16/02/2023 - In Cuban filmmaker Luis Alejandro Yero's documentary, he follows four queer Cuban exiles over one day in a Moscow apartment shortly before the invasion of Ukraine changes everything

Cuban filmmaker Luis Alejandro Yero's first feature-length documentary, Calls from Moscow [+see also:
trailer
film profile], is set to world-premiere in the Berlinale's Forum section. Cineuropa exclusively brings you the trailer.

The film follows four queer Cuban exiles who visit a Moscow apartment for a 24-hour stay shortly before the invasion of Ukraine is announced. In their phone calls, the present and the future coexist: we hear their stories as queer and undocumented immigrants, and the exchanges with the film's director about their distress after the outbreak of the war.

“Making this film meant overcoming the global paralysis caused by the pandemic, the freezing winter in Moscow and the constant fear of being arrested in the streets for filming without a permit,” says Yero. “We had very few resources but an extensive network of friends, and we crossed half the world to explore, together with the film’s protagonists, the meaning of home. At the end of this journey is now the encounter with the audience, who I hope will be eager and attentive, at the Berlinale. Another path begins.”

Calls from Moscow was produced by Cosmic Productions (Germany) and Cuarto Oscuro Cine (Cuba), in co-production with Stær (Norway). The producers are Daniel Sánchez López, Luis Alejandro Yero and Elisa Pirir (who recently won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián Film Festival with The Kings of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). Maria Grazia Goya lensed the film.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: