My Contribution / Mi Aporte

Sara Gòmez I Cuba 1972 I 33m I Fiction l I N/C 12+

A fascinating illustration of the practical difficulties women encountered when they sought to achieve economic integration and equality with men in a country at the height of revolution. How do you play your part if you’re still responsible for the children and the home?

“In 1972 the Federation of Cuban Women commissioned Gómez to make a film about women’s contribution to the sugar harvest. Mi Aporte (My Contribution) was the result: a 33 minute “report” on women’s lives 13 years after the “triumph of the Revolution.” The film is a model of feminist consciousness-raising documentary form—self-reflexive, critical, direct. The “report” is a series of testimonials and portraits of how difficult it is for women to contribute as full citizens due to the machismo. The film was censored by the FMC and has rarely been screened on or off the Island” Susan Lord