‘Papa Hemingway in Cuba’ opens Friday

Papa Hemingway in Cuba is making its way to theaters worldwide on Friday, Apr 29, 2016. The first Hollywood film shot in Cuba since 1959, it is based on Denne Bart Petitclerc’s autobiographical script detailing Hemingway’s personal visits over the years.

Petitclerc’s character, Ed Myers, is a young journalist who travels to Havana, Cuba, on numerous occasions following a fan letter sent to author Ernest Hemingway. This move quickly leads to an almost instant friendship between the two. Hemingway helps the young man find his voice in the literary world while the Cuban Revolution takes place around them.

The film is directed by Bob Yari, who won an Oscar for the production of 2004’s Crash.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have been able to accomplish what we set out to do, which is kind of bridge a barrier between the two people of Cuba and the U.S. The arts, I think, are the biggest bridge to kind of overcome governmental issues.” Yari said in a statement.

The director got the approval from Washington to shoot in Cuba with the help of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

Along with the privilege to shoot parts of the film in Cuba, authorities there gave the film crew permission to shoot inside Hemingway’s home on the island and use one of his old typewriters as a prop. The home is now a museum, but there is currently no inside access for visitors.

“Papa” refers to the name lovingly given to Hemingway by friends, colleagues and fans. He loved Cuba and the love was returned during his time there by the locals.

Ernest Hemingway, an influential journalist, novelist and short story writer, won the 1954 Nobel Prize for literature and a Pulitzer prize for The Old Man and the Sea. His family’s legacy includes children and grandchildren who also became successful authors and film actors. Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 to 1960.