Monte Rouge
I previously looked at the factors contributing to the current state of independent Cuban cinema, which include the growing use of digital technology, as well as the need to skirt the official censorship of the industry. An increasing number of actors and industry employees take on projects at their own risk- even producers. They lend their talent and hard work regardless of whether the project is a success or not.
This passion for producing good work is evident in the case of the production company Sex Machine, whose provocative logo is the number 69.
The heart and soul of this production company is Eduardo del Llano, the director of a movie that was only in theaters a few days, and which was only shown to a select group of Communist Party activists: the mythic “Alice in Wonderland”.
Del Llano, along with Frank Delgado (the singer most followed by young Cubans), and the actors Luis Alberto Garcia and Nestor Jimenez, were the forces behind the company’s first production, "Monte Rouge”, a hilarious, provocative satire of the strict vigilance that the State Security apparatus holds over the Cuban people, looking at KGB methods adopted by Cuban state institutions. The movie has received much acclaim, both in Cuba and abroad.
Others who have participated in Sex Machine productions that take a close look at the reality in Cuba include Jorge Perugorria, Alberto Pujol, Adria Santana, Yuliet Cruz y Alexis Diaz de Villegas.
The film “Brainstorm” questions the rigidity and absurdity of official state journalism, though it also looks at non state-sponsored journalism as well. This movie made the journalists in questions pretty uneasy, but it also debuted to the delight of thousands of Cuban moviegoers.
Sex Machine has produced a total of seven movies to date: Monte Rouge, High Tech, Photoshop, Homo Sapiens, Intermezzo, Brainstorm and Pas de Quatre.
The films of Eduardo Del Llano at Sex Machine are the best example of independent Cuban cinema that seeks to improve the reality of the Cuban people. And it is for this reason that these films have a tough time finding an audience (all with zero institutional support). Nevertheless, these movies circulate around the island from flash drive to flash drive as secrets to be shared and discussed and debated among friends.
