The Padilla Affair

"Neither a martyr nor a traitor"

The Padilla Affair — Plot

Havana, spring 1971: The poet Heberto Padilla has just been set free and appears before the Cuban Writers' Union where he pronounces a statement of "heartfelt self-criticism", declares himself to be a counterrevolutionary agent and throws accusations of complicity at many of his colleagues present at the event, among them, his wife. A month previously, his arrest under the accusation of endangering the security of the Cuban state had mobilised prominent intellectuals all over the world, who wrote a letter to Fidel Castro calling for the release of the poet, whose only sin had been to dissent through his poetic work. The writer's mea culpa, the recording of which is shown for the first time to the public, marks the narrative line of a story including the testimonies of Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jorge Edwards and Fidel Castro.

• Release date
• June 2, 2023
• Runtime
• 78 min
• Genres
• Documentary
• Director
• Pavel Giroud

The Padilla Affair — Cast

Heberto Padilla Self (archive footage) Fidel Castro Self (archive footage) Gabriel García Márquez Self (archive footage) Julio Cortázar Self (archive footage) Mario Vargas Llosa Self (archive footage) Jean-Paul Sartre Self (archive footage)

B

Belkis Cuza Malé Self (archive footage)