Tocando la Luz (Touch the Light)

by
Year Released
2016
Film Length(s)
72 mins
Closed captioning available Audio description available
Remote video URL

Introduction

In Havana, Cuba an up-and-coming singer searches for confidence, a young woman in love longs for motherhood and a veteran of the Revolution comes to terms with the death of her husband. Three women, united by blindness and a desire for independence, guide us through Cuba’s current economic and social landscape while pursuing their dreams and breaking through personal and societal limitations.

La Habana, Cuba. Una cantante prometedor busca la confianza, una joven enamorada anhela la maternidad y una veterana de la Revolución llega a un acuerdo con la muerte de su marido. Tres mujeres, unidas por la ceguera y el deseo de independencia, nos guían a través del panorama económico y social cubano de esta época mientras persiguen sus sueños y rompen limitaciones personales y sociales.

Featured review

Jennifer Redfearn gained intimate access to her subjects and emerged with beautiful footage and poignant moments—while also supplying us with a window on current-day Cuba in this heady transitional moment.
Thom Powers
DOC NYC, Pure Nonfiction

Reviews

An inspiring, sensitively shot and moving depiction of the lives of three blind women in Cuba… it is perhaps all the more important given the changes Cuba is undergoing today; in its rendering of what may well be the final years Castro's Cuba, it is an important documenting of a unique and extraordinary society and its people.
Film Ireland
Film Ireland
Three women in vastly different stages of life confront a moment of personal transformation, shedding the weight of the past to step forward tentatively into a future filled with new possibilities. Some might recognize this as the basic premise of Humberto Solás' classic Cuban epic Lucía (1968) … Redfearn's shoutout to Lucía is a small but important gesture, rooting the film in Cuba's own cinematic tradition, and inviting us to view the struggle of these women in the context of a very different Cuba.
Remezcla
Remezcla

Awards and Screenings

Winner, Charles E. Guggenheim Award, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, 2015
Winner, Best International Feature Documentary, Galway Film Fleadh, 2015
Wave Farm, Distribution Grant , 2015
ITVS, Co-production funding , 2014
Featured at the Hot Docs Forum, 2014
Chicken and Egg Pictures Grant, 2014
Fork Films Grant, 2014
NYWIFT Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant , 2014
National Endowment for the Arts, Media Arts Grant, 2013
Featured at IFP Film Week, 2012
New York State Council on the Arts, Artist’s Grant, 2012

Director Commentary

We were drawn to Cuba because of its rich culture, complex political history and fierce independence as a small island nation. As the country stands on the brink of unknowable change, most Americans see little of the daily life behind ubiquitous images of Fidel Castro and crumbling buildings. We traveled to Havana looking for an unexpected story that offered a new way of understanding Cuban culture. Our hope is that this film gives audiences a picture of life in Cuba that is irreducible, as well as warm, illuminating and deeply human.

Nos atrajo Cuba por su rica cultura, su compleja historia política y su sentido de independencia feroz como pequeña isla nación. El país está en el umbral de un cambio inescrutable, pero la mayoría de los norteamericanos conocemos poco de la vida cotidiana que hay detrás de las imágenes ubicuas de Fidel Castro y los edificios derruidos. Viajamos a La Habana en busca de una historia inesperada que ofreciera una nueva forma de entender a cultura cubana. Mi deseo es que esta película ofrezca al público una imagen irreducible, cálida, iluminadora y profundamente humana de la vida en Cuba.

Features and Languages

Film Features

  • Audio Description
  • Closed Captioning

Subtitle/Caption Languages

  • English

Promotional Material

Promotional Stills

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