A ‘Cazuela’ for young audiovisuals in Cuba

By Alejandro Suárez Placeres, Staff Writer

Translated from Spanish by Amanda Olmo Infante

There is a history of humanity that does not appear in the great volumes of universal history. It is a more intimate story but one that must also be told. The history of books is a concatenation of facts - lifeless facts - however, this intimate history of which I now write is the history of how man feels, lives, and appreciates these facts. That intimate, more human, and perhaps more authentic story is art. Its manifestations are pieces of the truth of man, of what he feels, as well as something universal. Where there are men there is art. And it is perhaps the universal way of saying that we exist.

Of course, the cinematographic arts are no exception. It can be said of cinema that it is a manifestation that in itself contains a whole world. All kinds of stories have been transmitted through the big screen, from those that try to be faithful to reality to the most unlikely ones, over the years, it has been possible to penetrate the deepest human feelings.

The history of this genre on the island dates back to the beginning of the 20th century, and to date has continued important productions. However, the most innovative audiovisual production in the Cuban cultural scene requires special attention, which is already rich in its composition. In these lines I want to talk about the work of some of the youngest representatives of this demonstration in Cuba: the boys from "La Cazuela," a developing audiovisual project.

The objective of "La Cazuela" is the production of audiovisuals in any of their variations, while always maintaining each's own personal style. Regarding the name of the project, which means “casserole” in Spanish, Alejandro Pérez Frenes, one of its members, said that it was chosen because of how suggestive it was. Additionally, it was chosen because it is present in the daily life of Cubans, something that the members of “La Cazuela” always seek to reflect in their own achievements.

Of course, artistic achievement and growth is never easy; even more so on the island, where independent production becomes very complex due to the lack of the support of any institution -  which, among others, has complicated the development of independent cinema within Cuba. “La Cazuela” is not exempt from such a mishap; several technological challenges hurt them. The lack of various equipment that is essential for production, such as good cameras, stabilizers, lights, and the lack of funds and financing, have made the path of these young people, in a certain way, tortuous. Despite these problems they do not take a break from their work, they put effort into it and move on, driven by creativity and the desire to produce.

The project has its own way of functioning in creative work, for its interior it is like a triad: two directors and one producer: Alejandro Pérez Frenes, Raycel Rodríguez and Yordan Rodríguez respectively, so the leadership of the group falls on these three, who are also the creative source of La Cazuela.

The members see independent audiovisual production as the creative space for excellence - far from the measure that large production companies often demand, who seek commerciality as a central point. Hence it is an open field for experimentation, and with that, through the cameras, La Cazuela shows how they understand the world. Of course, it is not that they find an enemy there in the big producers, but they are, and even more so from Cuba, difficult to access. In another sense, independent production brings them even closer to the community. They seek to reflect the everyday; and thus each production becomes a heritage of the locality and current testimony of a historical moment and a specific aesthetic.

The work and style they have been creating is nourished in part by the complementary lives of the project members, since they are university students from the most dissimilar careers, in addition to the influences they have. The brand of heavyweights in international film production is notable in their work, such as Alfred Hitchcock or Quentin Tarantino; however, they are nourished by cinema in general, regardless of genre or era. Among their references, it is worth highlighting three greats of Cuban cinema, for whom they feel great devotion: Tomás G. Alea, Santiago Álvarez and Juan Carlos Tabío. In addition to drawing on other branches of art, especially music and literature.

Several audiovisual productions have been the work of La Cazuela. However, they give special importance to promotional work for Red & White, a local bar of El Rancho, which was very popular with the public for its use of humor, and reached all parts of the country. In addition, they fondly remember, as the one they have liked the most to do so far, the video clip of the song “Respira” by Kábala feat. Kamancola, whose production was much more extensive and more open to experimentation, which also earned them a nomination at the Lucas Awards, the highest competition of the genre in Cuba.

Let us hope that La Cazuela pleasantly surprises us with upcoming productions, which will enchant us once again with its particular humor, or with an unexpected suspenseful scene.

For now, I leave you what they told me when I questioned them about their future plans:

“Go forward and do not stop, the road is long and happiness is short ... but above all else: film!”