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The first comprehensive exploration of the life, work, and legacy of internationally acclaimed Afro-Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando.
For over three decades, Gloria Rolando has created films that challenge the erasure of Black history in Cuba and the Americas more broadly. Working independently through her production company Imágenes del Caribe as well as with the Cuban National Film Institute, ICAIC, Rolando has illuminated hidden histories, interrogated narratives of raceless nationalism and mestizaje, and centered the lived experiences of Afro-descendant communities as well as diasporic connections. Gloria Rolando brings together scholars, artists, and activists from Cuba, Latin America, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to explore Rolando’s profound impact. Blending personal essays, interviews, film analyses, and archival images, the volume uncovers the power of visual storytelling to honor memory and inspire liberation.
"This volume brings much deserved attention to Gloria Rolando's work and its contributions to Cuban and Afro-diasporic histories, dialogues on race and racism within Cuba, and knowledge of Afro-descendant experiences. Mirroring Rolando's approach to history and culture through family histories and memories, the critical analyses of her films are framed by rich biographical accounts, interviews, and personal reflections by close friends and colleagues. These other genres provide context for understanding both the significance of Rolando's films and the difficult conditions under which she has rescued voices and archival material to tell the stories of communities forgotten or marginalized by mainstream Cuban history. Like her films, Gloria Rolando leads the reader to view Cuba as part of a layered, interconnected African Diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond." — Andrea E. Morris, author of Migrant and Tourist Encounters: The Ethics of Im/mobility in 21st Century Dominican and Cuban Cultures
"Gloria's work is about Gloria but was never only about Gloria. In centering her work, the volume also centers its key themes—memory, the Caribbean, Black women's history, race, gender, film, diaspora. A brilliant and important contribution to film studies, Latin American studies, African Diaspora studies, gender studies, and more." — Tanya L. Saunders, author of Cuban Underground Hip Hop: Black Thoughts, Black Revolution, Black Modernity