Aproximações e tensões entre o ICAIC e a política cultural em Cuba

This article attempts to rethink some of the conclusions reached in my doctoral research on the history of the InstitutoCubano del Arte e IndustriaCinematográficos (Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry) (ICAIC). The article assesses the relationship between the institution and the cultural policies of the post-revolution government, taking the films produced by the ICAIC as prerogative to understanding the aesthetic dilemmas and ideological confrontations experienced by Cuban intellectuals and filmmakers. This relationship is analyzed by considering two films produced by the ICAIC at different times :CoffeaArábiga (Arabica Coffee) (NicolásGuillénLandrián, 1968) and El otro Francisco (The Other Francisco) (Sergio Giral, 1973). Through the identification of formal options, ambiguities and political dialogues of the time, this analysis provides an understanding of the tensions that permeated the relationship between the Board of the ICAIC and the filmmakers, and between both of the latter and the Cuban government. The starting point of this study is that the ICAIC participated directly in the creation of cultural policy at the national level, while developing its own micro-politics, which contributed to its configuration as a « privileged institution » in the Cuban cultural scene, according to Raymond Williams’concept. As part of a necessary political game of adhesion and resistance, the filmic production of the ICAIC reflected government campaigns and demands while giving birth to ideological projects, dilemmas and questions that reverberated within the guidelines of cultural policy.