“Papa”, a biopic about author Ernst Hemingway, was shot on location in Cuba with special permission from the US government. The film stars Giovanni Ribisi as a young Denne Bart Petitclerc and Adr
ian Sparks as Hemingway. The director, Bob Yari, wrapped filming in Cuba in May 2014 and was able to gain access to Hemingway’s home, Finca Vigia, with cooperation from the The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Producers say the film is the first full-length feature with a Hollywood director and to be shot in the country since1959.
“It was an absolute passion to actually make it in Cuba where everything that is in the script happened, where the finca [farm] is where [Hemingway] lived, where his boat was, all the spots from the Morro castle to Cojimar where he fished,” Yari told Hollywood Reporter. “It’s all here, so trying to duplicate it somewhere else was not very appealing.”
