When Castro Seized The Hilton

The story of a hotel – of how it, barely a year after it opened, was seized by Fidel Castro and became instead the head quarters and the symbol of a revolution. What was to be the Havana Hilton, and that which in the early days of the revolution in 1959 became known as Habana Libre – The free Habana. Habana Libre became the main arena and the symbolic epicenter for the change in the relations between two countries and two political ideologies.

Through the Life of the Havana Hilton / Habana Libre the film tells the story of the take over of Castro and his revolutionaries, the first years of the revolution and the nationalisation of foreign properties, also the Havana Hilton. Through The films main characters, citicens of Havana and the Cuban Exile community in Miami, we also learn about the conditions of life under 49 years with the American Embargo, and their hope for change.