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THE SLEEPING ISLAND
How can you say that you have no desires?
The one without desires, is the one who disappears,
the one who dies.
Having good health is one of your desires, isn't it?
And that your sons grow the right way.
Or feeling good and that your family is fine.
- Isn't that one of your desires?
Exactly.
Cuba, early 21st century.
- More than anything, I want the best for my country,
because when your country develops,
you develop too,
but if the country goes bankrupt we're dead.
- We've had many years of struggle and sacrifice.
I am old and tired,
and I want things to change...
I want my life to get better,
and the same for my family and comrades...
Do you want to know one of the biggest yearnings in my life?
To own a VCR...
and a car.
That is what I will struggle for all my life.
I also had dreams,
dreams of illusion,
since my childhood,
and it was a blue dream
the one that tricked me during my youth.
Fantazing is a good method to resist the adversity,
it gives you a shelter and helps you to maintain your own ethics.
I think the hardship is to survive within these limitations
and fantasy may be a tool for survival.
As far as you aren't carried away by it,
or you could end up mad or with a terrible depression.
I felt alive in the city of death,
and dead in the city of the living.
I feel alive here.
Colon Cemetery. Habana
Santa Amelia Goyri's grave. La Milagrosa of Cuba.
Today precisely I celebrate 10 years in this place.
I owe Her my life.
I was so ill that the doctors sent me home to vegetate,
but my mother did not admit that situation.
My mother brought me here knowing that She represents motherhood,
and kept bringing me here until I came by my own feet
to thank Amelia for the change in my life.
I am a changed Maria Antonia.
I have tremendous faith in Her.
And here I am, living as historian and missionary of this place
for the rest of my life.
My life is entirely devoted to this place.
Thank Amelia for the granted miracle.
Thank my miraculous Saint for giving back to our daugther Dalita her true face.
Amelia, thank you for returning me most of my eyesight.
Amelia, thank you for granting my son his trip, her mother.
Amelia, forever grateful for fulfilling my wish.
I feel a voice, mother
calling me from the bottom of the sea.
It is the voice of an African woman, mother,
¡Ay! I'm a Guinean conga. ¡Ay! I'm a Guinean conga.
It's a nice Creole night, It's a nice Creole night.
I came to be charitable, I came to be charitable...
(His talk becomes unintelligible)
- When the soul of Francisca, enters my persona
my conscious self goes away
and I'm transformed into what she used to be, a woman.
Cuba is a highly religious country.
People worship African Saints,
for there really does exist a spirit,
a Saint who helps people...
I mean, there is something supernatural, that makes you superstitious.
She went too far this time
I think superstitions arise in the face of hardship,
difficulties, material limitations.
It's said that superstitions increase when the economic situation is dramatic,
but I think Cuba has has always been a rather superstitious country.
Personally, I've always been.
The cultural syncretism between Africa and Europe,
especially Spain, is part of our heritage.
We recived a great deal of superstitions from Spain,
which mixed here with African cultural traditions
and fecundated in a utterly surreal way.
- The Saints perform many, many, many miracles.
- I have no husband and plenty of problems,
but Saints help me.
When I beg of them I do it from my heart.
When I'm in need or have a problem I say:
Ovatalá, You, that came down from Heaven,
I am your head, help me.
I am going to give you a coconut, rice with milk.
If you help me, I'll give you this offering.
Superstition is present every day,
but as a way of life, as living poetry, as daily magic.
I'm sure that the Saints will bring my son back by the end of the year.
He is in prison because he said he was going to set a house on fire.
I'm entangled in a legal battle.
He was sentenced to serve seven years, which is too much.
It's not the government's fault;
he behaves in unsocial ways.
I am a revolutionary woman and will die as a revolutionary woman,
I know that he is an outlaw but he's my son after all.
I appealed to the Grand Jury to free him or reduce his sentence.
I've nothing more to say.
Long Live the Revolutions!
- I don't have any money.
A German guy called "Johnny The Soft",
offered me $5,000 for this Larazus
but I didn't sell it.
I had a little Lazarus before, but when I made this big one,
my thatched hut was changed for a big house with land.
I see it as a miracle since I didn't look for this business.
When I made this bigger Lazarus my life expanded.
I was told that I was going to be able to travel,
that I was going to receive an "invitation card".
I've been praying to my Saint for 16 years,
but nobody has sent me an invitation card yet.
I don't get desperate or lose faith.
It might not be now, maybe when I get older,
but I don't lose hope.
- I like England very much.
When I was young people used to say
that the Queen had very good relationships with homosexual people
and helped them, supported them.
So I've always wanted to visit England
to check it out.
I imagine it a wonderful and civilized country,
not like us, we're a moralizing people,
filled with complexes.
I think of them as civilized people
who respect our gay world,
do not reject or humiliate us.
I hear it's just wonderful
People say that homosexual couples
can get married in England.
I really don't know if all these things are true.
I'm looking for a boyfriend.
Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, whatever.
But it's better if he's Spanish;
they are white, with fairer skin and kids turn out prettier.
I have to like him.
Not over 45 years old.
The first who appears.
One who loves me.
That one is rich, no?
A Spanish man who I like and who likes me.
Of course, one who isn't brazen.
That's my dream, to live in Spain.
- To Venice. - To Spain and Italy.
Wherever he takes me.
Marry a handsome man like you,
so stand in front of the camera so you can see what I mean.
Hi darling,
I hope I can tell you...
well, nothing...
writing here in my room,
as you know I've seen your photos,
this one... that one...
here José and Alicia
Dioni, Javier,
ah! This one,
Iván, Javier, Alicia, José... and you.
This is my Yoyo,
my red carrot.
He is in Spain,
trying to survive playing his music
or doing whatever comes his way.
We all miss you here,
we think of you a lot.
We will wait for you.
I do not break my promise of waiting for you,
I will be patient, very patient.
Love you.
He asks her,
"Do you know why I love you?"
"Because I've filled a gap as I never have,
because you have given me a trusting love and strengthened my faith.
Because you have been a brew sweeter than honey
during my hardest and most bitter moments.
Always loving you, José.
This is entitled "Do you know why I love you?"
She knew it already, but I wanted to immortalize it.
How long do we know each other?
Since 1917.
- No, José, better tell us how old she was...
She was 18 years old when I met her.
...no you were not 18.
- 16, - 16.
I am...
how old am I?
92, my darling, 92.
The biggest dream in my life?
I always think of her, help her,
love her so much, sometimes I call her mother,
because I am an orphan since I was 7,
and I loved her so much because she behaved as my mother,
my friend, my wife, anything.
She made my life complete.
She knows it.
It has to be short, I can not read long things.
Whisper it in to my ear, do you want to be mine?
Open your heart,
why deny your happiness if you would give me your perfume, beautiful flower.
Divine Mighty God from Heaven and Earth,
if You might help me to recover
my eyesight before I die.
You see me going blindly from here to the door,
to the table and to the other door
on my way to the bathroom and then back again.
I can't go out to the street for anything,
and when I have to go to the barber,
which is right next door,
somebody has to take me and bring me back.
I fall, I fall, I fall.
And all I wait for here is death.
If I were given the privilege to see
even just a little bit...
I think I would start dancing.
That would be grand.
Women would be the first thing I would look at,
a beautiful woman,
and date her and take her to a nice place,
but...
My dream is big,
if God were listening to me...
to have a different future,
a better life than the one I'm living now.
To live in a good house with my wife.
That's what I long for.
I'm not ambitious.
As far as electronics go I would like a color TV set,
because I like watching TV...
My old soviet black and white TV is broken.
You must be dreaming.
So real, I still feel that it was real.
You should have seen how astonishing Verena looked in the dream, Silvestre.
- The soap opera is called "Tierra Brava".
I like it a lot because it has plenty of action.
I like action movies and soaps...
because I can develop my mental abilities
and can see things with more...
I develop when I talk to people because...
Well, I also like to read lots of books,
Back to the soap opera...
Lucio arrives to the capital and faces his problem...
Everybody writes poetry in Cuba.
It's incredible, everybody, everybody,
I've a book of poems written by a very beautiful ***,
it's totally kitsch, of course,
full of spelling mistakes
but written from the heart.
Sometimes, even people's lives have an artistic quality, no?
The way life is understood, assimilated.
I feel that here in all corners you come across a writer, a painter...
People love culture.
- Since I was a little boy I dreamed of becoming a dancer.
I once watched a film by Vanessa Redgrave about Isadora Duncan,
it moved me so deeply
that I began to see dance in an utterly brand new way.
Voluminous Dance Company
- When I was around 16 or 17
- I began to feel the need to express myself through dance.
- I danced a lot at home and felt great sensations.
It was the easiest way to express myself.
Music fueled my imaginations.
I created very interesting things through movement.
So, I began my career as a dancer,
despite being an obese person since I was a little child.
"Manisera", I'm the peanut vendor and here I am...
I come from Havana,
I come selling peanuts,
peanuts, peanuts, peanuts,
peanuts that you like, and I like.
I come from Havana selling peanuts.
The Cuban is a dreamer,
and dreams have a lot to do with art,
In my opinion dreams, like art a way to remodel reality.
You live a reality but you want to be able to create,
like a demi-god, another reality,
a reality that provokes joy or reflexion.
- When I dress as a woman
I feel a different sensation
because I feel entirely like a woman,
because when a man looks at me
he does so in a different way,
in his mind or his fantasy I am a real woman.
He likes it when I get dressed up,
put on make up, when I radiate femininity,
my movements, my body, my style...
I would love to change my sex.
What a wonderful concept,
by changing my sex I would feel entirely feminine,
that is what I feel inside,
but a change is not allowed in this country
and I also can't leave to another country
to have my sex changed,
so I live with that fantasy.
I love men, they fascinate me,
when I see them my heart shakes so hard
I think I will have an attack.
I like their eyes, their lips,
I like... what everybody knows...
the main part,
long and special,
that is what I like...
Rhythm is our main element.
We are very rhythmic.
- We dance with our feet, our hearts,
with our muscles, eyes,
we dance with everthing.
- With tobacco, rum, sugar, honey...
we dance with everything.
When there is joy in your heat
and you dance you work with optimism an desire
and little by little, goals are achieved,
no matter the problems you already know,
the hardship, scarcity, the embargo.
One dances and dances until one heats up and everything is emotive
and the spirit takes over our being.
- Once a young mulatto girl, a workmate, told me:
Sit on the couch I have to tell you something,
she said, look, you have in you the spirit of a revel black salve
that looks after you like this this this
and the spirit of an Indian man that's like this this this,
and your next few years will be like this this this...
and that happened three years ago
and eveything has been as she predicted.
- I debate with myself religiously certain aspects of Catholicism,
some aspects of witchcraft, spiritualism.
- I am catholic, also a believer in the spirits,
and a follower of "santería".
- I believe in God, in destiny,
I feel a strong link with Hinduism
in regards to reincarnation for karma, etc.
In Europe and The States, in countries that have a different culture,
sometimes it is hard to understand this.
- It is like a shock that seeps in you
little by little, then you lose sight of everything.
It comes as a shiver, a shake all over your body,
then you lose yourself completely.
- It is like a dizziness or something,
but I managed to not let the Dead enter me.
He is possessed by a spirit,
can be that of a relative,
a workmate, a neighbor,
somebody close, but usually from a relative.
Water, Water!
I fall into a trance
and talk about you, about a relative,
talk about your home, describe your home,
and I've never been there, you know?
That spirit is out there, in the air, all around the world.
I have seen many things
in my dreams, things that have changed,
changed in the sense that there used to be an abundance of food,
you know...
I want Cuba in the future
to be the way it is now but with an abundance of food,
I mean a change,
I do not mean for this to change,
but more to be given.
A Jupiter motorcycle, Soviet
or Russian.
- We live out of inventing,
we have to live like that, inventing every part
because we do not have them.
The government owns them for government equipment only,
there is plenty for the government, but nothing for us
not even gas...
not even gas.
The causes to fight for the process we continue today,
were hardship, limitacions, misery, hunger,
racial discrimination, scarcity,
the effects of man exploiting man
they were very significant.
They motivated our fight against the government.
I was an adolescent back then, I was 14 years old
when I joined the fight.
Why? Because I had many economical difficulties
that made me realize the need to fight that regime.
We overthrew Batista,
that was a dream come true.
There are limitations nowadays,
we can not deny it.
We have not been able to achieve all of our goals.
But we have won some, right?
To plant ideas is to plant Revolutions.
PLANT IDEAS
- We love Fidel very much, - We love Fidel very much,
- because he is a good man, - because he is a good man,
- he defends the children, - he defends the children,
- cares about them,
- provides us with schools, - provides us with schools,
- He loves his country. - He loves his country.
- Long live our homeland and long live Fidel.
Combat, run.
Do not fear a glorious death
for to die for your country is to live...
Hurt by your shadow,
your absence, I am alone in darkness,
your love is with me today,
lost your love,
I could not enjoy happiness,
I wander like smoke
aimless through the sky,
crossing the heavens
looking for you,
maybe I will not find you,
maybe I lost you,
forever my love.
Some Buddhists say:
Do not long for happiness, avoid pain.
I have tried to follow that creed,
do not long for happiness, avoid pain,
but it's impossible,
the equation does not work.
Babalú
Babalú
Babalú aye.
Funerals for Babalú they have begun,
get me 17 candles
"to put them on cross".
Get me a cigar and, honey, and a little "mayenye"
tobacco and alcohol for good luck.
I believe that the best equation to follow
is to always aspire to happiness.
Drinking gives me happiness,
I like it.
If the government of Fidel Castro, who I love so much,
takes alcohol from me,
I'll apply for a visa and leave the country,
if he takes alcohol from me, I leave the country.
And when in another place I am going to have more drinks.
What a nice smile!
Fidel Castro takes drink from nobody,
this is happiness, health, love, life.
I feel happy drinking beer with my 60 years.
I ask for it from you, from a friend.
There are moments when I feel like a nightmares,
you wake up in terror.
Sometimes you have moments when you dream nice things,
or have *** dreams
and wake up at 2.00 a.m. With a big ***.
I dream any kind of dream.
Fortunately I can forget my dreams like most people.
I conform with I've got,
even if I wanted more, I can't invent it, I could not steal.
I conform with what I have.
I have less and less dreams,
but dreaming
is what makes us live,
dreaming makes us breath,
dream on while we can not be cynical,
while we can not be stable,
while we can not be accepted,
dreaming is the only thing we've got.
I have few dreams these days,
and I am kind of glad for that,
because when you dream at night,
it can be a sweet dream or a nightmare,
either you get used to it or fear it.
I once dreamt that I was drowning
in a huge sea and I could not see the shore,
I was in the middle of the ocean,
suddenly a boy on a boat appeared and said to me:
If you call for your Saints,
they will help you,
then I said:
Oh Yemaya, please help me,
I do not want to die so young,
suddenly I fell asleep, I was almost drowned
and when I woke up I was on the Malecon wall,
so I was safe.
I screamed out of joy because I was safe.
And I woke up.
It was a very real dream, no falseness in it.
I had a dream last night that I was having a delicious meal,
a fine drink
that I had a home with a pool,
but it was all a lie, just a dream
I have also dreamed with a girlfriend.
My biggest dream is to live with my partner,
my partner who loves me, adores me,
that we can walk together, have fun together,
help each other as an ordianary couple, harmony.
I am still waiting for my prince.
Maybe it's because I am too skinny
that I do not have *** appeal,
but I think that it is just that luck
has not yet knocked on the door to my heart.
I say theres is nothing impossible in life,
as long as you desire it, it's possible.
I want to drive people towards what I feel.
Everybody has the right to happiness, why not?
Where could I evoke you if not in your laughter,
your laughter of garden and spring time,
Where could I evoke you if not in your laughter,
your laughter of garden and spring time.
Authentic madness that caresses my will,
What a way of loving you! What a way!
How I love you!
What a way of loving you! What a way!
Where could I dream of you, If not In your eyes,
your eyes of daggers and cement
Where could I dream of you, if not in your eyes
your eyes of daggers and cement
stars that escape from your face
with that tender and pleasant look
What a way of loving youl What a wayl
- However you look at it,
destiny exists,
everything that happens in your life
is because of destiny.
It seems to me that your own mental and spiritual attitude
is what defines your destiny,
what defines your path.
I think you have to put lots of love and compassion in your heart,
lots of generosity
all days, in your own heart,
to attract good things to you,
I do strongly believe in that.
Few days ago I read that...
a country that sings is a country that can triumph,
and in Cuba people sing, even dance,
so it must triumph.
- I think that Cuba will always remain an exceptional country,
no matter what.
- We have had the luck to experience such dramatic circumstances
for the last 40 years,
so its destiny has to be a very exceptional.
- I see a very interesting symbiosis,
humane and exceptional as a reference.
- We are reference now,
despite the dramatic circumstances we live in.
We are reference for the good and for the bad.
I think one day we will only be a reference for good,
and there is a messianic quality in that.
People dream a lot,
the thing is that dreams do not come true,
dreaming... is marvelous.
Goodbye happiness,
I almost did not meet you,
you passed by indifferent,
wanting nothing from me,
maybe there comes a time when I can
hold you,
I still have the hope
of that day.
Goodbye happiness...
- You can go crazy if you do not dream,
you have to dream as a possibility for hope...
every day,
a new possibiliby.
Thought and Conscienceness are stronger than terror and death