Siete Dias, siete noches (7 days, 7 nights) by Cuban director Joel Cano was warmly received by the audience when it was screened on Sunday evening at the Festival of the 3 Continents in Nantes.
Cano, a trained playwright who graduated from the Higher Institute of Art in Havana, had diverse artistic experiences as playwright, stage director and novelist (La Isla de Los Quizas, Se vende, El juego de perder el tiempo). So it’s no wonder that he is the director, writer and DP of his first feature film, 7 days, 7 nights, the first instalment of a trilogy that will be followed by Adios, to be completed this year, and Desastre, a musical for which he currently composes the songs.
Three women cross their paths during one week in Havana. All come from a different background, but all are upset at the same moment. Norma, anchorwoman on a national television channel, tries to commit suicide after announcing on the air that she no longer wants to deliver the lies of the regime. Maria loses her newborn child in unclear circumstances in the countryside. As for the young Nieves, she works in a slaughterhouse and occasionally has sex with some tourists presented by her boyfriend but her dream is to become a dancer.
Men don’t play a significant role in the story. They are extremely weak compared to the strong will of the women, especially Nieves. All they can do is fight, but their superficial violence doesn’t overcome their own fear of women. So the only hope for a better life comes from the women, thanks to their independence and their stubbornness in an otherwise decaying world.
The film offers a lot of gripping moments that make good use of silence, like when Norma starts crying on the air, or when Maria pretends she has killed her own child while drinking with Nieves.
The realism is reinforced by the shooting technique, camera on shoulder, and the use of apparent artificial light that gives a live news report look to some scenes. For instance, when Norma leaves the TV studio to commit suicide, the camera follows her in a totally dark room with a torchlight apparently held by the shooting team.
Both realistic and poetic, the film is a nice tribute to women in a decaying society.

Olivier Delesse