Sightlines · reception

How One Way or Another was received

1977 · Sara Gómez · One Way or Another on Sightlines

The arc

Barely seen outside Cuba and academic circles for decades, it circulated mostly through feminist film theory syllabi — now it's steadily climbing the cinephile canon as a landmark of hybrid documentary-fiction and of women's cinema.

What’s debated

Fans still debate whether it's a film of the Cuban Revolution or a sly critique from inside it — its takedown of machismo and marginalization sits uneasily with its state-studio origins.

Its footprint

A touchstone of Third Cinema and feminist film theory, endlessly cited as a pioneer of the docufiction blend — real Havana residents share the frame with professional actors — decades before 'hybrid cinema' became a festival buzzword.

Where it stands

An underseen-but-essential entry on every serious 'films by women directors' list — the first Cuban feature directed by a woman, and a badge of deep-cut credibility on Letterboxd.

Did you know? Sara Gómez died of an asthma attack in 1974, at just 31, before finishing the film — fellow Cuban masters Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Julio García Espinosa completed post-production, and it wasn't released until 1977.