Havana Libre

Surf in Cuba?

by Corky Carroll

​​I get tons of stuff pitched to me constantly from people, agencies and companies that are looking to get some publicity for whatever it is that they are pitching.  Most of it isn’t anything that I deem interesting for my wonderful and faithful readers, so I don’t bother checking it out too closely.  But once every now and then I take a peek if there is a “maybe” factor involved.  And, upon closer look, most of those get the big “pass” too.  If I am gonna cover something I sincerely want it to be sincerely good enough to deserve your attention.  
 
Well, you guessed it.  This week I came across something that I really think is that good.  It’s a new documentary titled “Havana Libre.”  An inspirational film about a couple of young surfers growing up in Cuba.  Now at this point I have to admit that I wasn’t really all that sold on writing about this until I took time to watch it all the way through.  The whole reason that I started to view it in the first place was that I have always been curious about what kinda surf they have down there.  I have surfed all over the Caribbean, but never really had a lot of firsthand real info on what it was like in Cuba.  I had heard that there wasn’t all that much surf and that it is very “reefy.”  But still I wanted to know and figured that I could get a real look at it in this film.  
What I got was so very much more.  Yeah, there is some surf there.  It’s not Hawaii or probably even Puerto Rico, but there are some good waves if you travel and search them out.  But that isn’t really the story.  There is so much about Cuba that I never knew that is brought to light here.  Like, for one, I had no idea that surfing was illegal, and they can arrest you and put you in jail for paddling out.  Nor did I know that you had to apply for permission to do any kind of sport.  Yeah, we all hear that it’s very different there, but it’s way more different than I thought.
 
The film gives you views of all kinds of local neighborhoods and a look at how many things that we take for granted would be full blown luxury there.  Made me look around the room and be grateful for a lot of little things that those guys would not have.  ​

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Blue Mango Surf/Hot Lips Designs Board Meetings aren't too painful!

​What I got was so very much more.  Yeah, there is some surf there.  It’s not Hawaii or probably even Puerto Rico, but there are some good waves if you travel and search them out.  But that isn’t really the story.  There is so much about Cuba that I never knew that is brought to light here.  Like, for one, I had no idea that surfing was illegal, and they can arrest you and put you in jail for paddling out.  Nor did I know that you had to apply for permission to do any kind of sport.  Yeah, we all hear that it’s very different there, but it’s way more different than I thought.
 
The film gives you views of all kinds of local neighborhoods and a look at how many things that we take for granted would be full blown luxury there.  Made me look around the room and be grateful for a lot of little things that those guys would not have.  
 
The story revolves around a young couple, Yaya Guerro and Frank Gonzalas Guerra.  They are both surfers and Frank shapes and builds underground boards.  They are on a mission to try and get surfing actually recognized as a “sport” and for it to become legal.  They, and the other members of the local surf tribe, are forced to be super stealth when the go in the water.  Part of the story is of them traveling far from Havana to try and find what we would consider good waves.
 
Towards the end of the film they travel to Hawaii and get to see the “North Shore”.  There they meet with some well known surf legends including Rob Machado.  I have always been a fan of Rob and this was a cool part.  
 
Then Frank gets invited to compete in an International surfing event in Peru that is a Pre Olympic qualifier for the Japan Games.  His quest for permission to go and how all this plays out is really fascinating.  The Olympics are very important to Cuba.
 
While all this is going on there is a side story about a whole group of little kids who are learning to surf on plywood homemade boards.  They are taught by the girl, Yaya.  She puts on a little championship for them complete with awards ceremony and the whole thing.  Very very cool and fun to see.  During all of this Yaya has a baby girl and we see her grow as the movie progresses thru the years.
 
So many things in this film brought back memories and emotions for me.  I surfed on a plywood board when I was little too, just before my dad bought me an air matt.  And seeing the surfing event at Punta Rocas in Peru reminded me of traveling there in 1967 for the International Big Wave Championship.  Just the whole spirit of this story, the scenery and the total stoke of the people involved really captivated me.  I knew half way through watching it that I was gonna want to tell you about it.
 
HAVANA LIBRE will debut at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on March 4.  Then the release date for all digital platforms is March 22, (Amazon, Apple TV, iTunes, Google play and most all the others).  I loved it.  The production quality is excellent, scenery incredible and the story is super compelling.  Highly recommend it.