#Cuba - Finishing ‘Unfinished Spaces’/ [Documental sobre la Escuela Nacional de Arte #ENA]

Making its world premiere at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival, “Unfinished Spaces” visits Cuba’s National Art Schools, visionary buildings constructed during the heady first days of the Cuban Revolution. The campus lies in ruins now, though art students still study there. Here, documentarians Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray write for Moving Pictures about meeting the architects behind the project and the opportunity to restore their utopia.

By Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray (directors of “Unfinished Spaces”)
(from the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)

Alysa Nahmias

“Unfinished Spaces” is as much about nature and human nature as it is about architecture. It depicts the organic aging and inevitable decay of all people, places and politics over time.

In spring 2001 in Havana, we first had the opportunity to visit the National Art Schools — organic, modern brick buildings, now in ruins but still home to Cuba’s best and brightest art students. After touring the campus, we met architect Roberto Gottardi. Roberto brought with him an old file full of photographs and press clippings, weathered documents that illustrated the story of his most monumental architectural project, the first and most impressive construction of the Cuban Revolution.

Roberto struck us as a modern-day Don Quixote, whose creative visions were ahead of his time and larger than the world around him. The architect and his buildings paralleled the Cuban Revolution itself — from utopian vision to tragic ruin and ultimately to an uncertain future. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to follow Roberto and his fellow architects of the National Art Schools — Ricardo Porro and Vittorio Garatti — on the final leg of their emotional journey.

Benjamin Murray

The story of “Unfinished Spaces” is that of the Cuban National Art Schools, as well as that of the architects’ personal experiences as artists in Cuba who believed in the possibility of utopia, began to construct it but never completed it. Now, 45 years later, they have a chance to complete that work, so they are given the chance of a lifetime, twice in one lifetime.

While our connections with the subjects quickly developed, it took years for us to cultivate a relationship with the Cuban authorities who would allow us to film on the heavily guarded site of this national architectural treasure. Cuban authorities were aware of our project but were at first protective of the art schools because of their importance as monuments and as symbols of Cuban culture. Eventually, as we demonstrated our devotion to the architecture, they welcomed and encouraged the project.

Filming in other locations in Cuba did present challenges, but we found that most Cubans were excited that someone was telling the story of the National Art Schools. Everywhere we went in Cuba, we met artists and musicians who had attended the art schools. Some of them didn’t even realize who had designed their alma mater because that knowledge was hidden from them when the Cuban government repressed the architects. However, each and every one of the artists we talked to told us that they had always sensed that the architecture was visionary and inspiring for young artists.

When shooting at the campus, we wanted the beauty of the subject to capture audiences’ attention. Leaving out narration, we instead opted to let the dramatic visuals of the buildings — both in their construction and decay — and the subjects’ interviews speak for themselves.

Likewise, we allowed the architects’ distinct environments to visually reveal the contrasts in their life stories. Porro and Garatti, who were forced to leave Cuba in the ’60s, now live in Europe in relative opulence compared to Gottardi, who remained in Cuba and shares a studio apartment with his wife, actress Luz María Collazo. The homes of the three architects and their economic situations are different, but they share in common an artistic spirit. Each man is constantly in dialogue with the world around him through his art.

The story of the National Art Schools and the recollections of the architects, their peers and adversaries open up a compelling world rarely glimpsed outside of Cuba. “Unfinished Spaces” does not look or feel like a heavy political doc; the film contributes to a balanced portrayal of the optimistic and tragic aspects of the Cuban Revolution. The story of the three architects and their unrealized vision provides a prism to tell the complicated story of the Revolution. Beyond the stereotypical imagery of Old Havana and classic cars and the often black-and- white commentary around Cuban politics, “Unfinished Spaces” promotes open-minded dialogue about Cuban culture and U.S.-Cuba relations at a critical time when the policies of both countries toward each other are changing rapidly.

The film’s preservation of the history of these endangered buildings is also prompting awareness of the need for their preservation and providing recognition for the architects.

At the time of the film’s completion, only two of the five art schools had been restored, those by Porro. In Cuba, popular support continues to grow for the National Art Schools. However, in 2009, the Cuban government cut funding for the restoration of the art schools. The official reasons cited were the world economic crisis and a series of devastating hurricanes that hit the island, straining the Cuban economy. By exposing these buildings and their stories to a wider international audience, “Unfinished Spaces” will play a critical role in the shaping of the future of the story it tells.

Photos courtesy the filmmakers