Private Project

Hasta la victoria siempre

January 2016: Although already a tourist hub, Cuba has reopened its borders to visitors from the U.S. under the leadership of Fidel's brother, Raúl Castro. Two young filmmakers set off on the next flight they can catch to learn about what the storied island's artists are up to. Lex is a first generation Korean-American shaped by the aesthetic and ideological isolation they felt growing up in the backcountry suburban sprawl of Indiana. They want to find out what has been incubating in Cuba's so-called isolation. Marjorie is intrigued by Cuba's anticapitalist vision and fearless opposition to U.S. imperialism, but has yet to reconcile her leftist idealism with either the realities of authoritarianism or her role as a white tourist. The filmmakers' interviews with painters, dancers, writers, and kung fu masters confront them with unexpected realities of life and art in a country that defies categorization. Part documentary, part travelogue, part diary, Hasta la victoria siempre explores ideology, repression, and expression through the lens of two Americans in Cuba.

FINE CUT pending music licensing approval.

  • Marjorie Hunt
    Director
  • Alexis Moh
    Director
    Spider Moth Butterfly
  • Marjorie Hunt
    Producer
  • Alexis Moh
    Producer
    Spider Moth Butterfly
  • Marjorie Hunt
    Key Cast
  • Alexis Moh
    Key Cast
    Spider Moth Butterfly
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Hasta la victoria siempre
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Travelogue, Experimental, Art film
  • Runtime:
    52 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 13, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Cuba, United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Marjorie Hunt, Alexis Moh

Marjorie Hunt is a filmmaker, video artist, photographer, writer, and activist in Los Angeles. HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE is her first feature film. Her previous work includes the official music video for SAY MY NAME by Pete Wilde, a song birthed out of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Marjorie's work explores the legacies of colonialism, imperialism, and racism in the Americas, with a focus on borders and migration.

Alexis Moh is a Korean-American potter, filmmaker, performance maker, and gardener whose work is driven by the instinct to build resistance and resilience against the white supremacist capitalist destruction of life on our current Earth. Alexis was selected for the 2017-2018 Mortimer-Hays Brandeis Fellowship through which they directed and produced their first narrative feature film, SPIDER MOTH BUTTERFLY, about hierarchy collapse in a fantastical circus. Alexis's video installation about the Očeti Sakowin water protector camp (on Standing Rock Sioux territory), RECURSION 1 & 2, was presented at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.

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Director Statement

When we excitedly set off to "explore Cuba," it was with both openness and naïveté. During our trip, we would be confronted with new narratives about revolution and further awakened to our own complicity in the touristic, capitalist, american identities we thought ourselves to reject. The deeper into our journey we got, the deeper the levels of complexity we faced with respect to not only our ideas about Cuba, but also our ideas of ourselves as artists, explorers, and americans. The privilege of a skin color or a certain passport is bigger and deeper than any individual's good intentions can recalibrate for. The "national narrative" of a country is a different story for every other country, writer, and audience. A government--though colored by, shaped by, and reflective of--is not its people. And, stories are as much about the people who tell them as they are about the plots and characters within. Hence, Hasta la victoria siempre became as much an exploration of ourselves at one specific moment in time and place as an exploration of the country and the idea of Cuba.

Muchísimas gracias to the many gracious hosts and guides who helped us on our way.