Lessons for Luca

(Lessons for Luca)
Salvador Gieling | Documentary

2021 | 87 minutes | The Netherlands

In this mesmerizing family saga, a personal story is inseparably intertwined with the history of Cuba when a farmer gets a six-year sentence for selling his own cow.

Synopsis

Uncle Ezequiel is serving a six-year prison sentence. What crime did this Cuban farmer commit? Answer: He sold his own cow.

Filmmaker Salvador Gieling, a cousin-by-marriage, can’t get his head around it. And if he can’t, how will Luca – his two-year-old son and Ezequiel’s nephew – ever understand it? So Salvador and his wife Belga travel to the heart of the Cuban countryside and, together with the family members, undertake the almost impossible mission of trying to explain to their two-year-old son Luca the story of his uncle Ezequiel.

The film intertwines the country’s incredible history with truth-finding about Ezequiel’s case and the personal story of Belga (who managed to get out of Cuba). Bit by bit, the film reveals how the struggles of the protagonists are connected to a greater history and the same question that keeps coming up: “What does freedom mean?”

Lessons for Luca is also an affectionate family portrait, framed by the captivating music of cellist Ernst Reijseger, whose melancholy melodies are interspersed with playful moments and scenes that highlight the joy and vitality of life.

Citation
Main credits

Gieling, Salvador (film director)
Gieling, Salvador (screenwriter)
Lammertsma, Iris (film producer)
Koole, Boudewijn (film producer)

Other credits

Editing, Bobbie Roeloffs & Salvador Gieling; music, Ernst Reijseger.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
Cuba,family,justice,revolution,family,kin,fellowship,household,immediate family,extended family,multigenerational family,multigenerational household,kinfolk,family tree,genealogy,nuclear family,modern family,family tree,caribbean studies,the caribbean,caribeean sea,caribbean island,antigua and barbuda,bahamas,barbados,cuba,dominica,dominican republic,grenada,haiti,jamaica,saint kitts and nevis,st lucia,st vincent and the grenadines,and trinidad and tobago,anguilla,aruba,british virgin islands,caribbean netherlands,bonaire,sint eustatius,saba,cayman islands,curaçao,guadeloupe,martinique,montserrat,puerto rico,saint barthélemy,saint martin/sint maarten,turks and caicos islands,us virgin islands,immigration,migration,refugee,exile,border,illegal,migrant,immigrant,undocumented,deportation,naturalization,visa,green card,permanent,resident,citizenship,displacement,diaspora,resettlement,child,children,childhood,kid,girl,girlhood,boy,boyhood,teen,teenager,puberty,adolescence,adolescent,coming-of-age,minor,kiddo,kids,juvenile,stripling,moppet,tyke,tween,tot,toddler,sonny,girlie,underaged,dependent,youngster,infancy,babyhood,girlhood,boyhood,friendships,juvenescence,juvenility,springtime,early life,history,context,narrative,past,chronicle,lore,annals,historic,personal history,archive,record,saga,biography,memoir,study,criminal justice,crime,judiciary,police reform,corrections,criminal law,judicial system,justice department,prosecution,judgement,criminal law,courts and corrections,corrections institutes,education,school,pedagogy,schooling,elementary education,secondary education,upper education,advanced education,education gap,learning,schooling,university,college,degrees,high school,middle school,junior high school,public school,private school,independent school,elementary school,schooling,school policy,educational equity,,,,authority,authoritarianism,dictatorship,military regime,military government,fascism,repression,oppression,political oppression,political repression,far right,far right wing,modern fascism,sociology,anthropology,psychology,sociological,sociological perspectives,conflict theory,human conflicts,sociological thinking,conflict perspective,topics in sociology,sociology topics,sociology studies,social studies,people and cultures,human relations,human relationships,cultural studies,culture studies ; "Lessons for Luca"; Pragda Films
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Festivals

International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA; Hot Docs 2022;

DIRECTOR: Salvador Gieling

NATIONALITY: The Netherlands

YEAR: 2021

GENRE: Documentary

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School, College, Adult

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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