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Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
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Celebrating Life in Union: Survivors of Castro’s Cuba
It’s called The Union of Former Cuban Political Prisoners, a group of Cuban political prisoners, now elderly refugees, who meet regularly at a hall in Union City, New Jersey.
Written, co-produced, and directed by Gladys Bensimon, “” tells the harrowing story of Cuban teenagers who, in the late 1950s, fought successfully against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, only to find that the leader they supported, Fidel Castro, also chose dictatorship as his preferred form of governance – a different flavor, of course, but with similar tactics and strategies in the garnering and maintaining of power.
These very young men fought Castro’s armed representatives. The ones who weren’t killed in the fight, and who refused to renounce their opposition, ended up in prison – some for up to 30 years.
The members of the aforementioned Union tell their stories of heroism, imprisonment, torture, maltreatment, death, and their eventual release instigated by international pressure. Bensimon also interviews family members who also suffered from this separation and the knowledge of the dangerous and deplorable conditions in which their loved ones were trapped.
Narrated by Andy Garcia, “Celebrating Life in Union” is as much a story about Cuba’s recent history as it is a painful reminder of the tragic ways human beings regard and treat each other. We celebrate the circumstances and the spirit of life that allowed our gentlemen to survive and find themselves living in safer, more nourishing conditions; and we are horrified and haunted by the experiences they share. D. Schwartz November 19, 2012