One Way or Another (1974/1977)

One Way or Another
(Sara Gómez, 1974/1977, Cuba, 16mm, 78 min)

In more ways than one, Afro-Cuban filmmaker Sara Gómez (1942-1974) was a trailblazer—the first woman director at the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC), she pioneered a hybrid documentary-narrative form with her only feature, De Cierta Manera (One Way or Another). The film uses a fictional love story between a man and woman from vastly different backgrounds to study the complexity of post-revolutionary Cuban society, frankly addressing questions of class, machismo, Afro-Cuban traditions, and the unequal educational opportunities for men and women. Completed after Gómez’s sudden death at age 31, One Way or Another stands today as a major milestone in both Latin American and Black women’s cinema. Print courtesy of the MCM Archives at Brown University. 

Co-presented by Block Cinema and One Book One Northwestern

Image: One Way or Another (1974/1977)