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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Entertainment
David Smith in Washington

‘You have to be prepared for the worst’: making a film on the fight for democracy in Cuba

Nanfu Wang Donald Trump Cuba Democracy America China Xi Jinping United States
a protest with people holding signs, one of which says 'free cuba'
A still from Night Is Not Eternal. Photograph: HBO

“I don’t believe in America being the beacon of democracy,” says the documentary film-maker Nanfu Wang. “America sliding into autocracy is not something that is unimaginable.”

Terms such as democracy and autocracy have been thrown around a lot since the re-election of Donald Trump as US president. But Wang speaks with unusual authority on this subject. She was born in China and lived under its authoritarian regime until 2011 when, aged 26, she moved to the US because of its promise of democracy and freedom.

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