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The Oceans Are the Real Continents

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Set in San Antonio De Los Baños, a sleepy town in inland Cuba, and shot in langurous black and white tableaux, The Oceans Are the Real Continents traces the stories of three generations of townspeople.

Lacerated by the Caribbean rain, Edith (Edith Ybarra Clara) and Alex (Alexander Diego) are both actors, an artsy couple in their 30s with an on-again, off-again relationship; they share moments of love, playfulness and resentment, grow apart and reconvene. Milagros (Milagros Llanes Martínez) is a lonely elder making a post-retired wage by selling manì (Cuban roasted peanut cones). She lives a quiet life of mundane tasks and memories from a long-gone past. Finally, Frank and Alain are two little boys who imitate the men around them and dream of emigrating to the United States and playing for the Yankees together.

An exquisite love poem to Cuba.
Patricia Boero, The Film Verdict

 

October 3 & 5: Q&A with director Tommaso Santambrogio

Director
Cast

Alexander Diego, Edith Ybarra Clara, Frank Ernesto Lam, Alain Alain Alfonso González, Milagros Llanes Martínez

Credits
Country of Origin

Cuba/Italy

Year

2023

Series

Panorama

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
119 min
Drama

Book Tickets

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Credits

Executive Producer

Ricardo Figueredo Oliva, Marcello Mustilli, Alessandra Limentani

Producer

Marica Stocchi, Gianluca Arcopinto

Screenwriter

Tommaso Santambrogio

Cinematography

Lorenzo Casadio Vannucci

Editor

Matteo Faccenda

Production Design

Alexis Álvarez Armas

Director

Tommaso Santambrogio headshot

Tommaso Santambrogio

Tommaso Santambrogio is a young Italian director; he has lived between Milan, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Havana, and has collaborated with several internationally renowned filmmakers, such as Werner Herzog and Lav Diaz. His first short films (Escena Final and Los Océanos Son Los Verdaderos Continentes) were both screened in 2019 at the Venice Film Festival and were then selected in many festivals around the world. Taxibol (2023), his new docu-film, recently premiered at Visions du Réel. Oceans Are the Real Continents is his first feature film and premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

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