Comandante Fritz

In 1972, the young Stasi officer Fritz arrives in Havanna. He is on a mission during the ceremonial handover of "Isla Ernesto Thälmann". This uninhabited Caribbean Island off the Cuban coast was gifted by Fidel Castro to the GDR as a gesture of friendship between the two Communist states. Fritz's mission is to foil a CIA assassination plot against the Máximo Líder, which is plotted to take place during the handover. But Fritz's mission does not go according to plan. Under the Caribbean sun, nothing works in the way he’s used to back home. What’s more, Fritz meets a mysterious Cuban woman Lola. Thanks to Lola, the war is suddenly less “Cold” for Comandante Fritz than perhaps it should be...

Pavel Giroud (b. 1972) is a Cuban director based in Madrid. Trained in design at the Instituto Superior de Diseño, he began his career as a designer and art director. His debut film, THE SILLY AGE (2006), premiered at TIFF, was Cuba’s Oscar submission, and won several international awards. In 2020, it was named one of Cuba’s top ten films for cinematography and artistic direction by the Cinemateca de Cuba.

In 2007, he presented OMERTÀ at the San Sebastián Film Festival to critical acclaim. His 2014 documentary PLAYING LECUONA won Best Documentary at both the Montréal and New York International Film Festivals. He followed with THE COMPANION, another Cuban Oscar submission. His latest documentary, THE PADILLA AFFAIR, premiered at Telluride, won the Platino Award, and screened at major festivals including San Sebastián, Rome, and BAFICI.