobyl exploded, becoming history’s greatest radiation disaster, the resultant fallout produced illnesses and cancers of all kinds in the people in the surrounding area. Ukraine’s health system was overwhelmed, and the Soviet authorities turned to one of the few places they could trust for help.

Cuba, with a world-renowned health system, took in thousands of children for treatment. Kids with rare cancers, skin conditions and maladies. All received free chemotherapy, surgery, and psychological help. There was a huge complex at Tarara, where in addition to the hospital, there was housing for the mothers and fathers accompanying their kids. It also had a beach, and green spaces, places for the kids to play and give them back a piece of their childhood. Workers there helped with household chores, so parents could focus solely on supporting their child, and therapists helped organise one-to-one and group sessions to keep the children’s morale up.

It moves you to tears to hear the gratitude of the mothers. Their kids lives were saved, their health restored, all for free, from strangers on the other side of the world. One woman tells how her son went deaf, and in Cuba he received hearing aids and treatments which restored some of his hearing. He was able to participate in society, grow up and get an education, work and provide for his family, and give his mother grandkids. None of that, she says, would have been possible without the kindness of the people of Cuba. And Sacha, the boy of the title, received chemotherapy for his pituitary tumour, and was given every encouragement to recovery, eventually growing up and becoming a dentist, and giving back to Cuba’s healthcare system.

It’s unreal, what can be done when we focus our efforts into kindness and solidarity instead of division and greed. A really moving chapter of Cuba’s history.

Day of the Flowers is about two Scottish sisters travelling to Cuba to scatter their estranged dad’s ashes. Rosa is a crunchy activist, who has taken all the idealism of her father’s early years, romanticising his time spent doing solidarity work in Cuba when her parents were first married. Ailie is a stylish good-time girl, who got used to the middle class lifestyle their dad drifted into as he aged and their mother died. The hurt and rejection they both feel from their father’s estrangement after their mother’s death, and his remarriage to the quintessential evil stepmother, stands as a barrier between them, and they struggle to rejoin for this last filial duty.

Rosa is kinda the problem character in the movie. She’s a passionate advocate for social and economic justice, but a real arseache with it, self-righteous and judgemental of others. She espouses collectivism but won’t take help from anyone, is stubborn and defiant in her mistakes, and goes on the attack to hide a deep loneliness and a fear that she may have lost the ability to trust anyone enough to love again. Her pig-headedness drives a lot of the plot, starting with her stealing her father’s ashes to stop him being made into a golf trophy (lol!)

Carlos Acosta plays her love interest, the obviously right choice who is everything she wants, that she spends most of the movie running away from. She spends all her time proving that she doesn’t need him, to the detriment of no one but herself.

The film is kind of her journey demythologising Cuba, and demythologising her parents. Coming to realise that she has heavily invested in her self-image and based it on flawed assumptions, and set her sister up as the antagonist in a story Ailie never agreed to join in on. As she begins to see Cuba for what it is, beautiful, but a place, not a paradise, she can begin to be more forgiving of the actuality of others and herself.

Also, and this doesn’t get said enough, Carlos Acosta is smoking hot in this. I mean, and absolute PHWOAR! of a man.