Cinematic nightscapes

Documentary and ethnographic filmmaking in Cuba

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by Eleonora Diamanti and Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier

Type

Studies

Subject

Countries > Latin America

Keywords

Latin America, documentary, ethnology

Publishing date

2026 (July 14, 2026)

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Collection

Anthropology, Creative Practice and Ethnography

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 136 pages
5 ½ x 8 ½ inches (14 x 21.5 cm)

ISBN

978-1-5261-4884-1

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Book Presentation:
Cinematic nightscapes explores how the darkness of night in contemporary Cuba becomes a powerful site for political expression, cultural imagination and artistic experimentation. As the rhythms of the day give way to night, a different Cuba emerges, one where protests take shape, marginalized voices reclaim space, and filmmakers reimagine ethnographic and documentary storytelling. This book offers a sensorial and creative journey through Cuban documentary films that engage with the night not just as backdrop, but as a central character―shaping emotions, aesthetics and socio-political discourse. Blending theory with rich visual analysis, Cinematic Nightscapes asks: How does the night alter ethnographic practice? How do Cuban filmmakers use the night to imagine new futures? Through a reflexive, multimodal approach, the book invites readers to experience the complexities of nocturnal life in Cuba, where darkness illuminates new possibilities.

About the authors:
Eleonora Diamanti is Lecturer in Communication and Media Studies at John Cabot University Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Victoria

Press Reviews:
‘Cinematic nightscapes is a rich, absorbing study of many things, from the place of night across the history of Cuban cinema through the politics of darkness in desperate times. The authors’ reflection on their own film practice flows across a series of fascinating encounters with people, places and the ethical challenges of ethnographic research. This is a major contribution to scholarship on Cuban cinema and the emerging field of night studies.’
– Dr. Will Straw, James McGill Emeritus Professor of Urban Media Studies, McGill University

‘A pleasurable must-read in contemporary Cuban cinema studies, this book offers an unprecedented framework for research and filmmaking that brings together nocturnal and sound ethnographies to both analyze and produce documentary films. Moving from Havana to rural narratives in eastern Cuba, the authors’ interdisciplinary perspectives guide readers on a sensorial, embodied, affective, and experiential journey through the nocturnal audiovisual landscapes of selected films. By examining the dark hours as sites of (in)visibility, marginalization, contestation, and suspension, Cinematic nightscapes opens new critical pathways for understanding how the night reshapes politics, social relations, spaces, and perceptions.’
– Dr. Zaira Zarza, Associate Professor of Cinema, Université de Montréal

‘On the ground and in the dark, Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier and Eleanora Diamanti open an aperture onto the efforts of Cubans, who make a living, make meaning, and make music while most of the world is sleeping. Working with such an ethical "nocturnal ethnographic" methodology, and the trust that builds through reciprocity and respect, this book comes after and elaborates their stunning film Guardians of the Night, and thinks through and with such important films about Cuban daily life, from Fernando Perez and Sandra Gomez to youth scenes explored by Aram Vidal and Dami Sainz Edwards. Together their film and the book offer us a sightline to a world that for Cubans has darkened profoundly, materially and existentially. It could not be more timely, and yet it is in so many ways bigger than this historical moment.’
– Dr. Susan Lord, Professor of Film and Media, Director of the Vulnerable Media Lab, Queen's University

See the publisher website: Manchester University Press