Global Film Community Denounces US Aggression and Affirms Cuba's Cultural Role
Filmmakers from various countries repudiated the new measures of the US government against Cuba, according to a proclamation published today on the Facebook site of the Havana Film Festival.

"We who belong to the great family of cinema express our rejection of the aggressions and threats against the people of Cuba, of whom we feel a part," states the text signed by renowned intellectuals from around the world.

Context of the US Executive Order
The document recalls the words of the US president, who considered the Caribbean island "an unusual and extraordinary threat" in his most recent executive order establishing tariff sanctions for countries that supply it with oil.

Trump stated that with his government's new measures, "Cuba will not survive."

"But here we are, to affirm that what is unusual and extraordinary about Cuba is its generosity, its dignity, and its ability to bring us together to dream and think, as a Great Homeland, of a more just and more humane world," emphasize the filmmakers who signed the letter.

Cuba as an Extraordinary Source for Cinema
In their opinion, the Antillean nation is an extraordinary source of light for cinema and audiovisual media, having sheltered dozens of exiled and persecuted filmmakers, offered spaces, talent, and selfless collaboration to hundreds of films and creators from all over the world.

The declaration recalls that for 46 years, thousands of cinephiles and filmmakers have gathered in December to celebrate New Cinema at the Havana Festival.

"Thousands of filmmakers have passed through the classrooms of the International School of Film and Television since its founding in 1986, developing critical and emancipatory perspectives and voices.

"An immense network of creators, educators, and researchers has grown around the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema, which, from Cuba, forges memory and meaning for the continent's cinema," signifies the proclamation.

A Global Inspiration, Not a Threat
According to the message, for the entire world, Cuba is an inspiration, never a threat.

"Therefore, the men and women of cinema who join this proclamation reject the intention of the Donald Trump government to besiege and darken Cuba to subjugate it; and just as we have received the unusual and extraordinary solidarity of Cuba, we now raise our voices to defend it," the text points out.

For intellectuals such as filmmakers Jorge Sanjinés (Bolivia) and Tristán Bauer (Argentina), actor Damián Alcázar (Mexico), and documentary filmmaker Yanara Guayasamín (Ecuador), among many other signatories of the letter, "Cuba will survive, and the hope of the world will survive with it."