Havana, a city in decay between collapsed buildings and garbage in the streets, hosted on Thursday the opening of the 27th edition of the French Film Festival, with a screening at the Yara Cinema that brought together diplomats, cultural officials, and an audience from the capital, according to the state-run Cuban News Agency.
The film chosen to inaugurate the event was The Resistance Kids (2026), directed by French filmmaker Christophe Barratier, an adaptation of the popular comic series by Vincent Dugomier and Benoît Ers that tells the story of three children—François, Eusèbe, and Lisa—who get involved in clandestine operations during the German occupation of France in World War II.
The unintentional dialogue between the film's setting and the real-life scenario could not be more poignant: while children on screen struggle to save what remains of their city, outside, Havana accumulates around 1,000 buildings that collapse each year, with tens of thousands of properties in poor condition by the end of 2025, a large portion of which require major renovations.
The deterioration is not merely statistical. In September, two elderly individuals were crushed by the collapse of the portal of their home in Lawton, in the Diez de Octubre municipality. A Cuban architect went so far as to compare the city to "a bombed city." The housing deficit across the island exceeds 800,000 homes.
In this context, Cine Yara—one of the public spaces that remains operational—has reopened its doors for a festival that, according to ACN, brought together figures such as Alexis Triana, president of the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry (ICAIC), and Raphaël Trannoy, ambassador of France in Cuba.
Triana described the festival as "one of the most anticipated events for the Cuban audience, as French cinema has earned a place among viewers by offering diversity and passionate stories, which generate immense public interest," the media outlet stated.
Luciano Castillo, director of the Cuban Cinematheque, highlighted Barratier's accomplishments at the event and recalled that the director is a co-founder of the festival along with Nouredine Essadi, the current cultural attaché of the French Embassy in Cuba: "It is a wonderful opportunity for him to be here," Castillo noted, adding that the festival, over the years, "has resonated with the Cuban audience."
For his part, French ambassador Raphaël Trannoy thanked the audience and the organizers, describing the event as "a bridge that is being extended to offer a curated selection of the most contemporary French cinema, which reflects the diversity and renewal of French productions."
This edition features a selection of 17 titles —including four animated films— which will be screened at Yara and Charles Chaplin theaters until November 4th. Despite the crisis, the audience continues to seek refuge in the darkened halls, when transportation scarcity and constant blackouts allow them to escape from everyday reality.
Triana also announced that the 27th edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema will take place from December 3 to 13 in Havana, another event with international reach arriving in a city whose urban infrastructure continues to crumble, with streets filled with public landfills, and the regime failing to offer real solutions to its residents.
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