BRATTLEBORO — Cuban cinema has a rich history, and social commentary has always found a way into drama, but Cuban director Ernesto Daranas' Conducta (Behavior) catapults current filmmaking from the country into a whole new dimension.
The film rumbles quietly with the subtext of the changes afoot in Cuba today. For some, these changes present new opportunities. For others, like Chala, Conducta's troubled but lovable 11-year-old protagonist in danger of slipping through the cracks, change exacerbates current problems and brings uncertainty about the future.
The world is changing, but for Chala's aging teacher Carmela, in an impeccable performance by Alina Rodriguez - one of Cuba's most celebrated stars of stage and screen, who died this summer - old truths ring true.
Truths like sometimes a kid with problems at home needs a little special care, a little slack. Or sometimes it might be better to look the other way when a girl wants to attend school despite the fact that her father has carried her (in this case, in his cart) to Havana illegally hoping to find work. (Dubbed “Palestinians” in Cuba, the father and daughter represent the increasing number of Cubans illegally migrating from the countryside to the cities.)
Or allowing the children to share small comfort from a tiny Madonna that the same little girl pins to the wall in the classroom as a tribute to a classmate who dies, even though such symbolism is strictly forbidden in the Cuban school system (much to the chagrin of the Catholic church).
The aging Carmela embodies the strong moral compass of the Revolution, but she's wise enough to bend the rules when they don't make sense. In so doing, she embodies a central irony of the Cuban situation as she argues with younger colleagues who try to enforce the rules, only to find themselves caught in a maze of contradictions that epitomize the country today.
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Actress Idalmis Garcia, who is coming to Brattleboro to participate in the screening and other Cuba-themed events at this year's festival, says playing Mercedes, the young director of the school where Carmela works, was a real challenge.
“Carmela was Mercedes' teacher back when she attended the school, so she must show respect and friendship but also carry out the rules in Cuba's very complicated system. She has to preside over a process where grievances are brought forward and everything is discussed,” Garcia said.
“I went back to my old school to do some research because Mercedes is so different than me. She is committed to following the plans. She is brave [and] she takes risks, but she also has to give orders. And me, I don't like to be in charge!”
The 33-year-old Garcia did, in fact, take charge of her career when she moved to New York a couple of years ago to broaden her acting options. She is now part of the Repertorio Español theater in Manhattan.
Garcia said Conducta has kept a remarkably steady presence in the global festival circuit since its 2014 launch. She noted that the film had provoked a lot of discussion in Cuba for its honest depiction of the challenges that many on the island face.
“It had people lining up outside the theaters to see it, which hasn't happened to a film for a long time, so that's something really great,” she said, adding that it was a real joy to work with a cast of completely first-time child actors, especially Conducta's lead, Armando Valdes Freire, who was chosen to play Chala from 3,000 boys who tried out for the role.
When we spoke last week, she had just returned from her first trip back to Cuba in two years.
“These are very challenging times in Cuba,” she said. “But I have a lot of freedom to move back and forth and pursue my dream which is to work as an actress where I can. The education I got in Cuba was really great and prepared me to move out in the world, but I love my country.”
From the poignant relationships delivered by excellent actors like Garcia, working with a first-rate script set in the faded grandeur of the inimitable city of Havana, Conducta audiences are likely to come out loving it, too.