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CUBALECTRONICA

By Virginia ROMERO

Documentary - Development 2025

In the late 90s, Buena Vista Social Club brought the Latin rhythms of Cuba to worldwide attention. Meanwhile back in Havana, one man was turning the Cuban youth on to his unique flavour of Techno. This is the remarkable story of DJoy de Cuba - internationally renowned ‘DJ of the streets of Havana'.

- Year of production
- 2025
- Genres
- Documentary
- Countries
- SPAIN
- Languages
- SPANISH, ENGLISH
- Duration
- 100 mn
- Director(s)
- Virginia ROMERO
- Synopsis
- Cuba 1980. Joyvan Guevara is just 10 years old when his life is shattered by the death of his mother in an horrific accident. The tragedy scars him deeply and he seeks refuge in music. Keen to help him heal, his aunt gives him an old Russian twin cassette player, which he discovers has a fault that enables him to play two cassettes at the same time. As he experiments with overlaying songs, he finds that by matching the beats he can create his own mixes.
  
  Western pop, rock and dance music was discouraged at this time, but this doesn’t dampen Joyvan’s thirst for making music and he becomes obsessed with fusing European tracks with traditional Cuban rhythms. Despite having only the most primitive tech, he begins to forge his own unique sound.
  
  When the Eastern European socialist bloc collapses, life suddenly and dramatically changes for the Cuban people. Soviet Russia’s economic support disappears overnight and the country is plunged into recession - a dire situation, exacerbated even further by the US embargo. Cuba has entered what has since become known as the ‘Special Period’.
  
  As people scramble for survival, many take to the sea in the hope of a better life in the United States. For those who stay behind, impromptu parties in parks and houses offer a brief respite and Joyvan is asked to bring his cassette player and 147 tapes, to one such party. The partygoers are from disparate musical tribes, but they dance together all night to Joyvan’s exciting and innovative new sounds. Suddenly he knows what he wants to do with his life - he’ll be a DJ. ‘Djoy de Cuba’ is born. All he needs now is some decks and some disks.
  
  Throughout the 90’s, Techno booms in Europe and the US and in 1998, DJ Hell together with the creators of Berlin’s famous ‘Love Parade’, visit Cuba. Joyvan finally has the opportunity to mix with decks and soon after, he performs at Havana’s Atelier Club, creates the ‘Brigada Verde’ project and MCs the inaugural ‘Rotilla’ Festival on a beach to an audience of just 80 people.
  
  Over the next few years, Rotilla grows its audience to over 30,000, making it one of Cuba’s biggest music events. Cuban electronic music is finally on its way to becoming a cultural movement and Joyvan finds himself playing for celebs like Mick Jagger and working with top DJs such as Laurent Garnier, Étienne de Crécy and Gilles Peterson. ‘Havana’s DJ of the street people’ has become Cuba’s unofficial representative on the international dance music scene.
  Then in 2020, he’s invited to play in New York. But soon after his arrival, COVID strikes and the world goes into lockdown. With the borders closed, he’s trapped in a foreign country with little more than a few records and a change of clothes.
  
  We meet Joyvan as he struggles to rebuild his life and re-boot his musical career in New York. We follow his progress as he returns to performing internationally and as he travels to France for an emotional meeting with his daughter, whom he has never before met.