ES / EN
Gustavo Arcos Fernández-Britto

Gustavo Arcos Fernández-Britto

Photo: Kaloian

Audiovisuals in Cuba: New conditions and old questions

The Decree-Law on Independent Filmmakers and Audiovisual Creators has finally been published, after its signing three months ago by the authorities. Starting September, when it takes effect and many of its indications can materialize, filmmakers, technicians or audiovisual artists can register, obtain filming licenses, apply to funds, open bank accounts, receive aid or financing from abroad and, of course, pay taxes like all those who work in the country’s growing private sector. The package is tempting, and many, rightly so, are happy about it. https://oncubanews.1eye.us/en/culture/cinema/cuba-approves-new-policy-for-independent-filmmaking/ This has been a long road that began in 2008, when a group of filmmakers presented at the 7th Congress of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) a document that called for the restructuring of the Cuban Institute of Cinema Art and Industry (ICAIC) and the legalization of the increasingly widespread independent production in Cuba. Although it was approved by the plenary and the committees that backed it, the request was stalled, until in 2013 more than a hundred creators, annoyed by the state of affairs related to the sector, spontaneously met to ask for a law on cinema and a complete revision of the structures and regulations that regulated the island's...