Endorsements

Cinematic nightscapes is a sensorial, creative and audio-visual exploration of the night in twenty-first century ethnographic and documentary film in Cuba. Cuba has recently undergone a series of growing nation-wide blackouts that plunged the country into an everlasting night, a condition that has become central for political reclamation, imaginary formation and aesthetic experimentation. From the politics of fun and desire, the political reclamation of the night by protests and marginalised groups to sensory and material nocturnal experiences, the book brings the reader, the viewer and the listener through a deep dive into the obscurity of the Cuban night in all its complexities. Two fundamental sets of questions guide the book. The first concerns ethnographic practices and aesthetic experimentations: How does night, with its own atmosphere and sensibilities, reshape and reconfigure sensorial, multimodal and creative-based ethnographic practices? The second connects audio-visual practices and representation to imaginary formation and socio-political issues: How does documentary and ethnographic film in Cuba engage with the night as a site of political reclamation and aesthetic experimentation that the day precludes? By reflexively engaging with ethnographic practice and connecting with recent documentary films produced by Cuban directors, the book offers a creative way to engage with the aesthetics, politics and the imaginary of the night in contemporary Cuba.