LOS ÚLTIMOS JUDÍOS DE GUANTÁNAMO

Yael Bridge

Cuba | Documentary | 2024 | 13 min

Part of Cinema of Belonging

Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 5:00:00 PM UTC

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Part of a series with other shorts

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

LOS ÚLTIMOS JUDÍOS DE GUANTÁNAMO

There are a little over 200,000 people who live in Guantanamo, roughly 50 of whom are Jewish. In 1959 Cuba had a revolution and in the aftermath all public displays of religion were prohibited. In 1991, the Cuban government repealed its ban on religious practice, making it possible for people of all faiths to practice publicly. This film follows two octogenarians, Fortuna and Lidia, having their Bat-Mitzvah.

We observe both women and their families as their daily lives intersect with Judaism - grocery
shopping, cleaning, cooking, lighting Chanukah candles and preparing for their Bat-Mitzvah. They share their feelings of trepidation and awe at the looming ceremony. All of this is set within Guantanamo as we watch horses and buggies drive by and children playing soccer in the streets.

LOS ÚLTIMOS JUDÍOS DE GUANTÁNAMO

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Yael Bridge

Yael Bridge is an Emmy-nominated documentary producer and director. Her directorial feature debut, THE BIG SCARY "S" WORD premiered at Hot Docs 2020 and on Hulu in 2022. Previously, she produced LEFT ON PURPOSE, winner of the Audience Award at DOC NYC as well as the Netflix Original film, SAVING CAPITALISM, starring former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, which was nominated for an Emmy Award in Business and Economics. She served as Head of Production at Inequality Media, where her viral videos tackling complex political issues have gained over 500 million views. Yael was included in DocNYC’s 40 Under 40 list of 2021 and was a 2022 resident at the Jewish Film Institute. She is the President of the Documentary Producers Alliance and proudly serves as chair of their Labor Committee. She holds an MFA in documentary film and video from Stanford University and an MA in media studies from the New School.