Title: Cuban Film Institute Director Dismissed Following Documentary Controversy
Subtitle: Susana Molina Appointed as Acting President of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry
Date: [insert date]
Following the censorship controversy surrounding the documentary “Fito’s Havana” by Juan Pin Vilar, Ramón Samada Suárez has been dismissed from his position as the director of the state Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). In his place, Susana Molina, the former director of the International Film and Television School of San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV), has been appointed as the acting president of ICAIC, according to an official announcement published in the newspaper news.
The Ministry of Culture revealed that Samada Suárez himself had requested the release of his position as the president of ICAIC. His work over the past years was recognized, as stated in the official information. Waldo Ramírez de la Ribera has been introduced as the new director of EICTV and Cuba’s representative in Telesur. He will also serve as the first vice president of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television.
In a meeting held on June 23, Ramón Samada, the president of ICAIC, warned attendees, including Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman and the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, of reprisals if they persisted in recording despite the prohibition. Nevertheless, filmmaker Miguel Coyula managed to capture fragments of the meeting and later released them. As a consequence, ICAIC canceled the exhibition of several foreign animated films restored by Coyula, including “Development Memories” (2010), “Nobody” (2017), and “Blue Heart” (2020), all of which had faced censorship on the island.
In other news, three vice-presidents have been appointed for the Institute of Information and Social Communication. Belkys Pérez Cruz, Jorge Legañoa Alonso, and Onelio Castillo Corderí, all with extensive and outstanding careers, have been selected for these key positions.
The Cuban regime had previously expressed its nine-year study to create the Institute of Information and Social Communication, stating that it aims to “lead and control” propaganda in Cuba and build a unique press model. Despite these claims, the Cuban Government continues to prohibit independent media and the practice of journalism privately on the island. The government has further added journalists and related professionals in the press and literature fields to the list of 124 prohibited activities for private practice.
While appearing to listen to official journalists, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the PCC (Communist Party of Cuba) media criticize the independent press and hinder their ability to find resources for survival within the country.
Note: This article contains extracts from a published news report.