SONS OF CUBA

Director: Andrew Lang

I've been meaning to write a post about this doc/film for a while now. Ever since i saw the PBS documentary that this feature length film derived from i was pretty sure it would turn out to be a must see.
Cuba has dominated Olympic boxing for well over 20 years now, a fact that is no coincidence. Boxing is to Cuba as football is to Brazil, Boxing rings are to Cuba as Basketball courts are to inner-city America. The country has developed a passion for the sport only equalled by the passion they have for their leader, Fidel 'Commandante' Castro. The success of Cuba's Olympic Boxers is due in part to the fact that professional sports are deemed out the question in the land of socialism. Therefore what, for many Cuban boxers, would be a life of fame and fortune in the United States, turns out to be a life of very modest wealth and pride for ones country in Cuba.
The film follows the lives of three young boys as they train for eight greuling months at the prestigious Havana Boxing Academy in the hope of being selected to compete at Cuba's National U12's Boxing Championships.
The two stand-out characters in the film for me were Cristian (pictured above) a bright eyed kid, clearly the pride and joy of the academy and Santos (second from the left below). Crisitan seems suprisingly mature, despite the tears he conducts himself very sincerely with regard to training and seems to view Boxing as his duty in life as opposed to his passion. Santos is rather the opposite, much smaller than the other children (though with no less the talent) he struggles to keep up with the tough training regime which includes his greatest annoyance, dieting. However, despite such contrasting characters it's easy to see a little bit of us in each of these characters. The work ethic and heart of Cristian and the cheekyness of little Santos. Very early in the film you'll find yourself rooting for the boys already, as they win you over with that childhood charm that seems only to be heightened by them being children of the revolution.


The film deals with a variety of issues that you might come to expect of a film set in a socialist country that deals with abject poverty on a daily basis. Poverty is of course a main theme in regards to each child's family. Even so in the case of Santos and Cristian both of whom share the fact that their fathers were once championship boxers, (Cristian's an olympic gold medalist) this counts for nothing in the present. A present which involves a country's people living from food provided to them by their government. Socialism plays another pivotal role in the film and the young boy's lives. Scenes of propoganda and socialist chants are slightly uneasy. It is left up to the viewer whether the ideals and philosophy being presented to the children are in truth being presented, or forced upon them.
The theme that most stood out to me however was never actually addressed in the film, the theme of race. Cuba's most prominent figures including Fidel Castro and Ernesto 'Che' Guevera, have in the past made some fairly bigotted remarks despite Cuba's huge Mulatto and Black population. As someone with an interest in society and race relations I identified almost instantly that, 99% of, if not all of the young children at the academy, were black. White children were only spotted when the children attended school during the day. This begs the question, are Cuba's black children being led down a path of sports whilst Cuba's lighter population are nudged towards education. After all Che Guevara did make the comment that White people are more 'forward thinking' than their Black peers. This is a little off topic and the film in question is no where near aimed at addressing the subject. Therefore it would be unfair to make judgments based on the small amount of footage that relates to such a topic. Although one thing i will point out is that, (from a coloured perspective, yellow in this case) at points in the film, there does seem to be a certain amount of sidetracking going on. The young black boys (as well as the millions of other black boys all over Cuba) feel as though they are doing what is best for their country. They display such adoration for their leader that at times it seems as though they are being side-tracked from education and other sociological issues within the country. In a way ( i hate to put it like this) like a house slave (slavery days in the U.S, keep up!) conveying love and affection - through blind stupidy - at the master that enslaves them.


Though lets get off that topic as i am in no way comparing Cuba to modern day slavery nor am i suggesting that the boys in the Academy are all black for a reason. Cuba has the best literacy rates in the world. What Castro has done for that country is nothing short of amazing and i sincerely believe that if America and all her bitch ass minions were not enacting this trades embargo on Cuba, it would be one of the strongest economies in the world.
All in all, this is a heart warming, thought-provoking Film that Arthouse fans especially, will love.
At a time when the country is in slight disarray at the future of it's politics and beloved 'Commandante,' Lang manages to focus the plight of 3 young boys trying to do what so many have done before them. Will they make it?

A must see for all fans of; Boxing, Cuba, Latin America, Sociology, Arthouse films
To catch up with where the boys are now (once you've seen the film you will want to be doing this) check www.sonsofcuba.com/blog/

See below for some familiar faces: