¨Yet here you have Cuba, which is a small place by comparison, and they have healthy, real, ambitious films.¨ - Francis Ford Coppola

Despite the fact that Cuban artists, including filmmakers, are not allowed to use their channels to criticize the island´s regime and Communist society, the Cuban film industry produces Cuban films that are far from being dull, laudatory propaganda.

In fact, the opposite seems to be true, as many Cuban movies address the often difficult circumstances Cubans face on a daily basis. The Cuban government´s prohibition of negative criticism does not exclude the possibility for artists to participate in the public debate on how to make Cuban society better, and to honestly acknowledge that the creation and maintenance of a socialist society is simply difficult .

An illustrative example of the above concerns the film "Guantanamera", which was once attacked by Fidel Castro in a public speech for being ´counterrevolutionary´. Unaware of the fact that the movie´s director, the late Tomás Gutiérrez or " Titón", was a national hero and with a reputation seemingly beyond reproach, Castro soon realized he´d made a mistake. Manuel Pérez, member of the Communist party and film director, defended "Guantanamera" and asserted that the film "invited its audience to laugh not against the Revolution, but with it".

Since the 1959 Revolution, the Cuban film industry is run by the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos, or the ICAIC, although it was initially named the Dirección de Cultura del Ejército Rebelde. Throughout its existence, the institution has known several directors, perhaps most famous of which was Alfredo Guevara.

A yearly noteworthy event, and important for the development of Cuban film, is the Havana Film Festival.