Women’s Stories, Family Memories

Pairing documentaries by Afro-Cuban women filmmakers Sara Gómez and Gloria Rolando, this program looks at storytelling as a form of memory, history, and political analysis. Recording interviews and testimonials in the 60s, 70s and early 2000s, both filmmakers reflect on family, class struggle, and culture while centralizing the intergenerational stories and experiences of multidimensional Black girls and women.

Followed by a conversation with series programmer Yasmina Price and curator, researcher, and activist Tarisse Iriarte

Dialogo con mi abuela (Dialogue with My Grandmother) (2014)
Dir. Gloria Rolando.
58 min, digital

A beautifully constructed love letter transforming a 1993 interview conducted by the Cuban filmmaker with her grandmother into a celebration of not only her grandmother’s legacy but also a tribute to the larger history, struggle, and tenacity of Afro-Cubans and Afro-Cuban women in particular.

Guanabacoa: Crónica de mi familia (1966)
Dir. Sara Gómez.
15 min, DCP

The prolific Cuban director Sara Gómez offers an honest portrait of her working class and middle class family in their hometown of Guanabacoa, weaving together the voices of her relatives, musical recordings, and photographs.

Mi aporte (My Contribution) (1972)
Dir. Sara Gómez
33 min, DCP

Commissioned by the Federation of Cuban Women, Gómez examined women’s entry into the workforce in postrevolutionary Cuba. Through testimonials and portraits, she turns a self-reflexive, critical, and direct lens on the ongoing process of revolution, during which aspirational ideals met real limitations.