Best Cuban drama movies

El brigadista (1978)

The Castro revolution was just consolidating its power when, in 1961, over 100,000 students were sent from their schools into the countryside to teach the peasants there how to read. Coinciding with the Bay of Pigs invasion, in this docudrama, 15-year-old Mario (Salvador Wood) has come to a tiny village in the Zapata swamps and gradually wins the villagers over to his task. At the same time, he receives an education in the realities of rural life from the hard-working peasants.

Madrigal (2007)

Javier is an actor with an affinity for writing. When he begins his love story with Luisita, he does not know where the truth begins and ends. Fifteen years later he has converted his story into literature that relates his tragic love story in a creative way.

I Am Cuba (1964)

Four vignettes on the lives of the Cuban people in the pre-revolutionary era. In Havana, Maria is ashamed when a man she loves discovers how she makes a living. Pedro, an old farmer, discovers that the land he cultivates is being sold to an American company. A student sees his friends attacked by the police while they distribute leaflets supporting Fidel Castro. Finally, a peasant family is threatened by Batista's army.

Living Dangerously (1987)

In 1950s Havana, a romance blooms between two young revolutionaries whose clandestine printing press publishes pamphlets meant to stir up rebellion against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. As their popularity grows, so, too, does their revolutionary zeal and their desire to mobilize other urban guerilla units.

Ants in the Mouth (2005)

After languishing in a Barcelona prison for nearly a decade, a busted bank robber attempts to find the girl who made off with the cash in this suspenseful tale of revenge and betrayal starring Adriana Gil and Eduard Fernández. Ex-con Martin Losada is out of prison and on the hunt. When he and his band of anti-Franco bank robbers were busted after a botched heist ten years ago, the only member of their team never caught by police was his long-gone ex-girlfriend Julia. Now, on the eve of the 1958 revolution, the recently released ex-con sets his sights on Havana in a determined bid to find Julia, and stake his claim on his rightful share of the take.

Tundra (2021)

Walfrido Larduet, a lonely electrical inspector, dreams of the Red Woman, whose image persists and becomes an obsession. Something tells him she is near. Over the course of a day, Walfrido will follow her trail as he travels through the suburbs of an infested city.

Habanastation (2011)

Directed mainly for kids, the film speaks of a Havana that reveals two distinct faces, from the everyday life of a couple of kids.

Behavior (2014)

Meet Chala, an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela suffers an accident, things get complicated…

Preludio 11 (1964)

Daniela – a single mother, whose boyfriend left for the US – believes wholeheartedly in Cuba's revolutionary new order. Meanwhile, in Florida, a plot is afoot. Under the command of an American officer, four Cubans ex-patriots and a Guatemalan land on the Cuban coast to prepare a US invasion of the island. Daniela's superior, the corrupt Cuban officer Palomino, is secretly helping the invaders and the young woman becomes entangled in the intrigue.

To Kill a Man (2024)

Javi shows up for the last time at a queer club where he works as a dancer, but he must deal with Castillo, a regular customer who resists the fact that he will never see him again.

Tupac Amaru (1984)

A painful true story of a revolutionary Andian warrior whose strength and devotion to his people influenced many in Latin America, Africa and the West.

Lucía (1968)

Traces episodes in the lives of three Cuban women, each named Lucía, from three different historical periods: the 1890s, the 1930s, and the 1960s.

Mambí (1998)

Les Derniers Jours de la victime (1995)

Mendizábal, a reputed hitman, is commissioned to eliminate Rodolfo Kulpe, a small-time criminal.

Defiant Souls (2019)

Santiago de Cuba, January 19th, 1819. Coming from Lausanne, Enrique Faber, a Swiss doctor and surgeon, arrives on the island, a Spanish province, hoping to find his son, who has been kidnapped…

History Is Written at Night (2024)

A masterclass in mood, the film plunges us into the darkness of the blackouts that ripple across Cuba. In the murk of shadow, the flickering of fire beckons stories from realms beyond the reach of light. Electricity cuts have revived a protest movement dormant since the revolution, one demanding that power be restored.

Alfa (2016)

Alfa, a famous porn actor, must deal with his fears, insecurities and memories when he begins work on a new film without Yerry, his former partner in life and porn. On his first day of shooting without him, Alfa tries to act as in the past but can things be like before? Javier Ferreiro's short film reflects on the difficult decision of letting someone go to move forward. ALFA is framed in the context of gay porn cinema in Cuba where pornography is banned but, little by little, it's growing up an underground industry impulsed by foreign tourism.

Manuela (1966)

A young girl joins the guerrilla

A Stranger on the Stairs (1955)

Based on Ladislas Fodor's "Stranger on the Stairs". A loved triangle composed by a cynical entrepreneur, a loan manager, and a seductive secretary will lead to a criminal plot in Cuba.

El Benny (2006)

Based on the life of Benny Moré, the film concentrates on a period in the early 1950s when Moré leaves the orchestra of Duany and starts his own 'Banda Gigante'. In flashback we learn of his success in Mexico. Moré is caught in the events connected to Batista's coup in Cuba. Also, he tours Venezuela, where he suffers the machinations of a vengeful businessman. After collapsing and being hospitalised, Moré swears off alcohol. Some years later, he encounters his old band-mate Monchy, fallen on hard times.

The Other Francisco (1975)

Based on the novel Francisco by Anselmo Suárez y Romero, "The Other Francisco" is a socio-economic analysis of slavery and class struggle through the retelling of the original novel. The film contrasts the romantic conceptions of plantation life found in Suárez Romero's novel with a realistic expose of the actual historical conditions of slavery throughout the Americas. It offers a critical analysis of the novel, showing how the author's social background led to his use of particular dramatic structures to convey his liberal, humanitarian viewpoint.

Sergio and Sergei (2018)

In 1991, the USSR is falling apart and Cuba enters its hardest economic crisis. Sergio, a professor of Marxism who can't provide for his family, and Sergei, a Soviet cosmonaut stranded in the Mir space station, share a common passion: amateur radio. Through this hobby, both men will be able to help each other in facing the dramatic changes of their countries.

The Man from Maisinicu (1973)

1964, in the Escambray mountains: the area is infested with counter- revolutionary bands which are trying to spread terror among the population and re-establish contact with the US, CIA. The murder of a man led to a reprisal to wipe out the bandits.

Lisanka (2010)

Revolves around a love triangle that later evolves into a love square involving three Cubans and a Soviet soldier. Set in a fictitious rural village near a Soviet military base in central Cuba, their amorous adventures, or misadventures, unravel against the backdrop of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

La bella del Alhambra (1989)

Story shows the genesis of the career and the rise of Esther the most beloved actress of most popular theater in Havana at the turn of the 19th century.

Baraguá (1986)

The film is based on the historical event known as the Protest of Baraguá.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings (1988)

An elderly man with wings is blown off course during a tropical storm in this symbolic fantasy. The Old Man lands near a Caribbean island where a poor family gives him shelter in a chicken coop. Father Gonzaga is the skeptical priest who rushes to damn the creature. Soon the Old Man is the subject of curiosity seekers as Elisinda and Pelayo start charging admission. A traveling carnival of human oddities camps near the Old Man as people flock to see the show. The Old Man is reduced to being an unwanted pet, and after six years, he mends his wings and flies away. Nudity, simulated sex with a spider woman, and the ugliness of human exploitation definitely put this fantasy in a category not for children.

The Last Supper (1976)

A pious plantation owner attempts to teach Christianity to 12 of his slaves by inviting them to participate in a reenactment of the Last Supper.

Nada+ (2001)

Carla, a young postal worker in Havana, spends her days postmarking thousands of letters and dreaming of the day when she can be reunited with her parents, who moved to Miami when she was fifteen. To fulfill her longing for intimacy, she opens random letters and rewrites them into lyrical prose, believing she is helping her fellow Cubans understand one another better. Beautifully filmed in black and white accented by brilliant colours, Nada+ has a stunning visual composition. With its delightful mix of visual humour, theatrical characters, satire and a lighthearted love story, it has a distinctly Cuban flair.

Roots of my Heart (2001)

Through dreams and reality, a Cuban woman learns of the ties her great-grandparents had with the Independents of Color, a political party formed in 1908.