Havana, June 16 (RHC)--The documentary film ‘Che Guevara en el siglo XXI’ (Che Guevara in the 21st century) by Italian filmmaker Walter Uliano Pistelli was screened Friday at Havana’s Charles Chaplin movie theatre, in the framework of activities on the 95th birthday anniversary of the Argentinean-Cuban guerrilla commander.
Shot in Cuba in 2009, the two-part documentary deals with Che –the revolutionary. It alludes to Che’s trajectory as a guerrilla commander and includes the testimony of several of his comrades in arm in Bolivia.
The first part is entitled "Hijos de la Revolución" (Sons of the Revolution). It includes interviews with descendants of men of Che’s guerrilla, who died fighting in Bolivia. They speak about their father’s death and how it was like to grow up without them.
The second part is entitled "Ser revolucionario" (Being a Revolutionary). It includes the testimony of men in Che’s guerrilla, survivors of the campaign in Bolivia. These include Harry Villegas, Leonardo Tamayo, Ulises Estrada and Orlando Borrego, who described in detail the guerrilla war in the South American nation.
The documentary ends with a question, ‘what does it mean to be a revolutionary in the 21st century?’, leading viewers to reflect on the validity today of Guevara’s thinking.
‘Che Guevara en el siglo XXI’ has already been screened in Bolivia and the United States.
Addressing those present, Pistelli explained that right before the premiere of ‘El Che Guevara en el siglo XXI’ in the US, an anti-Cuba activist tried to boycott the presentation by defaming Che. The organizers asked Walter to respond, but he politely declined, saying: ‘Let them first watch my documentary.’
‘Once it was over, no one remembered what the anti-Cuba activist had said, as all the US students approached me, asking countless other questions about Che’s life and the Cuban Revolution,’ he said.
