Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

The Irish film Viva arrives in time for Golden Globes consideration and it’s breaking all kinds of barriers. It’s Ireland’s official entry to this year’s award but it’s set in Cuba and spoken in Spanish. The film also transcends genres with a story that focuses on an 18 year-old Cuban named Jesus (Hector Medina) who works at a local Havana drag club but has bigger dreams. He also wants to be on that stage as a performer. But his desire is in conflict with his father (Jorge Perugorria), who was recently released from prison.

Directed by the Irish filmmaker Paddy Breathnach, the story written by Mark O’Haloran is set against the vivid backdrop of Havana’s drag clubs. It is a product of an unusual mix of cultures, Irish and Cuban that Breathnach explains as the outcome of a holiday he took in Cuba in the late 90s. By accident he saw a drag show in a homemade theatre a family had built in their backyard. In the audience, a woman was crying because the performer was her brother and she knew his only happiness was on that stage. This idea established the spark. “I knew Viva was a story could only be told, and that I only wanted to tell, in Cuba”, underlined the director.

The movie has rocked both home and abroad. In Ireland, the Irish Academy expressed its delight with a movie that “reflects the diverse creativity and vision of this Irish team in bringing such a tender Cuban story to the screen that is both intriguing and visually captivating.” In the States, the movie won rave reviews during its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, where it was screened several times. To make the experience even more international, the Puerto Rican actor Benicio Del Toro came aboard the film as executive producer.

Viva also completes another circle. Twenty years ago, the Cuban film Fresas y Chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate, 1993) was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Academy Award. It was the first time for Cuba. The movie included Jorge Perugorria as leading man, a young gay man who learns to accept and love his nemesis. Now that young gay man plays the long-estranged father who challenges his son’s choice. A 180 turn for an actor who is back in a film worthy of consideration.

Rocío Ayuso