Documentary
Shot in Cuba in 1961, this documentary follows a volunteer militia brigade organized in defense of the Cuban Revolution. Joris Ivens and his crew observe military training, daily life, and collective discipline among civilian volunteers. The film emphasizes popular mobilization…


Narrator
In a culture where cremation is unusual, cemeteries fill up rapidly. In Latin America and in some other places, to solve the problem, remains are frequently exhumed. In Cuba, two year after interment. Relatives are invited to observe the little ritual. The music of the film is drawn from requiems from different periods. Twelve pieces by seven different composers are quoted. Together, they make up a traditional requiem, although only a few passages from the "dies irae" have been included, and other sections are slightly abbreviated.

The fifties in Cuba, at the time of the "dias felices", the happy days, the American mobsters were the kings of the country, Hemingway lived there, the Hollywood stars came to hide their secrets, the number of bars and clubs rose amazingly, celebrities came to spend vacation, the business of cigars flourished, gambling was not a vice, everybody was dancing on frenzied music, while rum and cigars were flowing. At the beginning of the fifties, the huge storm that threatened Cuba was unpredictable.

When he was executed outside a Havana prison on March 11, 1961, the strange story of William Morgan seemed to vanish from the popular imagination as quickly as it had appeared. William Alexander Morgan was one of only a couple dozen US citizens who joined Cuban rebel forces, fighting for Fidel Castro in 1957. With government documents recently declassified, new information has come to light and Morgan’s story has come back into the public eye. American Comandante has the makings of a Cold War thriller— with adventure, spies and historical figures such as J. Edgar Hoover and Chè Guevera. Eyewitness accounts from Morgan’s widow and several Cubans who fought alongside him, as well as commentary from journalists and biographers, tell the story of a man who transformed from a failure to a hero and celebrity. American Comandante is a quintessential American story of a man who reinvented himself.