When I ask him about Amaury Pérez's interview in "Con dos que se quieran," film director Lester Hamlet says halfway between pride and protest that he has been congratulated more for that show than for all of his four films. "Does that bother you?" "No!" he responds, "An entire community thanked me and saw hope in me!" He is right, because coming out of the closet on Cuban national television even today, three years after what he said in front of the cameras, continues being an audacity that only free hearts dare to do. In Q we wanted to talk with this artist about his life, the way his sexual identity has gone hand in hand with his work and his vision about the role that cinema should play in advancing the rights of LGBTIQ+ people in Cuba. We assume that you openly live your sexual orientation both in your personal and professional life, has it always been that way? It has always been like this. I never had conflicts with that, I never felt different because I was gay. I was as I was. I remember that when I was in first grade, just like the girls invented having...

Para bailar en casa del trompo: la navidad danzante de Ernesto Alejo Susana Hernández Martín Fotos: Carolina Vilches “Pull the cord and let spinning top dance!” It is enough a phrase, and Santa Clara city awakes from its provincial lethargy it dozes in, the ballet dancers take the street as a barrack and for several days, the nights are filled with brilliant lights and colourful costumes.