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ALUMNI
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Read about other Tufts Newsmakers
Capturing Castro
Documentary filmmaker Adriana Bosch
tackles the myths behind one of the 20th century’s most
enigmatic leaders
by Michele Gouveia
As a producer for the acclaimed public television series American
Experience, Adriana Bosch, F80, F84, has worked on various
programs about important leaders—from Ulysses S. Grant
to Ronald Reagan. Now she has finished her dream project, a
two-hour documentary on Fidel Castro.
“As a Cuban-American, I have found a subject close to
my heart,” Bosch says. “Fidel is a character who
has been at the center of my life experience.”
Simply titled Fidel Castro, the documentary takes a close look
at the controversial Cuban leader, from his days as a student
to the revolution that he fathered to his role in world politics
and dealings with the U.S. What emerges is a compelling picture
of a man who still remains a fascinating subject.
“He has a brilliant mind and is very savvy,” says
Bosch. “This comes from an intersection of two things—his
Jesuit education, which taught him how to argue about anything,
and his conspiratorial background, which began at university.”
Bosch is well acquainted with Castro’s famed oratorical
skills. “He has this ability to create the most cogent
and convincing argument based on a premise that is completely
false,” she says. “You come out with your head
spinning.”
But the conspiratorial aspect of Castro’s character was
what Bosch found most surprising. “Beginning at university,
when he was twice accused of murder, he never developed any
other way of looking at politics,” she says. “For
him, politics equals conspiracy, manipulating government, and
public opinion.” One long-time CIA rival confided in
Bosch, “Like a master at chess, he has managed to stay
two and three moves ahead.”
And to what does she credit his longevity? Charisma and anti-Americanism,
she says. “The U.S. has given him luster. Wherever he
goes he’s seen as an embodiment of resistance to the
U.S. This plays very well in the world and is what still makes
him popular. In terms of his power in Cuba, he was swept to
power by a popular revolution against a dictator, inspiring
his people with promises of social justice and national greatness,
and then he instituted a state apparatus to rival any in Eastern
Europe and the costs of opposing his rule are very high.
Born in Cuba, Bosch left for Spain with her family in 1968
and then moved to the U.S. in 1970. After receiving a BA from
Rutgers University, with plans to become a teacher, she arrived
at the Fletcher School, where she earned an MA in 1980 and
a PhD in 1984.
At Fletcher, she decided to focus her dissertation on the Carter
administration’s policy in Latin America. Six weeks before
defending it, she heard that WGBH was doing a series on Central
America and was looking for an associate producer. Bosch, who
wasn’t sure what an associate producer did but knew all
about the subject matter, decided to apply. Dissuaded by the
first person she spoke with, she persevered and was hired by
another as an associate series editor. She planned to stick
with the job until she secured a teaching position, but something
happened: she fell in love with television.
“The first time I could identify in a piece a paragraph
I had written, it was love at first sight,” says Bosch. “The
discipline that goes into a show, the synthesis, its rhythm,
is just so seductive.”
Television, according to Bosch, is about “a bunch of
compulsive nuts working to make everything perfect.” But
she isn’t complaining. Even with spending days on the
road to conduct interviews or getting up at 4:30 in the morning
to catch the light, “the joy is in the product,” she
says.
Bosch stayed with WGBH, learning how to produce. She would
go on to produce, write, and direct “Jimmy Carter” (2002), “Ulysses
S. Grant, Part I, ‘Warrior’” (2002), and
Part II of “The Rockefellers” (2004). She was series
editor and producer/writer for American Experience’s
presidential biographies “Ike” (1993) and “Reagan” (1998).
This work won her a prime-time Emmy Award for “Reagan,” the
Christopher Award for “Ike, Part I, ‘Soldier,’” and
Peabody Awards for both.
The seeds for the Castro documentary began in 1994 when Bosch
wrote a short narrative. The treatment languished in her desk
while Bosch went on to direct and produce other projects. “Fidel
happened at the right moment in my career,” she says. “Ten
years ago, I didn’t have the experience that I do now.”
Fidel Castro might be her most important work yet. At first,
it seemed like a stretch to have a show about a Cuban leader
on a series titled American Experience, she says. But Castro’s
impact on U.S. history in the latter part of the 20th century
has had a tremendous and defining influence. The final film
has a “strong American flavor,” including the bonus
of hearing Castro speak English.
The task of getting the story right was not easy. Bosch had
to condense 50 years of a complex life into two hours. “It
was excruciating,” she says. “We had to be very
selective with what we did and what aspects of his life we
wanted to focus on.”
Bosch tried but did not receive permission to film in Cuba. “I
think they’d had enough,” she says, referring to
other Castro documentaries, including one by Oliver Stone. “Besides,
we never gave them any reason to believe they could have control
of the editorial content.” Instead, Bosch spoke with
dozens of dissidents and other Cubans living in America. She
ended up with more than 60 hours of interviews to choose from.
In one case, a seven-hour taping ended up as a two-minute clip.
But for Bosch, who felt there was so much misinformation about
Castro, the story needed to be set straight.
“There are so many myths built up about Castro and the
role of the U.S. in Cuba,” she says. “I felt a
duty to tell the truth about the Cuban revolution and the man
who guided it.” |
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