Cuba and the Cameraman

Jon Alpert first goes to Cuba in the middle of the seventies and walks about with a camera. Then he goes again. For forty five years he returns at intervals to the same country and finds the same people. Three families are at the centre: a family of brothers working on the land, a woman living in Havana, and another family. As the years pass the houses, the work and the children change. At the same time Alpert speaks with Fidel Castro many times; he meets him on a plane, in the street and between meetings. Jon Alpert directs. The documentary dates from 2017 and was released on Netflix. Its value comes from its span; recording the same people over forty five years is rare in documentary. What the narrative is interested in is not politics but the change of daily life; the economic periods are shown through people's kitchens and homes. The years after the collapse of the Soviet Union are its hardest section; shortage and power cuts are shown directly. Alpert's relationship with Castro became a matter of argument; the narrative often stands too close to him. The form is personal; the director narrates in his own voice and often appears in frame. Its limit is balance; opposition and repression get little room. Who it is for: viewers who like long span documentary and narratives of recent history. Who it is not for: the narrative is partisan, the structure loose, and the running time long.