Film Description

Tzunami Ortega Coyra is about to celebrate her 15th birthday with a quinceanera party (similar to a "sweet sixteen" in the United States.) CUBA 15 narrates her preparations for the party in the little Cuban town of Bauta, where Tzunami says, "the best thing about the town is the discotheque," and the worst is that "the only place to go is the discotheque."

Filmed in the course of a week, this short film portrays Tzunami's family, the town's local characters, and Tzunami herself with freshness and originality. Tzunami is a down-to-earth young woman who nonetheless embodies the contradictions of modern Cuba and of teenage girls the world over. She likes Che Guevara for "his human interests and his international experiences, but she likes the Spice Girls even more. She recounts, with the precocious world-weariness of the newly experienced, her "lasting relationships" with boys, even as she fears that with her newfound maturity, love and marriage will separate her from her family. CUBA 15, set to pulsating music against everyday Cuban backdrops, irresistibly captures Tzunami's youthful exuberance and provides a subtle and layered portrait of growing up in Cuba.