East of Havana and West of Logic

I'll just say it: I expected a lot more from East of Havana, a documentary about "El Cartel", a group of rappers in Cuba. Directed by Jauretsi Saizarbitoria and Emilia Menocal and produced by Charlize Theron, the pivotal focus is the Special Period in the 1990's when the Soviet Union collapsed and the U.S. further tightened the embargo against Cuba. Thing is, in the documentary they forget to mention the tightening of the U.S. blockade and how it has affected life in Cuba. The focus instead is how bad Fidel is. Of course the filmmakers have every right to take their position, but it's not a complete, multifaceted picture.

We follow the three rappers and meet their families as they try to put together a rap festival. One rapper has had her brother jailed for stealing and her sister has been jailed for prostitution. Another lives with his grandfather and helps to take care of him. There are some spectacular shots of Havana and it's fascinating to see a new musical genre take its form in Havana--you know if Cubans do it, it'll be fantastic..... Inexplicably, the film loses it's focus as we meet the brother of one of the rappers, whose departure in the 1990's to the states caused the family much pain. Instead of watching the details of putting on an international rap festival we see him weeping over pictures of his family. It's heartbreaking but doesn't move the story along...

Charlize Theron and the directors were on hand to answer questions about the film. They've got the distribution deal & a book deal and it should be a big hit in Miami. Theron didn't go as far to say that the Blockade against Cuba should be lifted but she did make the point that censorship in the US also exists....the filmmakers also made the comment that everyone in Cuba goes to jail, but that's just ridiculous and irresponsible to say. While the film wasn't as nuts as Andy Garcia's The Lost City, it could have gone deeper.....