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Salut les Cubains
Hello Cubans
During her vacation in Cuba in 1963, four years after Fidel Castro came to power, Agnès Varda made a photo report about Cuban society and culture after the revolution. As the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos didn’t grant her permission to shoot a film, instead, back home, she worked with her thousands of pictures.
This delightful black-and-white composition, described by Varda as “a mixture of socialism and cha-cha-cha,” makes the edit resemble a choreography and intermingles the photos with catchy Cuban rhythms. Varda also exploresthe effects of the revolution on Cuba's people.
Bio Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda (1928-2019) was a Belgian-born French film director. She studied Art History at the École du Louvre and photography at the École des Beaux-Arts but also held a Bachelor’s in Literature and Psychology from the Sorbonne. While working as a photographer, Varda became interested in making a film, even though she knew little about the industry. Varda’s feature film debut was La Pointe Courte (1955), but her film Cléo de 5 à 7 (1961) established her name and became a landmark of the French New Wave. Varda wanted to make films in line with her time, rather than focusing on traditions or classical standards.
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- This film was #78 in the “Greatest” Short Films of All Time 2025