Havana, We Hardly Knew Ye

Growing up, Vivien Lesnik Weisman found her father a bit of an enigma. To understand Max Lesnik, the filmmaker traveled to Cuba to helm The Man of Two Havanas, a memoir of her father’s turbulent relationship with his homeland and the hate he experienced from Miami’s exile community. In Cuba,...

By Carlos Suarez De Jesus

September 18, 2008

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Growing up, Vivien Lesnik Weisman found her father a bit of an enigma. To understand Max Lesnik, the filmmaker traveled to Cuba to helm The Man of Two Havanas, a memoir of her father’s turbulent relationship with his homeland and the hate he experienced from Miami’s exile community. In Cuba, her father had been a revolutionary and friend of Fidel Castro, but fell out with El Comandante over ideological spats. Moving to Miami, Max Lesnik became an activist and journalist vocally opposing Castro. But he also opposed the U.S. policy toward the island, calling for open dialogue and reconciliation. El Exilio didn’t buy it. Bombings, death threats, and drive-by shootings became commonplace at the Lesnik home.

In her award-winning documentary, the Havana-born auteur captures her old man’s story and the journey she took to Cuba to reconcile her own roots and the social and political upheaval surrounding her upbringing. The controversial film makes its Miami debut at 7:30 at the Colony Theater, and a discussion with the filmmaker and her father follows the screening. Tickets cost $10.
Tue., Sept. 23; Wed., Sept. 24; Thu., Sept. 25, 2008

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