Movies Similar to East of Havana

Buena Vista Social Club(1999)

In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.

7.5

Night Is Not Eternal(2024)

For seven years, award-winning Chinese-American filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows Rosa María Payá, daughter of the five time Nobel Peace Prize nominated activist, Oswaldo Payá, in Rosa's fight for democratic change in Cuba. Rosa's narrative is interwoven with Wang's poignant reflections on her Chinese upbringing and her observations of eroding democratic norms in the U.S., revealing unsettling similarities to the authoritarian system she left behind.

6.7

On Sugar Workers' Quarters(1971)

Documentary about the history of the bateyes, informal settlements surrounding the mills to house workers. Throughout the film, Sara Gómez recovers the political and cultural relevance of black migrants.

8.0

Jeronimo(2019)

Born to Korean immigrant parents freed from indentured servitude in early twentieth century Mexico, Jerónimo Lim Kim joins the Cuban Revolution with his law school classmate Fidel Castro and becomes an accomplished government official in the Castro regime, until he rediscovers his ethnic roots and dedicates his later life to reconstructing his Korean Cuban identity. After Jerónimo's death, younger Korean Cubans recognize his legacy, but it is not until they are presented with the opportunity to visit South Korea that questions about their mixed identity resurface.

8.7

Sicko(2007)

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

7.4

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Nobody(2017)

Half blind and half deaf, ostraziced Cuban writer Rafael Alcides tries to finish his unpublished novels to discover that after several decades, the home made ink from the typewriter he used to write them has faded. The Cuban revolution as a love story and eventual deception is seen through the eyes of a man who is living an inner exile.

6.5

Cuba and the Cameraman(2017)

This revealing portrait of Cuba follows the lives of Fidel Castro and three Cuban families affected by his policies over the last four decades.

7.5

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CBS Reports: The CIA's Secret Army(1977)

This program examines Cuban exile terrorists living in Miami. These terrorists were secretly trained and employed by the U.S. government in the early 1960s to fight Fidel Castro. Now, without U.S. support, terrorist activities continue in Miami and Latin America. The program reviews secret U.S. policies toward Cuba in the 1960s and includes interviews with Castro and former top CIA officials. Members of this group, formerly secretly trained and employed by U.S. Government until 1967, have been active in Watergate crimes and anti-Castro terrorism including bomb explosion on Cuban Airline killing seventy-three. Includes interviews with Castro, E. Howard Hunt, Bernard Barker, and Rolando Martinez.' - The Paley Center For Media

0.0

Embrujo antillano(1946)

Power struggles among the owners of a cigar factory;meanwhile, a society babe and a factory girl compete over the youngest of the executives.

5.0

Alma Anciana(2024)

Three juxtaposing stories taking place in Portugal, Austria and Cuba create an intimate and poetic portrait of the daily lives and struggles of the elderly in an unstable world, seen through the eyes of their grandchildren.

0.0

Personal Che(2007)

A documentary that explores the myth behind the truth. Different people around the globe reinterpret the legend of Che Guevara at will: from the rebel living in Hong Kong fighting Chinese domination, to the German neonazi preaching revolution and the Castro-hating Cuban. Their testimonies prove that the Argentinian revolutionary's historical impact reverberates still. But like with all legends, each sees what he will, in often contradictory perspectives.

10.0

Karl Marx und seine Erben(2018)

Over the past hundred years, dramatic social upheavals have taken place in the name of Karl Marx's theories. In Western Europe, the student movement of 1968 and the Eurocommunists were inspired. And in recent times, the thinker has experienced a renaissance.

7.0

Chico & Rita(2010)

Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.

7.2

Brothers in Exile(2014)

Major League Baseball has been transformed by the influx of Cuban players such as Aroldis Chapman, Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu. But a special debt of gratitude is owed to two half-brothers, whose courage two decades ago paved the way for their stardom. "Brothers in Exile" tells the incredible story of Livan and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who risked their lives to get off the island.

7.5

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Surfing with the Enemy(2011)

The story of a group of surfers from Havana struggling to establish a niche for their sport in Cuba’s restrictive society. Guided by Eduardo Valdes, founder of the Havana Surf Association, two filmmakers travel across the island to the notorious Guantanamo province, home to the U.S. Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay, as well as the country’s best waves. Searching for surf along this controversial coast, they discover a forbidden paradise just miles from the American border, and learn what it means to be a surfer and a citizen of modern-day Cuba.

0.0

Seguridad(2024)

In her feature documentary Seguridad, Newfoundland-based filmmaker Tamara Segura—once named “Cuba’s youngest soldier” in a militia publicity stunt—portrays her troubled relationship with her father in the context of the Cuban Revolution. When Segura accepts a scholarship to study film in Canada, the move offers crucial distance from her alcoholic father. After four years, she returns to Cuba hoping to make amends. But her father’s sudden death just days after her arrival forces Segura to explore his troubled past and the role Cuba’s highly militarized system played in his downfall. Through a series of deeply personal on-camera interviews with her immediate family, Segura unearths long-held secrets that ultimately tell a story of resilience and profound love between family members. Seguridad artfully weaves a lifetime’s worth of still photographs into its intimate narrative, which offers a rare glimpse into the inner lives of Cubans in the post-revolutionary era.

10.0

The Cuban Love Song(1931)

A guilt-ridden U.S. Marine returns to Cuba to try to find the woman he promised to marry.

4.3

Another Day of Life(2018)

In 1975, Ryszard Kapuściński, a veteran Polish journalist, embarked on a seemingly suicidal road trip into the heart of the Angola's civil war. There, he witnessed once again the dirty reality of war and discovered a sense of helplessness previously unknown to him. Angola changed him forever: it was a reporter who left Poland, but it was a writer who returned…

7.4

The Rolling Stones: Havana Moon(2016)

The historic concert appearance of the British band in Cuba on March 25th, 2016. The "Concert for Amity" was and played at the Ciudad Deportiva Stadium - the bands first show in Cuba and the finale of their South America Tour.

7.5

Option Zero(2021)

There are countless stories of Cubans reaching their dream destination of Florida as boat refugees. A lesser known route to the United States starts with a flight in a ramshackle plane to Guyana. Then the refugees travel to Colombia where they cross the jungle to arrive in Central America, from where they hope to reach the promised land of America—a hard and dangerous journey. Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltrán visits them in a refugee camp in Panama, where one of the residents gives him an idea. Many people here have filmed their journey, she says, and these videos tell their real story. These jerky, shocking videos are interspersed with Beltrán’s footage of the camp, tangibly illustrating the difference between the hectic pace of the journey and the insecure life at the reception center.

0.0