Film short abstract:

La Tumba Mambi is a docu-fiction film based on the Tumba Francesa, La Caridad de Oriente, which is located in the city of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. The film follows a young 10-year old boy who seeks to know more about the Tumba Francesa, led by his grandmother.

Film long abstract:

As a result of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), many French settlers travelled to Eastern Cuba with African enslaved people to escape the revolt. The Tumba Francesa Societies, which were known as a brotherhood and a mutual aid network, emerged from these waves of slave migrations. Eventually, they became integral constituents of Cuban culture. La Tumba Mambi is a docu-fiction film based on the Tumba Francesa, La Caridad de Oriente, which is located in the city of Santiago de Cuba. Through the Society’s youngest member, Flavio, who is collecting information about the Tumba Francesa for a school project, we meet his grand-mother Andrea and mother Queli, two charismatic knowledge keepers of their rich cultural traditions. The original film soundtrack composed and produced by Cuban based DJ Jigüe, in collaboration with Tumba Francesa members, is a rhythmic and striking reminder that the present is grounded in a history of struggles for freedom.

In 2023, La Tumba Mambi won the Best Award Ethnomusicology Film at the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival (RAI) and the Jean Rouch Award offered by Society for Visual Anthropology.