Opinion
‘Alice in Wondertown’: The Film That Alarmed the Castro Regime
A brief yet impactful screening incited a rapid response and fierce criticism from the government.
By Luis Cino | cubanet.org
On June 13, 1991, the Cuban film Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas (Alice in Wondertown) premiered in several Havana cinemas, including Yara, Payret, Alameda, Trianón, and Ambassador. Directed by Daniel Díaz Torres, this comedy drew an extreme reaction from the Cuban government just days after its release.
Despite receiving approval in December 1990 from Julio García Espinosa, the then director of ICAIC (Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry), the film was pulled from theaters just four days after its premiere. During its brief run, rapid response brigades — led by State Security agents and Communist Party militants — were deployed to monitor audience reactions and suppress any potential counterrevolutionary protests.
Following directives from above, the official press launched vigorous attacks against the film, its director Díaz Torres, and Eduardo del Llano, the screenwriter and a member of the Nos-y-Otros group. Notable criticisms included Roxana Pollo’s piece titled ‘Alicia, un festín para los rajados’ (Alicia, a feast for the cowards) in Granma and Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla’s ‘La suspicacia del rebaño’ (The suspicion of the herd) in Juventud Rebelde.
Ada Oramas, writing for Tribuna de La Habana, went as far as to label the filmmakers as ‘larvas coleteantes en el pantano del oportunismo.’ (wriggling larvae in the swamp of opportunism.) The regime’s reaction was so intense that it nearly resulted in the dissolution of ICAIC and its merger with the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) and the Cinematographic Studies of the FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces).
Years later, Manuel Pérez, who chaired the group that approved the project, explained in an interview that the film was controversial because it premiered during a challenging period known as the Special Period, a time of severe economic hardship and uncertainty in Cuba.
Thirty-three years after its infamous premiere, Eduardo del Llano recalled the attacks he faced as the film’s screenwriter and his inability to defend himself at the time. Del Llano, now actively voicing his opinions on social media, often echoes support for the regime, minimizing incidents such as the tragic balcony collapse that killed three young girls in Havana and the repression of the July 2021 protests.
Although del Llano spends significant time in Spain, he defends his right to live where he chooses and often criticizes those who oppose him on social media.
Read the full article in English on cubanet.org, using Google Translate.