New Film:
“1912, Voces para un silencio”
In October, Casa del Alba in Havana hosted the premier of the second part of the three-part documentary 1912: Voces para un silencio [1912: Breaking the Silence] by Gloria Rolando.
The documentary seeks to cover some antecedents in the history of the Afrocubans’ struggle for resistance, a necessary recapitulation which goes step by step down the path taken by the black movement in Cuba since colonial times, the struggle for independence, and the situation of Black Cubans once the Island of Cuba achieved its independence in 1902. The documentary makes references to important black leaders in Cuba from the nineteenth century, such as Juan Gualberto Gómez and Martín Morúa Delgado and discusses the importance of figures such as Antonio Maceo and Quintín Banderas.
At the recent screening of 1912 part two, Rolando expressed that she was happy about the presentation of the film, which includes testimonies of the family of Pedro Ivonet and opinions of prominent intellectuals, among them historian Eduardo Torres Cueva. The director explained that this history is a fascinating world and that the idea was not to remake a “Black” history in Cuba, but rather speak about a part of Cuba’s history. This second part presents the demonstrations and the struggles of Blacks organized under the Partido Independiente de Color [Independent Party of Color] from 1908 to 1912, in neo-Republican Cuba.
Rolando pointed out that she is preparing the third and last part of the series, which should be released in 2012, when Cuba celebrates the 100th anniversary of those events.
For full articles, see http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2011-09-16/presentan-capitulo-dos-del-documental-1912-voces-para-un-silencio/ and http://afrocubaweb.com/gloriarolando/breakingthesilence.htm
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By Gloria Rolando
1912, Breaking the Silence is the title for a project consisting of three chapters dedicated to the history of the Party of the Independents of Color (PIC). An approximation, a tentative sketch necessary for this little known part of Cuba's history. This is documentary material, intended to teach, whose principal resources are the voices of historians and Cuban cultural icons who in some way have taken up this theme as they express their ideas and conclusions. But this first chapter is an introduction to the theme which seeks to cover some antecedents in the history of Afrocubans' struggle for resistance, a necessary recapitulation which goes step by step down the path taken by the black movement in Cuba since colonial times, the struggle for independence and the situation of black cubans once the Island of Cuba achieved its independence in 1902. We make references to very important black leaders in Cuba from the nineteenth century, such as Juan Gualberto Gomez and Martin Morua Delgado. We talk about the importance ofAntonio Maceo and Quintin Banderas.
The voices, opinions, and commentaries are accompanied by images of documents, photos, and clippings from the press of that era. The objective of the first chapter is to answer two questions: 1) what did the Afrocubans do before the founding of the PIC? 2) Was the creation of a political party to represents Afrocubans necessary? This thought process, this exploration will continue in the subsequent chapters, especially in chapter 2. It has not been easy to establish an audiovisual language to present a series of historical events with so few resources. We have not used any fictional elements. We have fortified the sound track where you can hear music from rap to the traditional melodies of Cuban Trova and Punto Guajiro. This is a project dedicated to the young and to all those who want to take a look at the history of Cuba with the nuances of skin color, with the nuances of the injustice inherited from slavery and above all with the perspective of underlining, of highlighting the forgotten images and voices. The project in general is dedicated to Walterio Carbonell, Serafin Portuondo Linare, the leaders of the PIC -- Evaristo Estenoz y Pedro Ivonnet. We really appreciate in this project the voices of distinguished Cuban intellectuals who gave us their testimony: Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Fernando Martinez Heredia, Oilda Hevia, Nancy Morejon, Yoel Mourlot, Ricardo Riquenes, Tomas Fernandez Robaina, Alejandro de la Fuente, etc. From the United States joined the voices of professors Lisa Brock and August Nimtz to comment on some interesting aspects of the relations between Cuban and the US at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. This project does not pretend to have the last word on the 1912 theme. But we do intend to mobilize an audience step by step towards that year which should never be forgotten ever again in the history of Cuba, the Caribbean, and the Americas. The independent video group Images of the Caribbean makes available for your consideration this work done over the course of the last 6 years. Many were the persons and institutions who have collaborated from Cuba and other countries. However, we must recognize that the initial idea of grouping together some voices was that of professor Aline Helg, to whom I give thanks for that first impetus. One more time, the PIC theme came to be among my preoccupations as an Afrocuban artist -- the first time was with the short feature film, Roots of My Heart. It is therefore hard to quiet my own voice which has changed into a vehicle for redemption and justice. Thanks very much, Gloria Rolando, Havana, March 28, 2010.>via: http://afrocubaweb.com/gloriarolando/breakingthesilence.htm