Gloria Rolando

Memory, Liberation, and the African Diaspora Through Cuban Film

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Edited by Andrea J. Queeley, Devyn Spence Benson and Yesenia Fernández Selier

Type

Biographies

Subject

Director > Gloria Rolando

Keywords

Gloria Rolando, Cuba, social aspects

Publishing date

2026 (July 01, 2026)

Publisher

State University of New York Press

Collection

SUNY series, Afro-Latinx Futures

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Hardcover • 332 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

979-8-8558-0843-8

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Book Presentation:
The first comprehensive exploration of the life, work, and legacy of internationally acclaimed Afro-Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando.

For over three decades, Gloria Rolando has created films that challenge the erasure of Black history in Cuba and the Americas more broadly. Working independently through her production company Imágenes del Caribe as well as with the Cuban National Film Institute, ICAIC, Rolando has illuminated hidden histories, interrogated narratives of raceless nationalism and mestizaje, and centered the lived experiences of Afro-descendant communities as well as diasporic connections. Gloria Rolando brings together scholars, artists, and activists from Cuba, Latin America, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom to explore Rolando’s profound impact. Blending personal essays, interviews, film analyses, and archival images, the volume uncovers the power of visual storytelling to honor memory and inspire liberation.

About the authors:
Andrea J. Queeley is Associate Professor of Anthropology and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University. She is the author of Rescuing Our Roots: The African Anglo-Caribbean Diaspora in Contemporary Cuba. Devyn Spence Benson is Associate Professor of History and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky. She is the author of Antiracism in Cuba: The Unfinished Revolution and editor, with Daisy Rubiera Castillo and Inés María Martiatu Terry, of the English version of Afrocubanas: History, Thought, and Cultural Practices. Yesenia Fernández Selier was a performer, artist, and doctoral candidate working on a dissertation entitled “Representing and Performing Afro Latino: The Cultural Production of Race in the Spanish Caribbean, 1812–1950.”

Press Reviews:
"This volume brings much deserved attention to Gloria Rolando's work and its contributions to Cuban and Afro-diasporic histories, dialogues on race and racism within Cuba, and knowledge of Afro-descendant experiences. Mirroring Rolando's approach to history and culture through family histories and memories, the critical analyses of her films are framed by rich biographical accounts, interviews, and personal reflections by close friends and colleagues. These other genres provide context for understanding both the significance of Rolando's films and the difficult conditions under which she has rescued voices and archival material to tell the stories of communities forgotten or marginalized by mainstream Cuban history. Like her films, Gloria Rolando leads the reader to view Cuba as part of a layered, interconnected African Diaspora in the Caribbean and beyond." ― Andrea E. Morris, author of Migrant and Tourist Encounters: The Ethics of Im/mobility in 21st Century Dominican and Cuban Cultures

"Gloria's work is about Gloria but was never only about Gloria. In centering her work, the volume also centers its key themes―memory, the Caribbean, Black women's history, race, gender, film, diaspora. A brilliant and important contribution to film studies, Latin American studies, African Diaspora studies, gender studies, and more." ― Tanya L. Saunders, author of Cuban Underground Hip Hop: Black Thoughts, Black Revolution, Black Modernity

See the publisher website: State University of New York Press

See the complete filmography of Gloria Rolando on the website: IMDB ...