The winds of political change have always gusted through the films of director Olivier Assayas (Something in the Air, Carlos), and now they get turned up another level with Wasp Network. The Netflix film stars Penelope Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana de Armas, Wagner Moura, and Edgar Ramirez, centering on the Cuban Five, spies held as political prisoners for more than fifteen years.
Venice is where Wasp Network had its world premiere, and Assayas wasn’t impressed with the reaction it received. That’s when he took the film back to the drawing board, debuting a newly-edited cut at the New York Film Festival. Assayas and his crew spent more than a year shooting in Havana, after initially being refused by the Cuban government.
Based on Fernando Morais’ book, The Last Soldiers of the Cold War: The Story of the Cuban Five, the true story centers on Cuban spies who infiltrate an anti-Castro organization in Miami. In 1998 they were arrested and charged with illegal activities, including conspiracy to commit espionage and murder.
Wasp Network hits Netflix on June 19th.
