Magda González Grau and Amílcar Salatti: the premiere of Calendario on Cuban Television

January 10, 2022

Some details about Calendario, the recent premiere on the Cubavisión channel, have already been announced. The series, directed by Magda González Grau and written by Amílcar Salatti, explores the figure of the Cuban teacher through the dynamics and conflicts of a ninth-grade class.

This conversation with some of its actors and filmmakers was conducted by Juventud Rebelde. With great enthusiasm, part of the team shared very curious and interesting facts that in some way influenced the final result we will see on screen.

Hints about the script
Salatti has won over audiences with very solid texts, among which stand out the film Inocencia and the television series Promesa. His authentic narrative embraces the daily life of Cubans, from a singular aesthetic that is very careful to avoid stereotypes and clichéd resources.

This time, he accepted the challenge of writing about teachers and carefully calculated the details of the plot to avoid repeating the stories of Entrega, the telenovela about the history teacher.

Calendario is the first television series produced independently in Cuba.

According to the screenwriter, "the series was going to have 12 chapters, one for each month of the school calendar plus vacation, but we had to split June into two parts and it ended up being 13. There are characters that are inspired by real young people, who were schoolmates of my niece Andrea Piñeira Salatti. Initially the chapters were going to be 30 minutes, but later it was decided to extend them to 45.

"There is poetry in the series that I already knew and another that I enjoyed discovering as I needed it for the scripts. In fact, one that I wrote myself (I won't say which one). This is the first time I've written for Magda, the director. I hope it's not the last," he also said.

Behind the Scenes
Renowned audiovisual director Magda González Grau set a benchmark with Calendario in Cuban audiovisuals, being the first female filmmaker to direct a television series independently.

She recounts that among the most emotional things that happened to her during the filming of the series was the moment when "Clarita García (the actress who plays Amalia) arrived at rehearsal with all the lines learned for every scene. I remember that in a gesture of admiration and respect I bowed to her."

She has also said that "except for Paula Masola, with whom I had just worked on the telefilm Para toda la vida, all the actors who make up the 9th grade 3 class won their roles in a very tight casting."

"Niu Ventura and Clarita García have a brother-sister relationship in real life. When I found out I was worried because I thought they would feel bad in the romantic scenes. But they are two highly professional actors. Everything went well.

"There's a scene where Anel Perdomo slaps Ernesto Codner for his homophobia. We had to repeat it several times and Anel would cry every time I called cut. She would hug Ernesto and ask him for forgiveness for the hit. She hit him hard for real.

Experienced actors such as Osvaldo Doimeadiós, Iris Pérez, Daysi Quintana, Edith Massola, Mario Rodríguez, Betty Viñas and Niu Ventura make up the cast of Calendario.

The most difficult moment for me in the entire process was the day I showed Amílcar the first two finished chapters," Magda confesses. "I only wanted him to think that I had been a good mother to the child he had given me. I breathed a sigh of relief when he told me he was happy with the result."

The teacher Amalia, as has been said, is played by the charismatic Clarita García, who also played Amanda in the telenovela Entrega.

For her, regarding Calendario there are many beautiful things to tell. She says that the character of Orestes, one of the students, "reminded her of a classmate from her high school class named Lázaro.

"The Puppet that appears in the scenes of Amalia with the children was lent to me by my father and he uses it in his children's activities as a clown.

"Throughout the entire series I wore a cameo as an accessory; it belonged to my grandmother Magaly who was a teacher and loved education. I never had the joy of knowing her, but I felt I should wear it and I never took it off while playing the character."

Clarita had to memorize the lyrics of many poems for the filming and confesses she learned them while playing soccer with her child.

She also recounts that "after finishing a very intense scene, Ernesto Codner and I went into the dressing room and began to cry each in a corner. The wardrobe assistant discovered us and we hugged each other very tightly."

Starting from individual problems, the series delves into situations experienced by Cuban teenagers and their families.

One of the three magpies, as they are called in the series, is played by actress Anabel Arencibia. Calendario is the television debut for this young actress, who plays a student in 9th grade 3 who has the same name in the series. She recalls that when she went to pick up the script for the casting, "Magda thought I had shown up without being called because in the photo I submitted I looked older."

"During filming, Ernesto Codner and I created a version of the song: Si andas solo y tristón and it became the group's anthem. It was a source of many laughs. My dog Luna also appears in the series. She's the character Sofía's dog and she behaved very badly during shooting," says Anabel.

Frank Daniel Martínez Torres plays Vladimir and this is the second time he has worked on a television series. "I played the Venao in Lucha Contra Bandidos," he says.

According to his account, his character is addicted to pornography and "to do a deeper study of where my character goes, Magda recommended I watch erotic films like Lucía y el sexo and Nine and a Half Weeks."

For his part, Ernesto Codner, to create the aforementioned Orestes, spent four months mistreating his hair to achieve the rough image that Magda wanted.

He recounts that the actress who plays his mother in the series is younger than him and that "all the actors who made up 9th grade 3 created a spectacular chemistry. There was very good vibes among all of us; with just a glance we already knew what we wanted, that made filming easier.

"The bathroom scene between the characters Maikel, Javier, Vladimir and myself was one of the ones that cost me the most work. The set was very small and we had many guidelines to follow. We repeated it more than 12 times."

Ernesto confesses that this is his first time in dramatized television. "I think I entered on the right foot. Calendario for me was a school from which I take one of the best memories I've had. I think there will be a before and after in the lives of many when it airs."

*Calendario was filmed during the pandemic, taking strict measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission.