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The founder and employee of the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños, Hildelisa Hernández, was transported by a bus to the cemetery due to the absence of a hearse at the local funeral home.
The complaint was made on social media by the co-founder of the EICTV, Clara Carballea, who lamented the inadequacy of the funeral service and highlighted Hernández's work in the creation and development of the EICTV, a key institution in film education in Cuba and Latin America.
"Yesterday, we lost a great friend, a companion for many years, a worker at the International School of Film and TV. Our beloved founder, Hildelisa Hernández, dedicated her life to that project. But the saddest part was that there wasn't even a vehicle available at the funeral home to take her to the cemetery, and it was up to the school to provide a bus," expressed Carballea.
The shared images show the coffin placed in the aisle of the bus, adorned with flowers, as a handful of people accompanied her on her last journey to the cemetery.
A legacy in the training of filmmakers
The International School of Cinema and Television of San Antonio de los Baños, founded in 1986 by the initiative of the Colombian Nobel Laureate in Literature Gabriel García Márquez, along with filmmakers such as Fernando Birri and Julio García Espinosa, has been a benchmark for film education in the Spanish-speaking world.
Over its nearly 40 years of existence, the institution has trained thousands of filmmakers from different parts of the world, gaining recognition as a space for experimentation and the development of independent cinema.
However, in recent years, the school has faced economic difficulties and structural issues.
In May 2023, the Cuban government visited the institution and promised support in response to the complaints regarding the deterioration of its facilities and the lack of resources. Despite this, many of its students and teachers have expressed concern about the future of the school.
In the past, the EICTV has been the scene of protests and demands from students and teachers due to the economic crisis and the lack of freedom of expression in the country, as evidenced in July 2021, when students and teachers called for the release of those detained during the 11J protests.
The crisis of the funeral system in Cuba
This unfortunate event again highlights the serious deficiencies affecting funeral services in Cuba, where the lack of resources has led to critical situations such as the shortage of coffins, delays in transportation, and the poor condition of funeral facilities.
The deterioration has been documented on multiple occasions, with reports of families forced to improvise means of transportation for the deceased and the proliferation of reused or damaged coffins.
Similar cases to that of Hildelisa Hernández have been reported by Cubans in various provinces, where the country's economic crisis has led to the collapse of essential services, including those related to funerals.
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