Released on May 30th 2012

Running time 12min

Starring Othello Rensoli, Cristela Herrera, Dunia Matos

Produced by Morena Films

About : Ritual is part of omnibus film 7 Days in La Havana

Yamilslaidi, a seductive Afro-Cuban high school student is forced by her parents to be part of a cleansing ritual. They're determined to get rid of their daughter's curse: loving girls.

7 Days in La Havana is a contemporary portrait of this iconic city, seen through a feature film made of 7 chapters made by 7 international directors.

5 days of shooting - for each segment - for about 15 minutes of film - Gaspar Noé would have shot his back in march according to Les Inrockuptibles #805. Estimated budget : €3,000,000.

Production : Morena Films (Espagne) & Full House (France) + Wild Bunch (France/International)

Note du réalisateur
Che, the most admired of all my fellow countryman… Fidel, the only man who succeeded in confounding the CIA’s plans for over 50 years… SOY CUBA, the film whose camerawork inspired me so deeply…

But let’s be honest, if I made this film, it’s because a friend of mine who has spent some time in Cuba told me that that’s where he had seen the highest percentage of the most gorgeous girls and best dancers in the world.

I hate tourism; I had to wait for years for a credible excuse to take a flight to the mythical island. Having missed the screening of IRREVERSIBLE at the Havana Film Festival in 2002, I had to wait until the end of 2009 and the selection of ENTER THE VOID to go. At the same time, some of the producers had already approached me with 7 DAYS IN HAVANA in mind. As a result, after partying for 3 days I agreed to it. But I also realised that today’s social reality was more complex than the Castroist utopia whose virtues my father praised, and that the Cuban imagination was more closely linked to African magic than I’d thought. A year and a half later, I returned to Cuba to shoot in a semi-improvised manner, with an ultra-reduced crew, a short film with a dance scene and a ‘cleansing’ ritual.