In partnership with the Havana-Glasgow Film Festival, to mark their 10th anniversary, we’ve curated a compelling selection of short films from Cuba and by Cubans in the diaspora that celebrate creativity, innovative climate action, and community to inspire and uplift.
Synopsis
In partnership with the Havana-Glasgow Film Festival, to mark their 10th anniversary, we’ve curated a compelling selection of short films from Cuba and by Cubans in the diaspora that celebrate creativity, innovative climate action, and community to inspire and uplift.
In this collection of engaging stories you’ll meet organic farmers, cycling advocates, entrepreneurs turning waste into paper, and eco-car wash innovators—each capturing Cuba’s bold and resourceful response to the climate crisis. The selection also includes a Cuban-Scottish collaboration, with a look at Pitlochry's Repair Cafe, shot by previous LandxSea festival guest, Cuban director Dani Acosta!
Against the backdrop of economic hardship and rising sea levels, these films showcase grassroots action that reimagines sustainability from the ground up. Compelling characters offer a rare window into everyday life in Cuba, whilst spotlighting ecological ingenuity, local resilience, and environmental justice.
This collaborative event with HGFF brings a truly international perspective on climate storytelling to Montrose.
Distributor: HGFF
Screening Details
- Festival Screening: 13 September 2025
- Festival Guests: Eirene Houston, Havana-Glasgow Film Festival, and filmmakers Daniesky Acosta and Julia Harriman.
Films Include:
Designing a Different Kind of Car Wash
In Havana, famous for its car culture, Ernesto Rivero Suárez has reinvented the car wash using rainwater, grey water, and recycled oil. Applying permaculture principles and smart design, his business does more than polish automobiles, it is cleaning up Cuba’s approach to water and waste. (5 mins)
A Labour of Love (Trabajo de Amore)
Ismar and Roger left industrial farming behind to grow food organically using agroecology and permaculture. Their labour of love feeds not only their neighbours, but a growing movement toward food justice and sustainability in the face of climate and economic crises. (11 mins)
A Modern Agrarian Future: The Life & Work of Agroecologist Fernando Funes Monzote
Cuban agroecologist Fernando Funes Monzote is pioneering new sustainable farming practices to rebuild food sovereignty in a country reliant on imports. His revolutionary model offers hope for climate-resilient agriculture, rooted in biodiversity, resilience, and community. (11 mins)
Promoting Cycling, Empowering Women
Engineer Nayvis Díaz Labaut traded her car for a cause: founding a bike shop in Havana offering repairs, rentals and training. Vélo Cuba is helping reduce emissions and empowering women, proving that climate action can start with a single pedal stroke. (5 mins)
Turning Old Paper Into New Opportunities
Yunaidy Estrade’s recycled paper workshop began as a way to stay close to her daughter. Today, it’s a model of sustainable entrepreneurship, turning waste into beautiful products and sharing powerful lessons in circular design with Cuba’s next generation. (5 mins)
All of the above films: Director: Maestra Productions | Country: Cuba| Language: Spanish with English subtitles | Rating: PG
The Magic of Mending
World Premiere! Following Pitlochry Repair Café, where Scottish Highland volunteers fix broken household items. Beyond saving objects from landfill, this uplifting documentary reveals how repairing toasters and family heirlooms creates community connections. Intimate portraits meet Highland charm, and fixing becomes healing. Nothing is beyond repair.
Directors: Daniesky Acosta and Julia Harriman | Country: UK| Year: 2025 | Running Time: 15 min | Language: English | Rating: PG
The Woodland (El Monte)
In the lush Sierra Maestra, José Manuel shares ancestral ecological knowledge with his granddaughter Malena. El Monte is a tender meditation on intergenerational wisdom, the kinship between plants and people, and the empowerment of learning from the land.
Director: Claudia Claremi | Country: Cuba | Year: 2017 | Running Time: 13 min | Language: Spanish with English subtitles | Rating: PG
About the Filmmakers:
Maestra Productions is a global, collaborative production house creating documentary films that centre art, education, and social justice. Founded in 2023 as an extension of the decade-long Literacy Project, the company builds on a legacy of impactful storytelling. Their acclaimed debut Maestra (2011) screened worldwide with distribution through Women Make Movies, and is archived at University of North Carolina. In 2020, they released Silvio Rodríguez: Mi Primera Tarea featuring the music icon's account of participating in the Cuban Literacy Campaign. Current projects include a documentary on Brazilian educator Paulo Freire and executive producing new work by aligned filmmakers.
Daniesky Acosta is a Cuban filmmaker and founder of DaniFilms. Born in rural eastern Cuba, he worked on his family’s organic farm and studied digital design in Havana before earning a first-class degree in Media and Design from London Metropolitan University. A former developer, designer, and editor, his recent documentaries on Cuba’s response to COVID-19 and climate change premiered at COP26. His film Cuban Bees—The Organic Revolution screened at LandxSea 2024 and he is serving as a festival juror for this year's LandxSea North Light Award.
Julia Harriman is a freelance Project Manager and Creative Producer with over 20 years’ experience in the creative industries and nonprofit sector. She has led festivals, events, and global education projects across the UK and Latin America. Julia is also the Co-Founder and former Director of La Choza Chula, a social enterprise based on the coast of Guatemala.
Claudia Claremi is a visual artist and filmmaker, trained in Documentary Film Directing at the International Film School of San Antonio de los Baños and in Fine Arts at the University of the Arts London and the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana. Her films El Tiempo (2020), Centella (2019), Murciélago (2018), and El Monte (2018) have screened and won awards at festivals including Raindance, Ji.hlava, Ann Arbor, DocumentaMadrid, and Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin.