Student comments about "Cuba: At the Crossroads"

“The film gave basic geographical and demographical information about Cuba in an entertaining, interesting way. What I kept in mind was the example in the film of the girl who was asked what she wanted to be when she is grown up. She answered that she wants to be a tourist, because they can go wherever they want. On the one hand one can smile about this, but on the other hand I think this is really sad, as it shows how poor the people are. And they see the rich tourists from all over the world coming to their country and staying at the big hotels, whereas they are not allowed to go there (and also cannot afford it). In my opinion Holod should not appear in his film, because it is a documentary film. Moreover, a producer should always keep what I would call a professional distance to his own work. Nevertheless I really enjoyed the visual trip to Cuba.” - Alice Hossian

“In regards to John Holod's film, I left debating whether I liked it or not. I didn't think it was absolutely outstanding but didn't think it was horrible. But then again, I've never seen a documentary of Cuba before, so I have nothing to compare it to. I thought it gave a very good portrait of how Cuba is, but I'm sorry to say that portrait is quite sad. I think many of us can learn a lot by watching people in Cuba. For a country in poverty, they are very patient and seem pretty happy. They make the best of what they've got. But I felt really sorry for that 60+year-old man walking to the marketplace with about 100 pounds of fruit on his back to sell it!” - Hannah Marsh

“I really enjoyed Holod's film. I thought some of the jokes were a little lame, but it did do a good job of delivering information about the country in living, breathing pictures, something no other presentation I've seen has done. I was really amazed to see the beauty and architecture of the land. The movie also did a good job of showing the every day lives of Cubans, and explaining the island's history.” - Terry Cunningham