Lessons for Luca

Belga and Salvador, a Cuban mother and a Dutch father and filmmaker, undertake the impossible by trying to explain their 2-year-old son Luca the absurd story of his uncle Ezequiel in Cuba, who has been sentenced by the revolutionary court to six years in jail for selling his own cow. Their journey leads them to the remote village of Sibanicú in the heart of the island Cuba. There we see how Ezequiel's criminal case and the intimate story of Belga and her family turn out to be a result of the greater Cuban history and how all individuals are subject to an inevitable fate.

Director, cinematographer Salvador Gieling is a Dutch filmmaker and cinematographer who studied at the St. Lucas Art Academy in Brussels. He lived and worked in Brussels and Paris where he made several short fiction and documentary films such as Where Crows Weep (2016). In 2019, he made his feature-length debut as a co-director and cinematographer with the documentary The Death of Antonio Sanchez Lomas, which premiered at IDFA Amsterdam and was selected for the IDFA competition. Currently he's working as a cinematographer on several films. Recently, he finished the feature-length documentary Lessons for Luca, which was shot in Cuba and selected for IDFA 2021. Filmography: Lessons for Luca (2021) Documentary - director, screenplay, cinematographer The Death of Antonio Sanchez Lomas (2019) Documentary - cinematographer, codirector De Ilias (2017) Short film - director, screenplay Where Crows Weep (2016) Short film - director, screenplay Mannen Van Het Laatse Uur (2015) Short film - director, screenplay Just Outside of Tabernas (2015) Short documentary - director, screenplay, cinematographer Twee Vogeltjes (2014) Short film - director, screenplay Avant-Première (2014) Short film - director, screenplay De Sanitatie (2012) Short film - director, screenplay

– International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam IDFA 2021 – Luminous / World Premiere (The Netherlands)
– Hot Docs 2022 – World Showcase / International Premiere (Canada)