Andy Garcia in New Documentary on Cuban Political Prisoners
Celebrating Life in Union, a new documentary narrated by Andy Garcia, will premiere at the 2012 New York City International Film Festival.
Celebrating Life in Union tells the story of the tragedy and brotherhood of a group of former political prisoners from the Cuban Revolution, who fought for, and then were betrayed by their leader, Fidel Castro.
Director and human rights activist Gladys Bensimon, known for her award-winning documentary Crossing our Borders, learned that a group of these former prisoners, now in their 70s, was living and gathering weekly in Union City, New Jersey.
Gladys began attending the meetings as her curiosity grew about what really happened to the people of Cuba during the Revolution.
Garcia, a Cuban American, joined the project to support the former prisoners and to help tell their stories.
“These men were young and passionate when they initially joined Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista,” explain the Director, Gladys Bensimon.
“They were students, teachers, farmers, businessmen who sacrificed everything to change Cuba for the better. After all that effort, they were betrayed by Castro and forced to lead a counter-revolution in the Escambray Mountains,” she adds.
Celebrating Life in Union juxtaposes the former prisoners’ stories with the stories of their families, who prayed they survive the firing squads that claimed the lives of thousands in a tumultuous Cuba.
The men recount the physical and mental abuse they endured during their decades incarcerated. Thousands paid with their lives and many more with their freedom and sanity to fight for a free Cuba.
The documentary will premiere this August 14 at 6:00 p.m., at Tribeca Cinemas, as part of the 2012 New York City International Film Festival.
For more information about Celebrating Life in Union, visit celebratinglifeinunion.com:
See also, The Che Guevara Myth: And the Future of Liberty, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
Andy Garcia honored at the Independent Institute’s 2008 reception and dinner, A Gala for Liberty:
