''Blue Heart'' ( es, Corazón Azul) is an independent sci-fi Cuban film directed, written and produced by

Miguel Coyula Miguel Coyula Aquino (born March 31, 1977, in Havana) is a Cuban filmmaker and writer. At age 17, he made his first short with a VHS camcorder, which led to his admittance to Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television (The International Film and ...

, starring Lynn Cruz, Carlos Gronlier and Héctor Noas. The film premiered at the 2021 Moscow International Film Festival. It has played at film festivals like BAFICI

Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema The Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI, es, Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) is an international festival of independent films organized each year in the month of April, in the city of ...

, and the Guadalajara International Film Festival, among others.

Plot

The film's plot takes place in a uchronia, serving as a connected, if nor a direct sequel to Coyula's 2003 debut film '' Red Cockroaches''. In this alternative reality,

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

shepherds a program to create the New Man (utopian concept) with genetic engineering, and save the Cuban revolution. The experiment fails, with the resulting individuals being highly dangerous and unstable. They form a terrorist group, and threaten to destroy the very core of the society which created them. One of them, Elena, begins a journey in search of her origins.

Awards and nominations

* Audacity award - Minsk International Film Festival, Belarus, 2021 * Jorge Cámara HFPA Award - Guadalajara International Film Festival, 2021 * Nominated to the Golden St. George - Moscow International Film Festival, Russia, 2021

Production

The film was filmed in chronological order without permits over ten years. During this time several actors abandoned the project, most notably Héctor Noas, which forced constant rewrites of the screenplay. Another relevant event was the interrogation of photographer Javier Caso. Caso took still pictures on the set of Corazón Azul before being summoned by Cuban State security for an interview questioning his friendship with director

and Lynn Cruz, who were both described by the agents as troublemakers who may be working for the CIA. Caso recorded the audio with a hidden cellphone, Coyula added visuals and posted it on YouTube.

Critical reception

Latin American film scholar Paulo Antônio de Paranaguá described it as "one of the great films of this century". In '' Cineaste'', film critic Matthew David Roe referred to ''Blue Heart'' as: "The culminating point of Miguel Coyula´s artistic growth... It stands as his most visceral experience". The Film Veredict’s Patricia Boero wrote "A complex, criptic, compelling film... It lingers in the mind as you continue to decipher its codes long after the screening has ended"''.'' Pablo Gamba described it at Los Experimentos as "emblematic of contemporary Cuban culture."

Controversy

Blue Heart was censored at the Minsk International Film Festival in Minsk, Belarus. It was withdrawn from the main competition and placed in the Cinema of the Young section, despite the director being 44 years old at the time, and ''Corazón Azul'' was his fourth feature. Something similar happened in Morocco at the International Cinema and commom Memory Festival in Nador (FICMEC). The festival staff removed the film from its program a few days before the festival started. Both in Belarus and Morocco, the film was catalogued as pornography and Coyula was asked to cut two scenes, which in both cases he refused. In 2023, the Miami International Film Festival programmed a wide selection of Cuban films but excluded ''Blue Heart''. Film critic Pablo Gamba wrote of this event: "Miguel Coyula has become the beacon for political discomfort. It’s an honor he owes not only to the cultural bureaucrats of Cuba, but also to those in Miami."

References