Spanish Film Fest: Cuba’s comedy scene
Posted on: Thu 22 Apr 2021
When you’re complaining about cancel culture or what you can and can’t say on stage, you also have to go to places where you might get shot for telling the wrong joke.
Simon Palomares, documentary maker
How can it be that a country that has essentially been cut off from the rest of the world for over six decades has developed such a rich comedy culture? What can you say and – maybe even more so – what can’t you say on stage when you live under a totalitarian government?
Spanish Australian documentary maker, comedian and creator of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Wogs out of Work Simon Palomares asked himself these very questions when he travelled to Cuba. He made a documentary out of it: Latigo, now featuring at the Moro Spanish Film Festival in Adelaide.
We had a chat with Simon about the Cuban State Department of Humor, Fidel Castro asking for copies of comedy shows, and the difference between ridiculing and criticising governments on stage.
Story produced by Stefanie Staelens
Photo attribution: Alexander Kunze
