Lezama Lima: Soltar la lengua

CGM presents a two-part documentary series by Cuban filmmaker Ernesto Fundora Hernández examining the lives of two of Cuba's most influential cultural figures whose work became the target of state censorship in different eras.

Spanning literature and contemporary art, the series traces how José Lezama Lima and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara navigated political repression while producing work that continues to shape conversations about Cuban culture, identity, and freedom of expression.

Each program will open with remarks by Fundora, followed by the screening and a conversation with invited guests. Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara will join the opening program in person to discuss his work and the events documented in the film.

Scholars and special guests will further examine the historical, cultural, and political context surrounding both documentaries.

The documentary includes English subtitles.

Special Guest: José Prats Sariol

About the film

This documentary offers a portrait of Cuban poet, novelist, and essayist José Lezama Lima, one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century Latin American literature and a major literary voice associated with the Latin American Boom.

Presented in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Lezama Lima's death and the 60th anniversary of the publication of Paradiso, his landmark novel, the film revisits one of the defining achievements of modern Latin American literature. Published in Cuba in 1966, Paradiso is an ambitious, partly autobiographical novel that weaves together family memory, Cuban history, mythology, philosophy, and an innovative poetic language to create one of the region's most singular literary works.

Through interviews with writers, artists, scholars, friends, and former students, the documentary explores Lezama's life, literary vision, and enduring legacy. Preserving firsthand testimonies from those who knew him personally, it offers a rare perspective on both the man and his profound influence on Cuban and Latin American letters.

Ernesto Fundora Hernández is a Cuban filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and writer based in Mexico City. He studied Film, Radio, and Television Direction at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana and continued his training at the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in San Antonio de los Baños.

Since founding Video Vueltas Producciones in 1996, Fundora has built a multidisciplinary career directing documentary films, short films, television productions, and more than 90 music videos for artists including Celia Cruz, Olga Tañón, Willy Chirino, Francisco Céspedes, Carlos Varela, Jerry Rivera, Albita Rodríguez, and Oscar D'León.

His documentary work includes Lezama Lima: Soltar la lengua (2018), Los vencedores del desierto (2021), and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: Estamos conectados (2025). Los vencedores del desierto received the Best Documentary Award at the 2021 Brazil Festival of International Cinema in Rio de Janeiro.

Alongside his work in film, Fundora is also the author of several works of fiction and poetry, including El perpetuo envés and Amago, and continues to develop film and literary projects from Mexico City.