The young Guantanamo filmmaker Daniel Ross Diéguez (Darode) has done it again. With his inventive genius, he filmed the first fiction feature film made in Guantánamo: La Espera (The Wait), a piece that will also have its launch at the Yale Latin and Ibero-American Festival in the United States from November 9 to 13.
This is the first film in which the actors, the soundtrack and the stories are from the province. Regarding the upcoming premiere, a dialogue was held with the director, who acts as director and screenwriter. An all terrain.
“I planned the wait, from the script, to do it with Regino Rodríguez Boti and the plastic artist Ramón Moya because they are the characters I wanted; I only incorporated circumstances opposite to those they live normally. I worked with people who are not actors in search of naturalness and also because from their reality I can build what I want. Nor did he want to condition the tone in the dialogues. I needed something more relaxed and indigenous”.
In The Wait, the stage is the house of the poet Regino E. Boti and features the leading role of his grandson, Regino Rodríguez Boti.
“As a project from the beginning it was subject to change. Many friends promised to participate. There is a character played by rapper Sandy David González (Solda2 Razo) who was going to be recorded by a contemporary with Regino, but could not, so Sandy accepted and assumed the role of a civil worker from the Border, who will try to save the protagonist from suicide ”.
“The film deals with the life of Regino, who is widowed and who cannot resist living without his wife. As part of his routines, he lays his wife's dress on the bed, waiting for her return in a miraculous gesture. He is traumatized, but struggles with depression and the possibility of losing memories of his beloved; he constantly seeks the salvation of her lonely and pain-filled existence. This sometimes leads him to consider suicide”, says Darode.
The film, according to Ross, takes place at the El Cuero farm, on the edge of the Guantánamo naval base, where the character is constantly surprised by the explosion caused by those who try to leave the country, but who, in turn, leave in a symbolic way in front of Regino's door the shoes and other belongings that accumulate on the roof of the house.
An important role is played by Ramón Moya, a kind of spiritual adviser who accompanies the protagonist with yoga therapies and entertains him.
“Between fright, laughter, pain and depression, the story will move, whose atmosphere is enriched with the matchstick models of the plastic artist Geny Jarrosay and the portraits I made in times of COVID.”
“The soundtrack merges with the narrative of the film. The violin solos of Sarbelio Matos, the tres and the voice of the late Omar Asín and the caverchelo of Pedro Caverdós mark key moments. Nostalgia comes through the music of troubadour Josué Oliva, who gives voice to the character's silence. He also used the sonority of traditional groups as suggested by flutist Grettel Pozo. All the pieces are from Guaso”, it means.
The outstanding dramatic theater director Amaranto Pérez Ramos and the dancer Yoel Gonzáles also collaborated on the film, the latter ceding, together with David Fernández Babastro, the main theme of the film that is repeated in several moments of the audiovisual.
"The film is my contribution to Cuban independent cinema - says Daniel Ross - I had no other financing than my own, my desire to create stories, and the invaluable contribution of all the participants."
“The fundamental challenge has been the promotion of the work. I was surprised to learn that I will be able to premiere it at the Yale Film Festival, it will help to test its level and rigor. In addition, the film was selected for three other foreign festivals that will take place in 2023.”
When creating The Wait, Ross assures, the aspiration is not to win any award, but rather to make his art visible and exposed to the world, to show how from here a cinema is made with few resources, but very rich when it comes to telling stories that entertain, educate They move, show the problems of each human being and help to understand them, above anything else.
Undoubtedly, this work will be a proposal to enjoy in Guantánamo, whose values are highlighted by Santiago researcher Yasmani Castro: “It has great lyricism, in a Tarkovskyian way it develops a complex plot where loneliness, emigration and the multiple difficulties of Cuban society are are beautifully and coherently reflected. This film, beyond any comment, is very inspiring because it shows that in addition to difficulties, art always comes out ahead. In addition to being a tribute to the former Santa Catalina del Saltadero del Guaso”.
Dairon Martinez Tejeda
Photos: Courtesy of the interviewee