The Dublin Cuban Film Festival returns for its third year, bringing three days of cinema from the Caribbean to the Irish capital’s cultural quarter venue – THE NEW THEATRE

Cuba After Castro (Irish Premiere) — Thursday 23 July, 7pm
The first and only American interview with Cuba’s president Miguel Díaz-Canel. This documentary from acclaimed journalist Abby Martin offers an intimate portrait of Cuba’s first leader born after the Revolution as he navigates intensified U.S. sanctions, a media war, the pandemic, and historic domestic protests. The film will be introduced by the Cuban Ambassador to Ireland and followed by a drinks reception.
English language. €15 (includes drinks reception).

Nicolás: From Yare to Miraflores (Irish Premiere) — Friday 24 July, 7pm
Before the sanctions, before he became one of the most contested figures in global politics, Nicolás Maduro was a boy on crowded Caracas streets listening to revolutionary folk songs. This first-person account traces his journey from bus driver to Venezuelan president, told through archive footage, music, and recreations of key moments in Latin American history.Spanish with English subtitles. €10. Contains themes of political violence.

After the Revolution: Short Films from the Cuban Archives — Saturday 25 July
In March 1959, just months after the revolution, the new government established the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). Film on the island was no longer just entertainment — it was a way of developing a new culture and educating a nation still grappling with illiteracy rates close to 80%.

This year, we present two collections of short films from those seminal years.
Part 1: Housing, Land and Peasant Rebellions (1–2:30pm)
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, ICAIC co-founder and Cuba’s most influential filmmaker, opens with Esta Tierra Nuestra, documenting the land reform which broke up the old landlord system. Julio García Espinosa, also an ICAIC founder and author of “For an Imperfect Cinema,” follows with La Vivienda, a journey through Havana’s overcrowded tenements and the revolution’s 50% rent reduction and urban reform. José Massip traces the poverty that made rebellion inevitable, and Humberto Arenal captures the first efforts to build decent rural housing. García Espinosa closes the programme with Sexto Aniversario, a record of the first July 26th celebrations. Spanish with English subtitles. €10.

Part 2: Music & the Blockade (4–5:30pm)
Mario Gallo opens with Al compás de Cuba, an immersion in Afro-Cuban music as national heritage. Sara Gómez, Cuba’s first female feature director and an Afro-Cuban filmmaker, follows with Iré a Santiago, a portrait of ordinary people reclaiming their place in the city. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea returns with Asamblea General, documenting the start of the US blockade and Octavio Cortázar revisits the catastrophic explosion of La Coubre in Havana Harbour. Santiago Álvarez, one of the 20th century’s great documentary pioneers, closes with Hasta la Victoria Siempre, his celebrated tribute to Che Guevara — created within 48 hours of Che’s death.
Spanish with English subtitles. €10.All proceeds go to mediCuba-Europe, funding solar-powered electric tricycles for the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana.