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El Moro:
The Price of disdain
Surelys Vega Isás
Assistant Director, Cuban Television
Havana, Cuba
Eric Fidel Toledo Acevedo
Instructor, Physical Education
Havana, Cuba

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Independent filmmakers don’t only find
themselves threatened by the authorities,
but a large part of the population refuses to
collaborate with them, too. This is due to a
number of reasons among them a fear of
telling the truth, that their way of thinking
or what they truly believe will be divulged.
They tend to be fearful of speaking publicly
and telling the world what they think because they could suffer reprisals or other
unfortunate consequences against themselves or a family member. The first thing
they ask is one is to which organization the
film crew belongs, to find out how to behave during the interview.

One runs the risk of being questioned by
the local authorities and then prohibited
from carrying out one’s work. In Cuba,
government institutions are the ones with
permission to film outside; this ensures that
they show what the State wants everyone to
see. On occasion, one cannot have what is
needed to carry out alternative projects, yet,
as usual, human ingenuity triumphs and
proves that you don’t need thousands of
dollars or professional equipment to
achieve goals. However, independent work
is prohibited due to fear that our true internal realities will be revealed.

Another difficulty rests on the fact that
some are ashamed of the poverty in which
they live, the bad conditions and lack of
hygiene, not of their own choice, but instead because they lack alternatives. There
are reasons that have brought them to this
situation, and often it has to do with governmental injustice with them. Thus, they
will not tell their truth and try to hide their
poverty so we cannot see it, even if they are
not to blame for it. Lastly, there is the marginality with which some of them opt to
live, thus separating themselves from the
rest of society: they adapt to this kind of
life.

During the filming
he recording of an independent
film outside in Cuba involves many
technical complexities, starting with
transporting personnel and procuring the
right equipment.

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