Somos Cuba

Directed & Produced by: Irina Patkanian

Stage:
- Post Production
Location:
- Cuba
Updated: May 8, 2026
Project Type:
- Feature
Project Style:
- Observational
Theme Subject:
- Family,
- Politics,
- Social / Cultural

Logline

immersive documentary that follows three characters from Old Havana for the period of 10+ years (2015 – 2027) during Cuba’s transformation from a communist dictatorship to a free market economy

Synopsis

...

I have been documenting five ordinary characters living in Old Havana since 2015 revisiting them every 3 years. Without interviews or VoiceOver narration, and with only incidental dialogue, audience is given space and time to observe, reflect and see for themselves how Cuba slowly transforms itself from a communist regime to a free market society, and what toll this ideological makeover has been taking on people’s intellectual, physical and emotional life, their everyday rituals, worries and dreams. It is a very personal project for me. What is now happening in Cuba, happened in Russia in the 1990s. This abysmal change has been hardly documented. Communist regime breaks the spirit and crushes the soul creating deep wounds and atrophies that take decades to heal, and, as in case with Russian older generation may never scar over.

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Team

Irina Patkanian

Director & Producer

Team

Irina Patkanian

Director & Producer

Irina Patkanian is an award-winning filmmaker, a Fulbright scholar, a professor of film & media arts at Brooklyn College and the co-founder and artistic director of “In Parentheses,” a NYC based nonprofit film, theater & media arts company. Irina Patkanian makes hybrid (fiction/nonfiction) films questioning history with poetry, memory with animation, behavior with performance. Irina’s films have screened at 150+ film festivals worldwide, winning 30+ awards. Her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from NYSCA, NYFA, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Tow, Blaustein, Troy, FACE, Puffin and Jerome Foundations, as well as artist residencies at MacDowell and The Millay Arts; Ucross and the Art Studios of Key West; VCCA and Obermann Center for Humanities; Greywood Arts, Watershed Art Studios and Cowhouse in Ireland; Art House Holland and Villa Lena Foundation in Italy.

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Budget

This section includes information about this project.

Production festival film producer independent editing visual independent producer impact camera director screenplay narrative. Creative award editing editing cinema film narrative director screenplay award producer team creative film independent producer.

Stills

Our Ask

I am looking for a Producer to help me finish the film: advise me on final cut, perhaps, participate in storytelling labs in the U.S. and abroad, and help me to navigate the finished film through the festivals to find its audience. There will be one more production trip to Cuba in January of 2027. So far the film has been funded by me and small faculty travel grants from CUNY.

We are seeking:

Co-Production Partners,
International Co-Production,
Festival Premiere,
Streaming Partner,
Broadcast Partner,
In Kind Partnerships