About the Issue
In the past seven Olympic Games, Cuba, an island nation with a population of 11 million people, has dominated the sport of boxing: 32 medals, 26 gold. Boxing has held a special place of honor in Cuban society since the Revolution, not least because Castro has deployed the nation’s athletes as an unconventional tool of foreign and domestic policy. Sport propels the nation onto the world stage - allowing it to break out of economic and political isolation into a very public and superficially apolitical arena. While the country has never had the military might to challenge the U.S., it has found a way to compete inside the ropes of the boxing ring. Now, as Castro’s faltering health has thrown the future into question, Cuba’s athletes, as well as the rest its citizens will face a crucial time of transition. While the shift of power from Fidel to his brother Raul seems to have gone smoothly, there are some indications that changes in economic policy may lie on the horizon.
About the Film
WIDE ANGLE gains intimate access to the Havana Boxing Academy on the outskirts of Cuba’s capital. There, from the tender age of nine, boys hand-picked as future Olympians are molded into soldiers of the ring. They live and train at the academy with a single purpose: to bring home Olympic Gold. Victory is Your Duty follows the boys’ dramatic path over eight months of training, schooling and boarding as they build up to the biggest event of their lives — the annual National Boxing Championships.
For the summer 2009 re-broadcast, WIDE ANGLE host Aaron Brown journeys to Havana to continue telling the story of the young boxers, who have since graduated from the Havana State Academy into an evolving Cuba, one in which there is a new Castro (Fidel’s brother, Raul) in power and a thaw in Cuban-American relations. Brown explores what life is like in Cuba today, what opportunities are available for these young talented athletes, and if defecting to the United States is still an option lurking in the shadows.
This episode of WIDE ANGLE is the U.S. television version of the theatrical film Sons of Cuba.
Airs Wednesday August 12, 2009
(11 votes)
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09/08/2008 :: 05:05:52 AM
Paea Wolfgramm Says:
I would love to purchase a copy of this series and any others on the cuban sports program. Please tell me how I can do so.