Susana Barriga

Susana Barriga’s documentary, the illusion, begins with violence. A long shot reveals a man standing on a street corner, his features indiscernible in the night. He moves out of the camera’s line of vision, but the filmmaker, persistent, moves with him as the jostling of the camera marks her steps. As we learn moments later, the man in the distance is Susana’s father – and this is the clearest image of him we will have. Suddenly, an angry British man demands that Susana cease filming. Susana protests in heavily accented English, “He is my father!” Glimpses of a man’s torso are followed by blurred images as the camera spins rapidly over surfaces. The image cuts to black. A new male voice asks in carefully spaced out words if Susana would like him to call the police. When she doesn’t respond immediately, he speaks louder, as though volume would compensate for the language difference. She gives her name; she refuses the offer of an ambulance.

Ruy, a solitary surveyor, travels the harsh Pernambuco. His life is transformed when he meets three women from a mambembe circus, Madrinha, Jéssica and Diadorim. Through the history of these four characters, "Mambembe" deals with chance while reflecting on artistic construction.

Yubisnel, 22, is repairing the road leading to a mountain region in Cuba. He wishes he could escape down that very road. To avoid the emptiness he fears, he takes off on an inner journey.

A group of Cuban fishermen work along the Cuba-US marine border area (Santa Cruz del Norte-Florida), and are involved with political issues and ongoing illegal migration. Yet they try to continue their normal fishermen life in their country.

Susana Barriga’s documentary, the illusion, begins with violence. A long shot reveals a man standing on a street corner, his features indiscernible in the night. He moves out of the camera’s line of vision, but the filmmaker, persistent, moves with him as the jostling of the camera marks her steps. As we learn moments later, the man in the distance is Susana’s father – and this is the clearest image of him we will have. Suddenly, an angry British man demands that Susana cease filming. Susana protests in heavily accented English, “He is my father!” Glimpses of a man’s torso are followed by blurred images as the camera spins rapidly over surfaces. The image cuts to black. A new male voice asks in carefully spaced out words if Susana would like him to call the police. When she doesn’t respond immediately, he speaks louder, as though volume would compensate for the language difference. She gives her name; she refuses the offer of an ambulance.

Susana Barriga’s documentary, the illusion, begins with violence. A long shot reveals a man standing on a street corner, his features indiscernible in the night. He moves out of the camera’s line of vision, but the filmmaker, persistent, moves with him as the jostling of the camera marks her steps. As we learn moments later, the man in the distance is Susana’s father – and this is the clearest image of him we will have. Suddenly, an angry British man demands that Susana cease filming. Susana protests in heavily accented English, “He is my father!” Glimpses of a man’s torso are followed by blurred images as the camera spins rapidly over surfaces. The image cuts to black. A new male voice asks in carefully spaced out words if Susana would like him to call the police. When she doesn’t respond immediately, he speaks louder, as though volume would compensate for the language difference. She gives her name; she refuses the offer of an ambulance.

Ruy, a solitary surveyor, travels the harsh Pernambuco. His life is transformed when he meets three women from a mambembe circus, Madrinha, Jéssica and Diadorim. Through the history of these four characters, "Mambembe" deals with chance while reflecting on artistic construction.

Yubisnel, 22, is repairing the road leading to a mountain region in Cuba. He wishes he could escape down that very road. To avoid the emptiness he fears, he takes off on an inner journey.

A group of Cuban fishermen work along the Cuba-US marine border area (Santa Cruz del Norte-Florida), and are involved with political issues and ongoing illegal migration. Yet they try to continue their normal fishermen life in their country.