Project of the Day: Alex Gibney Exec Produces First-Time Filmmaker’s Look at Cuba’s Hard Rock Scene

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

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“Hard Rock Havana“

Tweetable Logline:

Meet communist Cuba’s loudest citizens—the most popular rock stars you’ve never heard of.

Elevator Pitch:

Deep inside communist Cuba—a place conjuring images of tropicana dancers, strong rum and the Castro brothers—heavy metal has exploded.

The loud abrasive music, once forbidden as “music of the enemy,” is now an official part of revolutionary society. An actual Agency of Rock was created by the Castros to control it.

In this film, I follow the lives of Cuba’s most popular metal band as they struggle to play their music within a system that wants to crush them.

It’s an inspiring story about some very loud citizens fighting for their freedom while staying true to their dreams.

Production Team:

Director: Nicholas Brennan
Producer: John Logan Pierson
Exec. Producers: Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie, Taxi to the Dark Side), W. Wilder Knight II (The Cove, Mad Hot Ballroom)
Cinematographer: Abel Lopez (*Cuban photographer)
Supervising Editor: Francisco Bello (Our Nixon, War Don Don)
Music Advisor: Dave Lombardo (Cuban-born former drummer of Slayer)
Major funding by the Moving Picture Institute and the Chris Columbus/Richard Vague Film Production Award from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts

About the Production:

“For the past four years, I’ve had the rare opportunity as an American of traveling to Cuba to document the lives of these musicians as they fight for their right to express themselves on the communist island. I’m drawn to the story because it provides a way of looking at our two countries through something we share—a love for this loud music—rather than the politics that separate us. The film began as a short that premiered at Tribeca. Major support comes from the Moving Picture Institute and the Columbus/Vague First Feature Award from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.” — Nicholas Brennan

Current Status:

Post-production.

For more information and to support this project:

Kickstarter Page
Film Website

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Project of the Day: Alex Gibney Exec Produces First-Time Filmmaker’s Look at Cuba’s Hard Rock Scene

Project of the Day: Alex Gibney Exec Produces First-Time Filmmaker's Look at Cuba's Hard Rock Scene

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