Notes

1. An earlier version of this essay was first published in Revista Extramuros, Uruguay in 2023. [return to page 1]

2. Natasha Vazquez, “Un ‘Corazón Azul’ en el Festival de Cine de Moscú,” Sputnik, April 30, 2021. https://sputniknews.lat/20210430/1111771227.html

3. Olga Artemeya, “Blue Heart / Corazón Azul,” Moscow International Film Festival, April 22-29, 2021: 8. http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/upfile/file/347.pdf

4. Marina Kopylova, “Tenemos que Creer,” Hypermedia, August 30, 2021.
https://www.hypermediamagazine.com/arte/cine/corazon-azul-resena/

5. Cuban filmmaker, artist and poet Nicolás Guillén Landrian made documentaries and newsreels in the early 1960s-1970s. He went into exile in the United States in 1989. His work was rediscovered by a new generation of Cuban filmmakers in the 2000s.

6. The economic downturn that began with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 was officially designated by the Cuban government as the Special Period in Times of Peace.

7. Jorge Enrique Lage, “Quince Minutos de Impunidad,” Hypermedia, June 5, 2017.
https://www.hypermediamagazine.com/entrevistas/jorge-enrique-lage-quince-minutos-de-impunidad/

8. In the Cuban legal system, there was no category for “independent creator” so independent filmmakers could not legally establish a presence on the island. Decree-Law 373 established those legal parameters. See Gaceta Oficial, No. 43, June 27, 2019.

9. Miguel Coyula, “Cuba tiene el mayor índice de cineastas independientes,” Hypermedia, September 26, 2020.
https://www.hypermediamagazine.com/arte/cine/cuba-es-el-pais-con-el-mayor-indice-de-cineastas-independientes/ https://www.hypermediamagazine.com/entrevistas/jorge-enrique-lage-quince-minutos-de-impunidad/

10. Luis Roberto Gómez Alarcón, “La Isla Vertical, una experiencia felizmente agónica,” Hypermedia, February 15, 2023. https://hypermediamagazine.com/critica/la-isla-vertical-novela-miguel-coyula-critica/

11. “Presentación de la Isla Vertical en Ediciones Deslinde, Madrid,” October 12, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpD4E0GRtIw

12. Critic Ángel Pérez responded to Álvares critique of the novel pointing to his absurd reaction. See the full presentation at “Crónica de un Fracaso, Ensayo de Ángel Pérez sobre La isla vertical,” February 27, 2023. https://youtu.be/RXsENJVSU6k.

13. Lester Álvarez Meno, “La Isla Vertical, o Miguel Coyula agazapado,” El Árbol Invertido, September 7, 2022.
https://arbolinvertido.com/cultura/la-isla-vertical-o-miguel-coyula-agazapado

14. Darío Aleman Cañizarez, “Retrato de un Kamikaze Feliz,” Yucabyte, November 9, 2019.
https://www.yucabyte.org/2019/11/09/retrato-de-un-kamikaze-feliz/

15. Lester Alvarez Meno, “La Isla Vertical, o Miguel Coyula Agazapado.” Ibid. https://arbolinvertido.com/cultura/la-isla-vertical-o-miguel-coyula-agazapado

16. “Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara Depone Huelga de Hambre,” 14 y Medio, November 29, 2020.
https://www.14ymedio.com/cuba/Continua-miembros-Movimiento-San-Isidro_0_2994300544.html

17. Carlos Manuel Ávarez, “Los Artistas del Hambre. Relato del Desalojo de una Protesta,” El País, Madrid, November 30, 2020.
https://elpais.com/internacional/2020-11-30/los-artistas-del-hambre-relato-del-desalojo-de-una-protesta-en-cuba.html

18. Ariel Ruiz Urquiola, Facebook live broadcast. March 8, 2022. Response to members of the San Isidro movement in Cuba. https://www.facebook.com/ariel.ruizurquiola/videos/656013149065949

19. “Fidel Castro entona un Mea Culpa,” 14 y Medio, January 25, 2018. https://www.14ymedio.com/cultura/Fidel-Castro-testamento-Otero-Alcantara_0_2370962886.html

20. Darío Aleman Cañizarez, “Retrato de un Kamikaze Feliz,” Ibid.
https://www.yucabyte.org/2019/11/09/retrato-de-un-kamikaze-feliz/

21. Yotuel, “Lambo en Varadero,” Youtube, May 19, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZAPQYWqk88

22. José Marti. Obras Completas, Vol. 1, Editorial Ciencias Sociales, Havana, 1975: 178.

24. Miguel Coyula, “¿Adónde Está la Libertad? with Porno Para Ricardo,” Youtube, March 24, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAs1u_4c5tU