Blanca Rosa Blanco will film a documentary about immigration in La Palma

January 17, 2020

The La Palma Film Commission office, through which the Cabildo promotes the island as a natural film set, has received a visit from the well-known Cuban actress and director Blanca Rosa Blanco and producer Carlos de la Huerta, from the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, with the objective of finalizing all the details for the upcoming filming of a documentary, produced by the aforementioned Cuban ministry, about the effects of emigration on the island of La Palma and which will be filmed not only on the Beautiful Island but also in Cuba.

In the words of the director, "we have a very important, family bond with the Canary Islands. Most of the people who emigrated to Cuba remain there, and in Cuba it is not known that there is a day that is dedicated completely to them, to the Indianos.

We want to use this celebration as a pretext to take a journey through the cultural, heritage and emotional aspects so that it is known in both countries.

The celebration is important, but the documentary is based on the thoughts, the culture and how those emigrants are who remained there in Cuba.

We want to preserve the historical memory, the personal memory of some of those who are here. We also want to talk about that painful part that is the loss in an emigration. We want to delve into the essence of emigration".

For the documentary, the director has been inspired by the photography book by artist Selu Vega, Apoteosis isleña. Indianos de La Palma 2016, which she considers a guide.

"Fortunately, images are always what lead you to places and I found spectacular photographs by Selu Vega. It was very easy to contact him and he has been the person who has connected us with the island. Without him, perhaps we would not have had the drive to come here".

In the words of the advisor for Economic Promotion of the Cabildo of La Palma and director of Sodepal, Raquel Díaz, "the announcement of the filming by Blanca Rosa Blanco is very good news for La Palma, since we are dealing with an audiovisual project that will highlight our historical relations with the island of Cuba. The work of the La Palma Film Commission office continues to bear fruit by energizing the audiovisual market on our island and creating work opportunities for professionals from different sectors who are also hired for these film shoots. We are beginning 2020 with interesting opportunities to promote La Palma as a filming location".

For her part, the coordinator of La Palma Film Commission, María José Manso, states that "it is important to create professional ties with those countries with which, in some way, we are sentimentally and culturally united. That the Cuban Ministry of Culture supports a project like this, in which both islands will be united by the testimonies of their emigrants, opens the doors for us to future professional collaborations".

The filming will take place between February 20 and 25 and will include interviews with different cultural figures from both islands who have linked their work and their lives in photography, as well as in painting, fashion and music.