The Aesthetics and Imaginaries of the Night in Cuba Bridging Audiovisual Ethnography and Film Studies

1961 was a year of turmoil in Cuba, with the attempted military invasion of the Bay of Pigs. It was also the first case of censorship of a Cuban film by the local authorities that caused one of the first schisms among artists and intellectuals of the time, after the 1959 Revolution. Rather than engaging with political content, the film that caused big tensions within the circle of intellectuals and the government was a short experimental film about the night. Titled P.M., the film directed by Alberto Cabrera Infante and Orlando Jiménez Leal portrayed nightlife in Havana and was released on the Canal 2 TV show: Lunes en TV. The directors of the film were commissioned by the TV channel with the goal to record the heroic, nationalist and revolutionary efforts put in place by Cubans to push back the invaders of the Bay of Pigs (Vincenot 2009). Rather than focusing on the fervent political context, the filmmakers were struck by the effervescent and hedonistic atmosphere of Havana’s nightlife, and created a poetic ode to the night instead. The film was praised by yet-to-be acclaimed director of photography Nestor Almendros on the well-known magazine Bohemia stating: “P.M. is extremely realist and at the same time deeply poetic [...] it is a little film [...] that finally captures the full atmosphere of nightlife” (in Vincenot 2009).P.M. is an ode to el cine espontaneo, the free cinema, characterized by a DIY ethos, portable cameras, no dialogue, a mix of music and on-site recordings, the film-maker as observer of everyday life and the camera as their means of expression (see also Masin 2013). The Cuban revolutionary government and intellectuals of the time considered this impertinent and independent gaze into Havana’s nightlife a threat to the revolutionary heroic principles, and in a matter of days after its release, earned its censorship. The decision was taken by ICAIC, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos, who released the official statement (AA.VV. 1961). Some of its members did not agree with the decision, such as renowned film director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, co-founder of ICAIC, who resigned from the institute in opposition to the official censorship (2009). One of the reasons put forth by the committee for banning the film was that it provided “a partial depiction of nightlife in Havana, impoverished, disfigured and distorted, rather than giving the spectator a correct view of the Cuban people’s existence at this revolutionary stage.” This imaginary portraying of a sensuous, spontaneous, untameable Havana nightlife was not to been screened, according to the authorities. Years later, P.M. remains a very well-known film among Cubans despite, and mostly because of its fate and public debate. The affaire P.M. has also given much life to academic writing about Cuban documentary, experimental cinema and politics, being the first Cuban film to be censored after the Revolution (Luis 1987; Masin 2013; Vincenot 2009). With an experimental real-time approach, the film accompanies the viewer through a sensorial voyage in the noche cubana. From extreme close-ups to medium shots, P.M. builds on the affective atmosphere of intimate sensuous encounters. The camera follows night owls while dancing, playing rumba music, consuming alcohol and comfort food. Only a few exterior scenes situate the viewer in front of some well-known bars, such as Rumba Chori, while the soundtrack brings the viewer back to the bar interior. There is no dialogue, no linear story to be followed, only camera movements capturing bodily encounters combined with a soundtrack mixing music with undistinguished night chats. Towards the end, the atmosphere changes to signal that the night …