Cubans joke and satirize everything that life gives them, and I think that's a positive characteristic.

It's true that in Cuba there are double standards, there's opportunism, and there is a lack of freedom in some ways.

It's often pointed out that in Cuban cinema there are too many comedies, but a sense of humor is so much part of the Cuban idiosyncrasy. Curiously, the films that have been censored the most have been humorous.

The magic of film isn't just because of the big screen, or the acoustics, but the ineffable shared experience of going to the movies.

There was a time when emigration from Cuba was a definitive separation. There were no visits. In the '80s, '90s, it was incredibly difficult. I'm not the only one interested in this as a filmmaker - other Cuban filmmakers have dealt with it, too, because it's such a part of our reality.

Cubans joke and satirize everything that life gives them, and I think that's a positive characteristic.

The Cuban public is hugely cinephile. It's a shame that most of the movie theaters are so deteriorated. The sense of spectacle has been lost a little, but even so, people continue to go.