Les Gens du havane
Bernard Mangiante
1995 - 54 min - 16 mm - Couleur - France, Allemagne, Cuba

"When Henri Vart, a producer in love with Cuba and its cigars, suggested that I make a film about havanas, the first things I thought about were the images, the imaginary, the cigar as a mythic object. But when I arrived in Cuba, I quickly forgot all of those abstract ideas as I made connections with the women and men whose work, despite the current shortages and difficulties, guarantees the survival of Havana cigars, the product of an incredible series of meticulous operations and delicate gestures. [...]
The description of a traditional activity brings us closer to a certain normalcy in Cuba, a modest and discreet day to day life, seemingly far away from the convulsions that the politically correct media seek. [...]"
Following on the trace of a mythical object, the Havana cigar, the film shows the people who produce it, from the tobacco planters to the workers in the cigar factories. In Cuba, the Havana is an entire culture in itself...