The Strawberry Tree
Director: Simone Rapisarda Casanova Producer: Simone Rapisarda Casanova Screenplay: Simone Rapisarda Casanova Cinematographer: Simone Rapisarda Casanova Editor: Simone Rapisarda Casanova Sound: Simone Rapisarda Casanova
Filmed in the remote fishing village of Juan Antonio, Cuba just weeks before a hurricane swept the site off the face of the earth, El árbol de las fresas is a mesmerizing cinematic poem that tests the boundaries between anthropology, documentary, and reverie. The villagers’ ingeniousness and resilience, as well as their playful and irreverent relationship with the filmmaker, transform a sensitive portrait of the unique Taíno-Spanish culture into a reflection on documentary filmmaking itself and on humanity at the edge of time.
Finally, when this hamlet vanishes...there is an intractable absence left, a lingering reminder of life in all its glorious and homely wonder. Justin Mah, Doxa
Filmada en el remoto pueblo pesquero de Juan Antonio, en Cuba, solo antes de que desapareciera por un huracán. el árbol de las fresas, es una hermoso poema cinematográfico que testifica los límites entre la antropología y el documental. el ingenio de los habitantes del pueblo, así como sus relaciones divertidas e irreverentes con el realizador, dan un retrato sensible dentro de esta cultura única, y una reflexión acerca del documental y sobre la humanidad en este tiempo.
Simone Rapisarda Casanova was born in rural Sicily and currently lives in Toronto. His first feature documentary, El árbol de las fresas, screened at IDFA in Amsterdam, received an Honorable Mention in Miami, and won the NFB Colin Low Award for Most Innovative Canadian Documentary at the DOXA Film Festival