When Ken Rosen first traveled to Cuba in 1998, he saw the island nation through the lens of an American expat living and working in Quito. This reference point no doubt translated into a unique perspective of Cuban life and a passion to bring sunlight and water to a relationship that has atrophied for a generation.
Since then, Ken’s documentary film project has taken on a sort of life mission and now includes his wife, Mimi Fuenzalida (above), a photographer and filmmaker from Chile. According to Ken, the two discussed his project on the day they met, and organizing a complete film became a family project.
The vision behind Cuba in Transition is to create a conversation between Americans and Cubans by documenting – in real life – Cubans of many stripes and colors. In addition to footage of art, music and daily life, the film will trace the lives and perspectives of four Cubans captured in several filming sessions since 2000. Ken has more than 75 hours of uncut film that show a side of Cuban life unobscured by restrictions and misunderstandings.
When Ken learned of the US-Cuba rapprochement earlier this year, he decided to launch a Kickstarter project to fund the completion of the project. The documentary needs final interviews, edits and post production elements – not to mention marketing. To date, the Kickstarter project has raised $10,261 from 59 backers.
Backers at the $250 and $500 level of the Kickstarter campaign will receive a 11×14 photo of Cuba printed on high quality paper. The images show Mimi’s skill and imagination in capturing Cuba’s people and places in still images.
Photo credits: Mimi Fuenzalida@ www.mimi-images.com
