Feature film
Clandestinos
Fernando Pérez · 1987
Synopsis
Havana, 1958, in the final days of the struggle against Batista. Ernesto leads a clandestine group that prints and distributes leaflets against the regime. He meets Nereida, a young woman determined to join the struggle; she joins the group, gradually wins his trust, and a love grows between them, while the police tighten their grip around the clandestine press and those who keep it running.
Context
The first feature-length fiction film by its director, the film rests on a screenplay by Jesús Díaz, director of Lejanía. The story follows two fighters of the urban underground and draws on cinematography by Adriano Moreno, editing by Jorge Abello and music by Edesio Alejandro. Luis Alberto García and Isabel Santos play the two main roles, surrounded by Susana Pérez, Jorge Luis Sánchez and Amado del Pino. The Festival des 3 Continents presented it in France under the title Clandestins.
Who it is for
One hundred and three minutes, in Spanish, in colour. The action is set in the last months of Batista's dictatorship, overthrown in January 1959.
Prizes and reception
Best actress prize for Isabel Santos at the Havana Festival of New Latin American Cinema.