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Havana Hip Hop Underground

Havana Hip Hop Underground

(Havana Hip Hop Underground), Yves Billon / F, 2006
Spanish version / Czech and English subtitles, 71 min

Cuba's crackdowns on freedom of expression have garnered international condemnation, but one mode of communication flourishes with relative openness and independence: rap. Hundreds of hip-hop groups have emerged on the island in recent years, tolerated and sometimes even promoted by the state. Some heap praise on the Castro regime and memorialize Che Guevara; others push the boundaries of dissent to express their own reality of economic and social hardship. Havana Hip-Hip Underground explores the explosive growth of a scene full of creativity and contradiction, a revolution within the revolution.