The Sharjah Biennale shows film by New York artist Coco Fusco on the political imprisonment of the Cuban writer Néstor Díaz de Villegas

"The Eternal Night", a feature film directed by New York artist Coco Fusco, premiered this Wednesday as part of the program of the Sharjah Biennial 2023, organized in the United Arab Emirates, and which is dedicated to reflecting on the present from a historical perspective .

Fusco's film is based on the testimony of the Cuban writer Néstor Díaz de Villegas (Cienfuegos, 1956), who was sentenced to six years in prison in 1974 for the "crime" of writing a poem that was not well received by the Castro regime. At the time of his imprisonment, he was only 18 years old.

According to the film's website, "The Eternal Night" is the "story of three young Cubans condemned for their beliefs and their creations. It deals with the power of imagination to transcend circumstances."

"The story focuses on a poet recently arrived in prison, a young evangelical peasant and an actor who was accused of trying to assassinate Fidel Castro. The actor introduces them to the social world of the forced labor camp, showing them how to resist the re-education attempts by the authorities. To animate the prisoners' afternoons, he convinces the director of the camp that the projection of films would be a more effective way to teach the inmates the benefits of socialism and creates a cinema inside the prison," says the synopsis.

Produced by the director and by David Leitner, with a script by Enrique del Risco and acting by Luis Manuel Álvarez, Enmanuel Galbán and Joel Lara, the film "combines a dramatized version of Díaz de Villegas' prison experience with fragments of films and graphics from the 1970s, as well as interviews with Díaz de Villegas and his friend, the actor and former political prisoner José Manuel Castiñeyra, who passed away in December 2022.

The Sharjah Biennale, organized by the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF), brings together approximately 150 artists and collectives from more than 70 countries in its 15th edition, in which it celebrates the 30th anniversary of its creation.

Starting on February 7 and running until June 11, 2023, the event features more than 300 works of art and an extensive program of performances, music and film in more than 18 venues in five cities and towns in the emirate of Sharjah: Al Dhaid, Hamriyah, Kalba, Khorfakkan and Sharjah.