Cuba: An Island Out of Time

Cuba is a place of longing. The Caribbean cliché comes to life here: sunlight, music, and a joy of living. Buena Vista Social Club around the clock. A utopia beyond the routines of everyday life, far removed from our efficiency-driven society. Cuba feels like a living open-air museum. Classic cars, old palaces, steam locomotives, and ox-drawn carts. The government seems torn between the need for modernization and the desire to preserve the past, knowing that it is precisely this timeless atmosphere that fascinates tourists. An island from a bygone golden age, one might be tempted—perhaps too hastily—to think.

• Christoph RöckerathDirector