The Padilla Affair ( El Caso Padilla )

The Padilla Affair (DVD) (*)

$26.99

Original Title: El Caso Padilla
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
San Sebastian International Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
76 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailer(s)
Black & White
Remastered

Movie filmed in 2022 and produced in:
Cuba ( Latin America, Mexico )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Pavel Giroud

Written By:
Pavel Giroud

Actors:
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)

Synopsis:

Spring 1971, Havana: The poet Heberto Padilla is released from jail and appears at a meeting of the Cuban writers' guild where he spouts, in his own words, a 'heartfelt self-criticism.' He proceeds to self-incriminate, declaring his status as a counterrevolutionary agent and accusing many of his attending colleagues, including his wife, of the same crime. A month before, his arrest under the accusation of attacking the security of the Cuban state, mobilized the intellectual vanguard of the entire world, who addressed a letter to Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution, with whom they previously sympathized, demanding freedom for the poet, whose only sin was to dissent and criticize through his poetic work. The writer's filmed mea culpa, shown to the public for the first time, marks the narrative line of a story, punctuated by interventions from Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Mario Vargas Llosa, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jorge Edwards, Carlos Fuentes and Fidel Castro. The Padilla case is an astonishing documentary that opens a window to explore aspects of Cuba's past that reverberate in its present, such as the lack of freedom of expression and the struggles of the cultural collective to obtain it.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 25 August, 2025.