What was most striking for me when watching part 1 of the Battle of Chile was how close the production was to a lot of the political turmoil at this point in Chile’s history. It’s eerie how we can mirror the political divide from then to now and see we’re not far off from the past. The documentary itself is significant in showing how the United States time and time again across all three filmmakers’ works is highlighted as a brute militant force that impedes on Latin America. It helps to inform those who don’t understand how Chile has gotten to where it had with real life first hand accounts as everything shifts into a dictatorship. The mixing of different materials for archival purposes and the live reaction at the time to what was unfolding makes sense as to why the documentary has been revered as one of the best ever made.

While watching Black God, White Devil I noticed that the film in my opinion is pretty stylized in its delivery of actions and dialogue. One scene in particular that reflects this to me is the scene when Manoel, who is deeply brainwashed by saint Sebastião’s cult teachings is willing to turn in Rosa to please the cult leader. The crowd of followers surround the couple at the mountain top while Rosa wails loudly. The eeriness of it all is she is being unheard in a sea of madness where she seemingly can see through saint Sebastião’s ruse. This moment for me given the camera panning around the ordeal reminds me of almost a stage play in its dramatics and captures the lack of acknowledgement for a woman’s logical heed of danger that Rosa can sense.

Barravento speaks from the perspective of those who experience firsthand Western colonization. While the fishing community do still have a sense of culture that they can preserve through their religious practices it is when the introduction of another ideology that disrupts the sense of normalcy that the village hold. Firmino’s once well intentioned actions towards the community’s traditions is representative of how education can transform one’s way of living and how it can be frightening to endure if you’re not ready to go through the process of decolonization. Aruã’s choice to leave for the city at the conclusion of the film suggests that this cycle of education may persist and can potentially lead to more pushback against the Western influence on the villagers and to help break the chains of oppression that they have endured since their ancestors were forced to come to Brazil.

Sara Gomez’s de Cierta Manera was the only feature film she was able to produce before her tragic death. While this fact is disheartening, the film works as a solid example of what truly highlighted the mind of a revolutionary who saw the social hypocrisies of a post-revolution Cuba. The issues raised of class, race, and gender all intersected in the narrative surrounding Mario and Yolanda’s growing love. During the discussion after watching the film, I can look back at moments in which the themes of class tensions was the umbrella of all the other issues that followed for characters in the film. Such as one of Yolanda’s students’ mothers being questioned by Yolanda about why she beats her son. To which the mother says it is to keep him in order as he does not stay out of trouble and constantly slacks off in school. The mother only wishes to have her son home with her and her other children to help take care of things around the house despite him not even being in the double digits. This is one example of how the low income neighborhood in which Yolanda teaches in have to deal with hard choices between fostering a child’s education versus basic survival that maybe dependent on a child having to sacrifice their own schooling to take on a role as an extra provider for their family. Yolanda as a character who comes from a more well off background fails to understand this perspective throughout her arc. While it is refreshing to see a woman like Yolanda who can hold her own stance and is educated she still remains ignorant to the realities of which her students and their families live. Mario is that voice of reason, being he comes from the same beginnings as the lower income residents of Cuba he is a product of poor education and traditional thinking that clashes with Yolanda’s progressive lifestyle. Overall, their dynamic suggests from Gomez there is a lot of deconstructing/reframing of how Cuba should proceed with the revolution to truly include everyone.

Guanabacoa: Crónica de mi familia (1966) was one of the most striking documentaries from Gomez’s work. The detailing of the women who raised her gave life to each family member and gave a glimpse into the Black Cuban life before the revolution and how Gomez in her present time viewed her family. As stated in the previous article on Gomez, she makes it known that she comes from an established middle class Black Cuban family. This sense of pride that Gomez feels in her accomplished female elders is demonstrated in the way she narrates about each significant maternal figure from her family. Significantly her godmother is where Sara focuses on the most in the duration of the documentary. In cultures that value family and religious ties I can tell that Sara takes pieces of her Cuban heritage and applies it throughout her films that often shows the crossover of identity outside of being solely Cuban and also interesting a specific identity into the ideas of the revolution.

Agnes Varda’s Salut les Cubains was striking for its editing approach. The choice of cutting the film together to have subjects rhythmically align with the music brings the visuals to life, especially the part where Sara Gomez is featured dancing the cha-cha. The cutting between the different shots to give a stop-motion effect to the sequence reminded me of almost a collage you would see in a magazine. This example of imperfect cinema feels more personable and still highlights a significant part of Latin American history that jumpstarted the beginning for New Latin American Cinema without the conventional filmmaking style made popular in Hollywood. It kept my engagement as I saw how it was pieced together to feel as if we are placed right there on the street with the dancers. Sara as big of a figure she is for Afro-Latinas is just one amongst other people who are embracing their culture and proud to show it off. It’s almost chilling to know how important her work will come to be and the impact she had in Cuba’s film industry. After reading more on Sara, it’s inspiring how her short life was paved by her determination to change the narrative often made about the Black community in Cuba through her revolutionary work as a filmmaker.