Recording Reality from the Periphery. Exam of Independent Documentary in Eastern Cuba

Abstract

The article explores independent documentary production in East Cuba. It analyzes an ambience of creation that, in tis majority, have circulated outside the margins of the main audiovisual platforms in Cuba and, consequently, have been ignored by the Cuban film studies. First, it scrutinizes the context of documentaries in the Eastern region of the island and identifies the principal forms of audiovisual construction acting on the territory. Then, it inquiries the notions of independent cinema in the field of film studies, stablishes the main theoretical guides and point-outs theoretical manifestations on the Cuban ambience. Following, it formulates an operative conception of independent cinema adaptable to the filmmaking circumstances of media environments highly centralized. Finally, it determines the fundamental features that characterizes this form of documentary production in Eastern Cuba. The present text recognizes in independent documentary a dynamic form in transition.