The Padilla Affair
(El Caso Padilla)
Pavel Giroud | Documentary
2022 | 78 minutes | Spain, Cuba
A startling documentary about the poet Heberto Padilla that opens a window into the past and offers insights into Cuba’s current crisis.
Synopsis
In the spring of 1971 in Havana, poet Heberto Padilla is released from prison and attends a Cuban writers’ guild meeting. During the gathering, he delivers what he describes as a “heartfelt self-criticism,” admitting to being a counterrevolutionary agent and accusing many colleagues, including his wife, of the same offense.
A month earlier, Padilla’s arrest for endangering the security of the Cuban state had sparked a global response from the intellectual community. Supporters, who had previously sympathized with Fidel Castro, wrote a letter demanding the poet’s freedom. Padilla’s only “sin” was expressing dissent and criticism through his poetry.
The Padilla Affair, punctuated by interventions from Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jorge Edwards, Carlos Fuentes, and Fidel Castro, stands as an astonishing documentary. It provides a window into exploring facets of Cuba’s history that continue to resonate in the present.
Reviews
“The filmmaker manages to turn the viewer into a detective and editor of the film. Has Heberto Padilla been brainwashed? Pure manipulation? Survival? Real change of heart? The Padilla Affair refuses to remain silent in the face of the injustices of any regime disrespectful of true democracy and the necessary freedom of creation. Pure and raw cinema depicting reality.” — Carlos Loureda, Fotogramas
“The Padilla Affair is beautiful and chilling, and as historical as it is contemporary. It may well be the most original documentary of the year.” — Ruby Rich, Film Quarterly
“A fascinating and grotesque political theater, as a histrionic poet, hitting key beats – his selfishness, smugness and vanity – proves incapable of avoiding contradictions while calling on his dissident friends, including his own wife, writer Belka Cuza Malé, to come to the table and recant with him.” — John Hopewell, Variety
“The unedited footage of Padilla’s self-criticism— it is truly horrifying. Giroud further supplements Padilla’s punishing speech with archival news and interview footage that adds relevant context, drawn straight from other primary sources. Very highly recommended.” — J.B. Spins
“A luminous and at the same time disturbing portrait, exposing one of the darkest episodes in exercising totalitarianism.” — Alejandro Alemán, El Universal
“Director Pavel Giroud reconstructs and uncovers, with sharp lucidity, one of the worst totalitarian charades in the intellectual history of our continent. ” — Ernesto Diezmartinez, Letras Libres
“A very harsh and disturbing portrait of fear.” — Elsa Fernández Santos, El Pais
Citation
Main credits
Giroud, Pavel (film director)
Giroud, Pavel (screenwriter)
Rodríguez, Lia (film producer)
Padilla, Heberto (on-screen participant)
Other credits
Editing, Pavel Giroud; music, Pablo Cervantes.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Activism
Caribbean Studies
Culture + Identity
Fascism + Repression
History
Human Rights
International Relations
Literature
Political Science
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
Telluride Film Festival; San Sebastian International Film Festival Film Festival; International Film Festival Panama, Miami International Film Festival - Documentary Achievement Award; It's All True Doc Film Festival; BAFICI Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema; Jeonju International Film Festival, Costa Rica International Film Festival - Best Feature of Central America and the Caribbeans; Filmfest München; Lima International Film Festival
DIRECTOR: Pavel Giroud
NATIONALITY: Spain, Cuba
YEAR: 2022
GENRE: Documentary
LANGUAGE: Spanish; English; French; Other languages; Russian
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE
Existing customers, please log in to view this film.
New to Pragda? Register to request a quote.
Related Films
Tania Libre
Tania libre
Lessons for Luca
Horizons
Horizontes
On the Roof
El techo
On the Starting Line
La arrancada
A History of an Assignment
Istoria odnoi komandirovki
Fidelandia: Behind the Curtain of Cuba's Revolution
The Companion
El acompañante
Everybody Leaves
Todos se van
Related Collections
Repression and Resistance
An exploration of Spain and Latin America’s authoritarian regimes and the movements that fought against them.
Number of titles: 91
SEE COLLECTION >