Even
one minute without censorship is too long for the Castro regime. In her work Yo Tambien Exijo, performance and
installation artist Tania Bruguera invited participants to come forward and
enjoy one completely uncensored minute at the microphone. At least that was the
idea. The Castros’ secret police swooped in before things could get . . . free.
After several re-arrests and eight months of interrogation, Raul Castro finally
released Bruguera, allowing her to return to New York. Recognizing she carried
a lot of emotional baggage, Bruguera sought out the counsel of a trauma
specialist, Dr. Frank Ochberg. Their conversations provide the guts of Lynn
Hershman Leeson’s Tania Libre (trailer here), which screens
during the 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Whether
they are performances or clinical sessions, Bruguera reveals a lot of truth
while talking to Dr. Ochberg. Of course, given the nature of her art, Bruguera
is probably always performing to some extent. Either way, the artist frankly
discusses some understandably painful topics when gently prodded by the
psychiatrist. Dr. Ochberg is one of the pioneers in treatment for
Post-Traumatic Stress and the Stockholm Syndrome, both of which apply to
Bruguera’s case. She also suffers from survivor’s guilt, understanding she was
released thanks to international pressure, while the less famous Cubans swept
up with her remain incommunicado.
There
is indeed real drama that comes out from Bruguera’s talking cure. The
circumstances of her imprisonment and psychological manipulation are not
pretty, but that is not what really troubles Bruguera. It is the role her
father played, as a member of the secret police apparatus, setting her up for
what was to come that truly haunts the artist.
Of
course, critics question Bruguera’s bonafides as a dissident precisely because
she most likely enjoyed some protection due to her family connections. Her
anti-capitalist-Occupy rhetoric also makes one wonder how closely she has been
paying attention to socialism in Cuba, but, by this point, her commitment to
free expression has been established beyond any possible doubt. (Getting a concerned call from Pussy Riot while she was still behind bars also speaks volumes.)