The Cuban film Malecón premieres this Thursday at the Yara Cinema in Havana, as announced by the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industries (ICAIC) along with some members of the film's team during a press conference.
This is the debut film of Spanish director Carlos Larrazábal, a co-production between Cuba, Spain, and the United States that has already completed a circuit of international festivals before arriving at the screens of the Cuban capital.
Larrazábal, who resides in Los Angeles, could not be present at the announcement and participated through a message sent from that city.
"I am very excited that Yara is finally coming to the cinema; I hope it is received with the same affection with which we created it," the director expressed to the press and members of the ICAIC.
The filmmaker's connection to Cuba —a country going through a profound crisis in all its spheres— began in 2005, when he first traveled to the island to study at the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños.
It was then that he conceived this project: "Malecón, since then, I have had it in my mind," he recalled.
The film, shot entirely in Havana, follows Elvis, a teenager who kills his stepfather in defense of his mother—who dies before his eyes during the altercation—and is sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Upon reintegrating into society, he discovers that his high school girlfriend is now the wife of the most powerful thug in the neighborhood, and that his old buddy has come out as homosexual and is working as a prostitute.
The title of the film borrows its name from the famous Havana promenade, described in the synopsis as "the wall that separates the sea from the city, witness to countless stories of emigration."
The tension between staying and leaving is the central thematic axis: "In the film, both perspectives coexist: that of the one who decides to stay, with all that it entails, and that of the one who decides to leave, leaving everything behind—a decision that is never easy," explained Larrazábal.
The cast brings together César Domínguez —known for his work in Santa and Andrés and Yuli— in the role of Elvis, alongside Camila Rodhes, Omar Rolando, Yordanka Ariosa, and Luis Alberto García as the abusive stepfather.
García, one of the most recognized actors in Cuban cinema, has starred in iconic works such as Clandestinos and La vida es silbar. In December 2025, he publicly questioned censorship at the Havana Film Festival.
Before arriving in the Cuban capital, Malecón competed in the official section of the 42nd Miami International Film Festival and was selected for the Latin American Feature Film Competition at the Mar del Plata Festival in Argentina last November. During that presentation, Larrazábal and producer Jaime Otero Romani emphasized that "the entire team was Cuban."
The next international destination for the film will be the Seville Festival, where it is scheduled to be screened in November.
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