"Dozens of Havana residents gathered under the night sky on Saturday evening for an open-air film screening, offering a rare moment of communal relief amid prolonged power outages that continue to paralyse much of Cuba. Footage shows members of the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC) as they prepared for the event outside the Cine Los Angeles cinema. By inflating a portable screen and arranging rows of chairs, they transformed a darkened street into a makeshift theatre, screening a selection of Cuban films for both children and adults. “We are working on community projects, setting up inflatable screens in neighbourhoods, in different places, like that, recording and screening films. We are using a rechargeable battery system, given the current fuel situation,” said Alien Acosta, a lighting and props technician, adding that the initiative aims to ‘bring entertainment to residents’ despite difficult conditions. In a country where the energy crisis has intensified to the point that blackouts now affect more than 50 per cent of the island during peak hours, this humble cinema screen has taken on a new importance. Local attendee Lorenzo Londaiber explained the ongoing electricity crisis is due to US sanctions. “The power outages are because of the blockade. And so we have had to stop,” explained local attendee Lorenzo Londaiber, adding that due to only having six hours of power, residents would organise this type of event on a Friday or Saturday, depending on the blackout schedule. “I think this is a good initiative for the people, because cinema reaches small communities. It is a nice initiative that the public has really liked, because we can enjoy a good movie on a good screen. The children have had a great time, as have the adults,” said another attendee. Blackouts in Cuba have worsened following the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump, which allows the United States to apply "additional tariffs" to imports from any country that "directly or indirectly, supplies oil to Cuba." In response to the Republican measures, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel accused the US government of "asphyxiating the country energetically," and has denounced that Cuba has not received foreign oil since December 2025."