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Cuando éramos felices y no lo sabíamos

When we where happy and didn't know it

Cuando éramos felices y no lo sabíamos
documentary by Kristina Konrad, 73 min., DE/Cuba 2011, OV spanish, english/german ST

Moments with Maité Vera, between 2000 and 2008 in Havana, Copenhagen and Berlin

The film begins in 2000, with Maité Vera's 70th birthday in Havana, where she lives and works.
Even today, the irrepressibly lively Maité continues writing with passion and dedication, creating very special telenovelas and TV series which have made her a legend in her homeland. "The people want to dream. But I think you should dream with your feet on the ground. You can't take off so high that you land on a cloud," says Maité about her work, naming Brecht as her biggest teacher.

Humberto, her only son, lives with his family in Copenhagen, in exile. The film depicts how the different generations, with their own experiences and points of view, come together in an alien country: discussions and conflicts become loud, humorous and resolved with tenderness, in the Cuban way.

It's not just in these moments that the film portrays Maité most personally. Also in following Maité's everyday life in Cuba, her encounters with neighbors, friends, and during her work for television, the camera remains an intimate witness.

Script & director:
Kristina Konrad
Photographer:
Kristina Konrad
Editing:
Kristina Konrad, Christian Frosch, Guillermo Casanova, Miguel Presno
Sound design:
Nicolas Tsabertidis
Production:
Kristina Konrad
weltfilm GmbH

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