HAVANA ROUGH TIME, DIRECTORS CALLED THERON
February 2, 2007 -- 'EAST of Havana" has something other small
documentaries producers will envy: Charlize Theron.
Directors Jauretsi Saizarbitoria and Emilia Menocal approached Theron to
help them tell the story of three Cuban rappers - Magyori, Soandry and
Mikki Flow - who operate outside of Cuba's government-controlled music
industry. The trio, who often rhyme about poverty and politics, were
filmed in 2004 preparing for a Cuban hip-hop festival. Charlize talked
to The Post about her involvement in the project:
Are you a big fan of hip-hop?
I'm a huge fan of old-school hip-hop. I'm not a big fan of the
bling-bling and that kind of new hip-hop that's been happening lately.
But I love people like Mos Def, and I think there are some artists who
are keeping it real and remembering how hip-hop started. It's supposed
to be poetry. It's supposed to be bigger than shiny, pretty things.
Was it difficult filming in Cuba?
There's a lot of bureaucracy. You need to have the Cuban authorities
know you're there making a film, but at the same time, you have to do it
in a way where you don't have some official following you around every
single day, because no one will talk to you. We went with a small crew -
five people - and we just tried to blend in. We stayed with families in
homes.
Did you consider that the rappers might need protection once the film
came out? They say some things that might get them in trouble with the
Cuban government.
It's a difficult thing when you're dealing with people's lives and
you're responsible for them. The thing that I find in documentary
filmmaking is that it has to be some kind of truth-telling. They knew
the consequences. Just from them performing, they'd been to jail many
times. Sometimes for a week or a night. Before we locked the film, we
contacted all of them and let them know what was going to be in it. And
I wasn't surprised: They all said, "Look, this is our one chance to tell
the truth and to get our story out there, and if it means that we have
to go to jail, that's what we're willing to do." So far, nothing bad has
happened to them.
What are the three doing now?
Mikki actually defected and is now in the U.S. Magyori and Soandry are
still in Cuba, and we're in contact all the time.
Do you have a pick for this year's Best Actress?
No. I was stuck in Regina, Canada, for the last four months, away from
everything, and I really have not watched a lot of films. I really did
like Helen Mirren's performance in "The Queen," though.
How did your life change after you won the Oscar?
Um, really not that much. I had signed on for two movies before I won
the Oscar, so I didn't really subject myself to 400 million offers
landing on my table and people saying, "Do this, do that." I won the
Oscar, and right after that I did "Aeon Flux" and "North Country," so it
was pretty much the same.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02022007/entertainment/movies/rapping_up_cuba_movies_reed_tucker.htm
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