Not Child's Play: Tactics and Strategies inViva CubaandHabanastation

Abstract

Recognition of the national and international contexts in which VivaCuba (Juan Carlos Cremata, 2005) and Habanastation (Ian Padron, 2011) were made and marketed highlights the coexistence of a pragmatic, tactical approach to filmmaking with the expression of specific, national concerns. Indeed, the two elements are inextricable, since both directors exploit the association of children with universality and the apolitical in order to pursue both personal and national goals, so that these films for children, about children must be seen not as child's play but as contracandelas: strategic and affective responses to uncertainty and threat.