''Waiting for Fidel'' is a Canadian documentary by

Michael Rubbo Michael Dattilo Rubbo (born 31 December 1938) is an Australian documentarian/filmmaker. Early life Rubbo was born in Melbourne, the son of Australian microbiologist Sydney Dattilo Rubbo, and the grandson of the painter Antonio Dattilo Rubbo. ...

and starring director Rubbo, former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Joey Smallwood Joseph Roberts Smallwood (December 24, 1900 – December 17, 1991) was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of ...

and Newfoundland media mogul

Geoff Stirling Geoffrey William Stirling (March 22, 1921 – December 21, 2013) was a Canadian-American businessman and media magnate, best known for his work in his home city of St. John's, Newfoundland. Life Stirling was born in St. John's to Edgar Stiling ...

. It depicts Rubbo, Smallwood, and Stirling's unsuccessful attempt to interview

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n leader

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 ...

Synopsis

Two Canadians, former premier of Newfoundland Joey Smallwood and broadcaster Geoff Stirling, travel to Cuba in a private jet. They attempt to meet Fidel Castro to discuss

Cuba–United States relations Cuba and the United States restored diplomacy, diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015. Relations had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the Embassy of the United States, Havana, United ...

, but Castro never shows up. Instead, much of the film consists of discussions between progressive Smallwood and free-marketer Stirling about the effects of the Castro regime. The film's name is a take on the play '' Waiting for Godot'', which has a similar conceit of two men conversing while they await a guest who never arrives.

Critical reception and influence

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' film reviewer

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

observed that "It is about Cuba, in a way, but it is also about the difficulty in seeing Cuba for what it may be." The film has been cited as an inspiration for director

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

References

Works cited

External links

* * *
''Waiting for Fidel'' full movie
from

CJON-DT CJON-DT (channel 21), branded on-air as NTV (short for Newfoundland Television), is an English-language independent television station in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, owned by Newfoundland Broadcasting Company Ltd. The stati ...

National Film Board of Canada documentaries Documentary films about Cuba Documentary films about Fidel Castro 1974 films 1974 documentary films Films directed by Michael Rubbo Cinema of Newfoundland and Labrador Films produced by Tom Daly Documentary films about Canadian politics 1970s English-language films 1970s Canadian films {{poli-documentary-film-stub