MIDNIGHT IN CUBA

This is a film montage of interviews and portraits of everyday life, featuring four young Cubans from different social backgrounds, living in or just outside Havana. Their individual trajectories, personal experiences and plans for the future combine to form the portrait of a "forgotten generation", which has been given the opportunity for the first time to air their views without fear of censorship. In the conversations with these young people, it becomes clear that they all persue a "dream" which helps them cope with the difficulties and disappointments of their everyday existence. Wendy, for example, is a talented dancer. She is determined to leave Cuba and fulfill her dream of a career in Spain, even though this will mean leaving the people she loves. Osiel is a boxer. He hopes he will one day be in a position to -literally- fight his way out of his poor background and be accepted by the Cuban Olympic team. Equis is an exponent of Cuba's bohemia. He has very romantic ideas and would love to travel the world as a rock star. Finally, sixteen-year-old Yaricel makes a living as a prostitute. She has struggled to come to the decision to stop lying, return to the village of her birth to tell her mother the truth about her existence. The image presented in this film is very different to the usual tales of dissidents trying to escape or the familiar scenes of huge political rallies, and it is precisely this realism and lack of sensationalism that convince the viewer that this is what Cuba is truly like today.