Uproar
2020 · 20m · United Kingdom
Directed by Moe Najati
Genres: documentary, musical
Tones: contemplative, provocative, tender
An all-women rumba band in one of Havana's poorest neighbourhoods challenges Cuba's patriarchal music culture, where religion and tradition have long dictated that only men may play.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Everyone expects this to be a straightforward liberation narrative, but Najati refuses the easy triumphalism—the rumba band exists in real economic precarity, not a feel-good bubble, and that friction is what actually matters.
A formally assured documentary that understands how to let music and tradition speak through careful framing and rhythm; the film situates itself deliberately within the lineage of cinema-verité and observational filmmaking while engaging with deep cultural specificity.
The decision to let the band's rehearsals and arguments breathe in real time, rather than cutting for momentum, is what transforms this from advocacy doc into something alive—you feel the weight of each conversation because nothing is rushed.
Reviews
This is a lovely film, and shows how the outdated patriarchal assumptions and prejudices can be successfully challenged. It also makes me want to catch a plane out there and groove and dance along with this band of empowering – and empowered – women.