Italian filmmaker Desiderio Sanzi explores the everyday life of Cuba’s underground electronic music community in a neorealist cinematic portrait.
(YourDigitalWall Editorial):- Los Angeles, California Mar 12, 2026 (Issuewire.com) – Following the international success of Mirtillo Numerus IX, released in 2025 on Amazon Prime and viewed by a global audience, Italian filmmaker Desiderio Sanzi returns with Cuba Coocuyo Remix, a new cinematic project set in Cuba.
The film grows out of a direct relationship developed by the director over several years with the island’s artistic and musical scene. Through this long-term engagement, Sanzi established a close connection with a community of DJs and electronic music producers that today represents one of the most vibrant creative realities of contemporary Cuba.
Cuba Coocuyo Remix observes the everyday life of this community from the inside, transforming Cuba’s electronic music scene into a human and cultural narrative that moves beyond the stereotypes through which the island is often portrayed.
The title refers to the cocuyos, small luminous beetles that appear in the Caribbean night. Yet the film makes an unexpected shift: rather than pursuing the nocturnal imagery commonly associated with electronic music, it chooses to observe what happens in daylight.
The protagonists’ days unfold between homes, streets, improvised studios and constant crossings of the city. The camera follows simple gestures, moments of waiting, spontaneous conversations and situations that emerge without preparation.
Far from the model of the traditional music documentary, Cuba Coocuyo Remix adopts an approach close to contemporary neorealism. Music never becomes spectacle or narrative centerpiece; instead, it naturally flows through the characters’ lives, allowing the human and social context that makes this culture possible to emerge.
The result is a collective narrative composed of small episodes, unintentional humor and fragments of reality that gradually build the portrait of a creative community in motion.
More than telling the story of a musical genre, the film observes the human environment that generates it.
With this work, Desiderio Sanzi continues a personal cinematic exploration that connects observational cinema, music and social reality.
Cuba Coocuyo Remix is not a film about electronic music.
It is a film about the people who make it possible.
The film will soon be released internationally and distributed across several streaming platforms.
