The Cinematheque

VIFF 2021

A young, impoverished Afro-Cuban couple dreams of wealth and success. An Iranian-Canadian divorcée yearns for personal freedom. These three lives converge in Sin La Habana, a film that explores the lengths people go to in order to achieve their life goals. Leo, a talented ballet dancer (real-life ballet dancer Yonah Acosta) and lawyer Sara (Evelyn Castroda O’Farrill) yearn for a better life together by leaving Cuba; one sure way is for Leo to romance a hapless tourist. This plan works all too well, as the lonely Nasim (Aki Yaghoubi) quickly falls for Leo’s charm, and soon makes his dreams come true by inviting him to Montreal. The film is a visual feast: the stunning cinematography captures the vibrant heat and colours of Cuba in sun-drenched scenes and pulsing rhythms, and the chill grey and the white blowing snow of a Montreal winter. Directed by Kaveh Nabatian, Sin La Habana is a sensitive, nuanced portrayal of dreams, ambition, and the search for fulfillment in a tough, unfeeling, and often unhelpful world.

Cast: Yonah Acosta, Evelyn Castroda O’Farrill, Aki Yaghoubi

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