InCubismos Productions and the Americas Media Initiative present:

Available for academic distribution at:

Americas Media Initiative

and Icarus Films

A young man in a baseball cap with “MIAMI” emblazoned on the front sits on a curb, looking at his phone. Beside him, an older man looks over his shoulder at the screen. Other Cubans sit on the curb or on the steps behind it, staring at their phones and tablets. In Cuba, a scene like this would have once been unthinkable. But since 2015, the government has loosened the rules on Internet access, allowing citizens to go online with their devices (for a fee) at designated WiFi hotspots.

The spread of online access—and people taking advantage of it for activities like blogging about politics and culture—is one of the signs of a renewed interest in bolstering Cuban civil society. But Cuba faces unique challenges in bolstering citizen engagement.

Near the start of RETHINKING CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY, the film offers a definition of its central theme. “Civil society: The aggregate of non-governmental organizations and individuals that manifest the will and interests of citizens.” Then, on the screen, the word “non-governmental” is crossed out. It is a striking visual illustration of Cuba’s unique situation—one in which the public sector dominates much of society, playing an ambiguous role in civil society institutions.

Since the mid-1990s, Cuba has seen a rise in independent media, and a resurgence of movements fighting against racism, for economic justice and LGBTQI rights, and for greater democracy and citizen participation. In RETHINKING CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY, Cuban academics, journalists and bloggers, and writers and musicians grapple with what it means to encourage healthy public participation and dissent in the context of Cuba: a country under embargo in which foreign-funded dissidents seek to overthrow the government, and at the same time a country in which the Communist Party has placed itself above the State.

In city parks and apartments, on stairwells, in classrooms, and in magazine offices, the people featured in RETHINKING CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY grapple with these questions. Can more competitive elections and greater democracy exist in a one-party State? How can LGBTQI activists successfully influence government policy? How can access to the benefits of economic reforms allowing private business be extended to marginalized populations? Can the government help encourage a healthy, independent media eco-system? And how much of the stifling of civil society can be blamed on the embargo and how much is simply home-grown?

Thoughtful and engaging, the film is conveniently divided into chapters on class and activism, media, Internet and the blogosphere, political opposition, and Cuban civil society across international borders. 

“The much-needed new documentary Rethinking Cuban Civil Society directed by María Isabel Alfonso refuses to yield to the kind of pleasure that critique of one of the so-called last bastions of communism can provide spectators by placing them in a superior and pure position." 

— Jacqueline Loss, University of Connecticut

"Rethinking Cuban Civil Society is a rare and accomplished film that showcases  varied voices from the alternative media, blogosphere, LGBTQ, feminist, and anti-racist movements of Cubans who seek to preserve the gains of the revolution while voicing their critiques. This film should be seen widely."

— Sujatha Fernandes, University of Sydney

“Rethinking Cuban Civil Society succeeds in illuminating the moment of awakening Cuba is currently experiencing. The film focuses on an often ignored but vibrant, diverse, and dynamic segment of Cuban civil society that self-defines as both socialist and critical of many government policies while maintaining distance from the so-called opposition. It sheds light on a group of intellectuals and civic leaders that are playing an important role in the shaping of Cuba’s future.” 

—Luis Carlos Battista, Stephen M. Rivers Memorial Fellow, Center for Democracy in the Americas

“Cuba is an easy country to get wrong. It is a testament to María Isabel Alfonso's abilities as an interviewer and a thinker that she identified so many of the most important commentators in the debates in Cuban civil society, and won their trust to be interviewed on camera on this topic. Those who teach Cuban studies will definitely find the documentary useful, but so too will the general public, particularly in the U.S., because it sheds light on a conversation in Cuba which receives insufficient attention in the media.”

 —Karen Dubinsky, Queens University

(From Icarus Films website)

“Rethinking Cuban Civil Society: Something Deeper than the Truth unveils what is hidden in plain view.  With clarity and conviction, Cuban men and women, mostly of the younger generations, engage in a conversation on the need to open up a space for the public expression of ideological, political, sexual, racial, and religious differences in a new Cuba.  There is a sense of impatience as well as urgency as they talk about the lack of official responsiveness to their demands.  Only piecemeal are they ever addressed.  Amid the visible frustrations, one cannot help but be comforted by the thought that the future of Cuba is in these people’s hands.  Alfonso has brought to the forefront the vigorous, healthy debate about civil society that is taking place among the many talented activists and intellectuals on the Island without disregarding the role that Cubans abroad should play at this juncture.  She has accomplished in a little over 30 minutes what many Cuba travelers are wont to miss.”

—Iraida López, Ramapo College