BY KAREN BOSSICK
Sun Valley’s own documentary filmmaker Reed Lindsay will discuss his latest project, “The War on Cuba,” during a free Community Library Livestream at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Lindsay will discuss his project with the library’s operations manager Nicole Lichtenberg.
Lindsay recently started a new media organization Belly of the Beast to share Cuba’s untold stories through journalism and cinematography.
The Belly of the Beast has created “The War on Cuba,” a three-part film series that’s accessible online. It tells the story of the impact of U.S. sanctions on Cuba and what’s driving them. It purports that an economic war is being waged by the U.S. government on the Cuban people through blockades to win Florida votes for President Trump. And it’s told through the eyes of a young Cuban journalist.
The series’ executive producers are Oliver Stone and Danny Glover.
“This series is highly relevant right now because Trump’s hardline Cuba policy has become a major issue in Florida, the country’s biggest swing state and potentially a decisive factor in the US presidential election,” said Lindsay. “Yet the impact of US policy on the Cuban people and the interests driving it have received little media coverage — until now.”
The series was made all the more special, Lindsay said, because it was filmed and edited on the ground, utilizing mostly young Cuban filmmakers and journalists, including the on-camera host Liz Oliva Fernandez.
Lindsay, who currently lives in Havana, has lived throughout Central and South America in places like Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Port-au-Prince, where he founded a non-profit supporting volunteers who formed two tuition-free schools for 250 children.
He’s also has lived in Cairo in pursuit of his passion of bringing marginalized voices to the fore and exposing injustices and abuse of power.
Numerous Sun Valley residents were able to see his most recent feature-length documentary “Charlie vs. Goliath,” about a 75-year-old former Catholic priest running for a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming to shake up the establishment.
He won a Gracie Award for “Fists of Fury,” a 2014 short film about a 15-year-old girl in India striving to be a champion boxer. And he was one of the first journalists to enter Libya after the uprising, making a hour-long film entitled “Benghazi Rising” that was nominated for a Rory Peck Award as best documentary in 2011. He also was the co-winner of an Emmy for his contribution to the HBO documentary in Tahrir Square.
The 12-minute first part of “War on Cuba” can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1mknIkBGUA&feature=youtu.be.
To livestream Lindsay’s talk on Wednesday, visit www.comlib.org