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The Cuban director and screenwriter Enrique “Kiki” Álvarez reported that the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry (Icaic) terminated his employment relationship and that of his colleague Esteban Insausti without prior notice, and also fabricated a "voluntary resignation" that never existed.
In a lengthy post on Facebook, Álvarez -La Ola (1995); Jirafas (2014); Venecia (2016)- revealed that the mentioned institution terminated their contract and that of Insausti effective August 1, 2025, without informing them or justifying the decision.
According to his account, he only found out when he went to Human Resources to inquire about the delay in his payments, where he was informed that his termination had been "voluntary," without any documentation to support this claim.
Álvarez questioned the administrative falsification and linked his exclusion to his criticisms of censorship and the irregularities of the Promotion Fund, as well as his membership in the Assembly of Cuban Filmmakers (ACC).
“Goodbye ICAIC,” he wrote, “our relationship was always tense, marked by my desire to turn you into an Institute capable of ensuring filmmakers' right to express the harsh reality in which we live.”
For his part, Insausti -Las manos y el ángel (2002); 3 veces 2 (2003); Larga distancia (2010)- confirmed that he learned of the decision through Álvarez's publication and expressed his regret that the Icaic has become a space captured by bureaucracy.
"I am among those who once thought that institutions are not the exclusive domain of the officials in power, and that for obvious reasons, they belong to all of us. I still believe that a significant part of this disastrous state they find themselves in is also our responsibility. This cancer is not new; it has been around for decades, and our tolerance for various reasons and interests has contributed to much of what is happening today," he argued.
The event generated a wave of reactions among artists and intellectuals. The director Orlando Rojas referred to the Icaic as a “Corrupt Institution of Authoritarian and Infamous Commissioners” and called for a boycott of the Festival of New Latin American Cinema scheduled for December in Havana.
The filmmaker Rosa María Rodríguez stated that “here several rights are being violated, and this is another act of exclusion against a filmmaker for thinking differently.”
Meanwhile, journalist and critic Joel del Río described him as “one of the Cuban filmmakers who has done the most to revitalize the stagnant narratives of Cuban cinema (…) For Icaic, he is someone expendable, just as I will surely be when this post circulates.”
The jurist and essayist Julio César Guanche described the episode as a "shameful situation that does not cease," while the filmmaker Pavel Giroud expressed indignation at "the bootlicker ʻcolleaguesʼ who see their golden opportunity in mediocrity" and remain silent in the face of censorship.
The director Yasmany Castro Caballero pointed out that Álvarez's dismissal coincides with theater cancellations during the National Culture Day.
"Disgusting silence and nonsense that do not come from imperialism, but from the bureaucracy of this reformed North Korea of the Caribbean," he wrote.
With this new exclusion, the crisis of Cuban cinema adds another chapter to its long history of institutional censorship and a rift with some of its most prominent creators.
The tribute that the theater group Teatro El Público, directed by Carlos Díaz, was preparing for this Sunday the 19th in collaboration with the Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC) to
According to researcher and critic Rosa Marquetti in a text shared on Facebook, some of those involved received personal summons, irrevocable orders, and warnings of possible consequences if they disobeyed the instruction.
Similarly, the theater company El Ciervo Encantado announced through its account on Facebook the cancellation of the performances scheduled for this weekend, as they were informed of a supposed "first-level official event" taking place at the Cultural Plaza in front of their headquarters, located at Línea and 18 in Vedado, Havana.
At the end of 2024, the ACC issued a strong call to defend creative freedom and warned about the censorship affecting Cuban cinema.
"Our culture cannot continue to be led by the same repressors and censors with long-standing impunity. The damage accumulated from their years of power is evident," stated the ACC, directly pointing to the authorities responsible for the decline of the film industry on the island.
The organization reported a new act of institutional violence aimed at the young filmmaker Orlando Mora, whose film "Matar a un Hombre" was censored at the most recent edition of the Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano in Havana.
At the beginning of January, the Provincial Court of Havana dismissed the lawsuit filed by filmmaker Juan Pin Vilar against Canal Educativo, which showed his documentary "La Habana de Fito" without his consent.
In April, the 26th edition of the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI) awarded the Jury's Special Prize in the Avant-Garde and Genre competition to the documentary Crónicas del Absurdo (2024), by Cuban filmmaker Miguel Coyula.
Filmed with hidden recordings, the 77-minute audiovisual reveals the reality of independent artists in Cuba, subjected to state control and harassment.
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