14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez, Havana, 4 April 2024 — The launch of a Russian spaceship echoed this Wednesday on the screen of the Yara cinema before the impassive faces of the spectators. The Cuban public, overshadowed by the foreign audience – guests, filmmakers and diplomats – barely survived the almost three hours of The Challenge, the first film shot in space, which served as the starting shot for the Russian Film Festival in Havana. Faced with such a panorama, quite a few took advantage of the darkness to sneak behind the windows and return to planet
The Russian Embassy in the capital, the state film company Roskino and other Moscow companies have spared no resources so that the “Island of Freedom” – as Cuba is known in the remote Russian imagination – enjoys the “best and most modern proposals” of its filmmakers.
Neither the free admission nor the movie titles managed, however, to tempt Cubans. Very few stopped at the Yara for the premiere of The Challenge, which was attended not only by the cultural attaché of the Russian Embassy and other diplomats, but also by the film’s director, Klim Shipenko, along with several members of his team.
Indifferently, a Yara employee gave viewers a program, a pen with the festival’s colors, and a satisfaction “questionnaire” about Russian cinema. “Did you like the event? How do you value the organization? What movie did you see? How did you find out? How likely are you to attend again next year?” Overwhelmed by the interrogation, some folded the sheet of paper and looked for their seats. 
Groups of students, several elderly people, and many Russians made up the audience for The Challenge. From the central seats, reserved for the diplomatic corps, the cul