“I’ll take your flag in case I don’t come back. I regret that my freed eyes did not see you”, that’s how he sang Celia Cruz to Cuba, which he loved so much, that he never returned after his exile. arises from a similar feeling homeland and lifea song that becomes a song free cuba and this sparked a social movement on the island that was featured in a documentary of the same name that was presented at the Malaga Festival yesterday.
Patria y vida rewrites the slogan of the Cuban regime: Country or Death. local people, Maykel Osorbo, Yotuel Romero, Descemer Bueno And coward They are six rappers who, through this song, managed to rewrite their country’s history in a lyrical battle for human rights. all but exile maykel oskaroProsecuted with a 9-year prison sentence.
The director and singer of the documentary told what started in the kitchen of the house Beatriz Luengo and partner, Yotuel Romerothere was a revolution, it reached the United States Congress, a winner Latin Grammy Awards and the anthem of a revolution.
This is Luengo’s debut as a director. “I met this challenge with great excitement, I wanted to tell his story. This is all exciting because all this is happening, the song is currently banned and Maykel is still in jail“, he says. Without support or marketing strategies, these six musicians are revolutionizing social networks. A song reveals a sad melody that has managed to exceed 300 million visits on the platform’s hashtag. TikTok.
And an issue that has turned into a social movement, sSeeing the seed of a protest Cubans have never seen before: “I didn’t anticipate his impact, he’s very positive and he believes he can help his people. We left without support, now everyone is making music for the same algorithm, composing for a strategy. Not wanting to do something we do music should say somethinga legacy of dance music and messages,” says Luengo.
“With this song, I try to encourage my inner self, my people. and let the world understand how the Cuban people feel, tell the world what Cuba is. Patria y vida is a song that goes even further, we want it to jump over the puddle, over it,” emphasizes Yotuel.
Because the rapper from both Luengo and the previously remembered group orishasExplain that “people from the other side of the lake still don’t understand what’s going on”. Therefore, making the situation of the country visible is one of the aims: “I think it will be known now with Documenta.l, it was necessary to give a face to the situation. Going to Cuba is like going to the zoo.You go feed the animals and come back. It’s the same: the tourist goes and sees the beauty, but there’s so much more,” accuses Romero.
“People don’t go to North Korea for tourism, but they go to Cuba,” says Yotuel.
Why is Beatriz no one? “talk about what’s going on”: “People out of ignorance do not know what is happening in Cuba, because they can not really imagine it. They still ask: Why don’t Cubans take to the streets? Because they don’t even know it’s forbidden.”
Something changed on June 11, 2021, when the Cuban people took to the streets demanding change in living conditions in Cuba with the slogan Patria y vida: “That’s when the results were seen, people died and protesters were condemned It ranges from 5 to 25 years old,” says Luengo.
He is faced with the possibility of one day returning to the Cuba he loves so much.Yotuel smiles and replies: “Surely the situation will change and I will return.”