Crossing Borders: A Cuban Returns 1998
Distributed by The Cinema Guild, 1967 Broadway, Suite 506, New York, NY 10019; 800-723-5522
Produced by Mario Congreve and Glenn Gebhard
Directed by Glen Gebhard
VHS, color, 50 min.
High School - Adult
Latin American Studies, Multicultural Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Lori Foulke, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins UniversityThis video documents the emotionally charged trip of a United States citizen to her birthplace in Cuba. We watch as Prof. Magaly Lavendenz of Loyola Marymount University returns to Cuba, over 35 years after she and her family fled to the United States. The video documents her movements and feelings as she explores the vague recesses of a child's memories of early life in Cuba (she was just 3 1/2 years old when she left). We watch as she wanders around Havana, visits her old neighborhood, the campus where her mother attended university, the graveyards of her relatives, and the home of some distant relations. Magaly's impressions of Cuba and her people are expressed throughout her trip, interspersed with comments from Cubans about their impressions of her and other Cubans who return to visit their homeland. Through these narratives we share the deep sense that Cubans understand and empathize with her need to visit and to reconnect to this country and its people. The most striking aspect of this video is listening to Magaly as she ponders her dual identity as both American and Cuban as well as the complexities of being a tourist in the land of her birth.
This video would be useful for college level courses which focus on the immigrant experience, the history of Cuba, Latin American identity, or Latin American history.
Recommended.