PENNE A LA PUTANESCA; LA MECÁNICA DE LOS FLUIDOS; SI TIENES QUE PARTIR; UN JARRÓN NO SE ROMPE DOS VECES; VIERNES DECIDE MORIR; NORHEIMSUND

Program:

PENNE A LA PUTTANESCA
Patricia Rodda, Cuba, 2026, short film
SCREENPLAY Patricia Rodda | CINEMATOGRAPHY Yorkiel Mirabal, Ernesto Granados | EDITING Pedro Díaz | SOUND Juan Carlos Herrera | MUSIC José María Vitier | CAST Yordy Morejón, Osvaldo Doimeadiós, Ariana Delgado, Anareliys Ruíz, Mar Inclán Rodda
24 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

Samira is a woman whom life has treated harshly. Following a fateful accident that shattered her dreams, she begins swindling people just to make ends meet. Together with her best friend and accomplice, she observes people in queues, discerning their fears and desires. She then uses tarot cards to promise them the “future of their dreams.” It is a survival strategy that works—until a mysterious presence emerges, forcing Samira to confront her own past.

What initially appears to be an external threat leads her back to old traumas and the choices that have shaped her life. In the process, Samira begins to see her present through different eyes.

In her directorial debut, Patricia Rodda—an actress, producer, and poet—blends drama and humor with a keen sense of the absurd. *Penne a la Puttanesca* tells a story about the art of getting back up after a fall, and about a life that cannot be neatly categorized as either tragedy or comedy.

LA MECÁNICA DE LOS FLUIDOS (THE MECHANICS OF FLUIDS)
Fady Gamal Soliman, Cuba, 2026, short film
SCREENPLAY Stefano Lopes | CINEMATOGRAPHY Joseline Urco | EDITING Geo Souza | SOUND Lilliam Chacón | WITH Ariel Zamora, Daniel David Cabrera, Daniel Amat
12 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

In a household where repression is the only language spoken, 15-year-old Iván dares to take a first step: he wants his first kiss. He turns to his younger brother, 13-year-old Ricardo, for help—out of loyalty, curiosity, and perhaps a desire to understand what is stirring within himself. But what begins as an act of connection descends into catastrophe. As Ricardo attempts to support Iván in confronting his desires, the bond between the brothers shatters. All that remains is the violence inherited from their father—leaving one boy suddenly alone, unable to cry, and unsure how to go on living without the closeness of his brother.
A brief, intense film about the fragility of sibling love, the legacy of paternal violence, and the impossible art of expressing emotion when the world around you knows only harshness.


SI TIENES QUE PARTIR
Emilia Ánderson, Cuba / Honduras, 2024, Short Film
SCREENPLAY Emilia Ánderson | CINEMATOGRAPHY Marco Machaca | EDITING Adelaida Sancristóbal | SOUND José Carlos Valencia | MUSIC Horacio G. Cadalzo, Guillermo Ánderson | CAST Víctor Cruz, Alejandra de Jesús Garcell, Sydney Alexander Lingle
17 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

At the end of his shift at the airport, a young man who dreams of becoming a writer encounters a woman who has been left behind at the terminal by her foreign boyfriend. She asks for his help to get in touch with the man—her phone is broken. Together, they return to the city, and while she waits for a message from a stranger, she confides in him that she dreams of leaving the country—and that her relationship exists only in the virtual realm. Over the course of the night, a strong connection forms between them. The young man begins to hope, perhaps deluding himself. But with the dawn comes the long-awaited reply—and she chooses to follow her dream. Left behind is a writer, alone, yet in possession of a story.

A delicate, melancholic film about the fleeting encounters that alter our lives, the longing for a place that does not yet exist, and the art of transforming loss into a narrative.


UN JARRÓN NO SE ROMPE DOS VECES
Julián Ortiz González, Cuba, 2024, short film
SCREENPLAY Aria Sánchez | CINEMATOGRAPHY Valeria Moraima Berríos | EDITING Jaime Carmona Ortiz | SOUND Lucía Cárdenas | MUSIC Peer Music | CAST Doreen Granados, Andros Perugorría, Joserraul Ortiz, Juanma López
11 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

Amauris works tirelessly on a small-scale model that precisely replicates the home and business he shares with his wife, Rocío. Every wall, every piece of furniture, every corner is recreated with a care that borders on obsession. It is an attempt to control the world outside—or perhaps to preserve the world within. While Amauris lives inside his miniature reality, Rocío searches for herself—within their marriage, yet outside the model. She no longer wishes to be merely a component of his construction. A quiet, painful struggle unfolds between them: a conflict over intimacy and freedom, over holding on and letting go. A short, poignant film about the invisible boundaries we build in relationships, and the question of whether love must mean giving up one’s own self.


VIERNES DECIDES TO DIE
Ailton Jesus, Cuba, 2025, short film
SCREENPLAY Ailton Jesus | CINEMATOGRAPHY Deborah Hernández | EDITING Beatriz Leal | SOUND Fabiana Mansur | MUSIC Lilliam Chacón | CAST Aracelis Castañeda, Elena Berelowitsch, Diego Barquero, Luciano Raulino
4 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

Viernes has made a decision: she wants to die. Not out of despair, not out of weakness—but because she chooses to, on her own terms and at her own pace. Yet, the outside world has other plans. What begins as an existential act of self-determination turns into an absurd struggle against a bureaucracy that governs death, but has no regard for the person choosing it. Forms, deadlines, jurisdictions: the very system that manages life denies the final wish of a woman who simply wants to depart in peace.

Balancing dark humor and quiet tragedy, this concise, sharp film explores the power institutions hold over our bodies—and the absurd realization that even death cannot take place without official authorization. In just a few minutes, the film raises a universal question: to whom does our life truly belong when we wish to let it go?


NORHEIMSUND
Ana Alpizar, Cuba / USA, 2025, short film
SCREENPLAY, EDITING Ana Alpizar | CINEMATOGRAPHY Yuqian Zhang | SOUND Yaser Canals Quintana, Denis Colina | CAST Yaité Ruiz, Paula Massó Varela, Darianis Palenzuela, Kiriam Gutiérrez, Alexandra González Corrales, Elizabeth Castro Cedeño, Isabel Lluis Ibonet, Liliana Bárbara Guevara
12 min | Color, Spanish with English subtitles, DCP

In a stifling room in Havana, Yaímita sits in front of her mobile phone. On the screen: a man in Norway, a village called Norheimsund, the promise of a different life. Sven is over sixty; she is a teenager. Her mother, Yaíma, is aware of the age gap, but she also knows what is at stake: a chance to escape the poverty that has defined both their lives for years. So, she lends a hand—taking photos of her daughter, arranging poses, and crafting plans for a future in Europe. The dream now has an address, a name, and a phone number.

Yet, as the long-awaited departure draws near, it becomes increasingly clear that Sven is not the man he claims to be. In the local hair salon—a hub for neighborhood gossip—a warning reaches Yaímita: she is not the only woman he is courting. And, woven into the women’s stories, a legend emerges: the tale of a girl who left with a European man, only to return blind.

Set between the sweltering streets of Havana and the vibrant, alluring images of a distant land, this quiet, haunting drama explores the longing for a better life—and the price that longing demands. Director Ana Alpizar—the first Cuban filmmaker to be invited to the Venice Film Festival—tells this story with profound tenderness and unflinching clarity. It is a portrait of a reality shared by many young Cuban women, and a testament to the resilience of a mother-daughter bond that remains unbroken, even in the most hopeless of circumstances.

A film about hope, deception, and the lengths to which one might go when one’s own country no longer offers a future.