The Authorities persecuted Cuban novelist and poet Reinaldo Arenas relentlessly because of his homosexuality and deeply original writings. His memoir Before Night Falls has been adapted to the film medium by writer director Julian Schnabel.

The adaptation focuses on Arenas as a flamboyant character with an extraordinary colorful love life. It contrasts his early years, a childhood of absolute poverty yet absolute freedom, with the horrors and difficulties he encounters as a writer and homosexual censored and persecuted in Castro's Cuba.

"I discovered Reinaldo Arenas three years after his death," says Schnabel. "He is somebody who I could've bumped into passing through a door of a photographer's studio who took portraits of both of us within days of each other in New York City in the early 80s. His unique quality was that he was the Great Red Hope, a great writer who was educated by the Revolution. Being a homosexual and a writer was a combination damned in Cuba and for these two delicious vices, as Reinaldo called them, he was systematically persecuted. His unwavering commitment to his inner voice, which is very outspoken, landed him in EI Morro prison for two years.

One day in 1993, I was watching a documentary in Florida and Reinaldo appeared on TV being interviewed about his life. I thought if I ever made another film it would be about him. The film is not only an interpretation of Reinaldo's autobiography "Before Night Falls" but combines images from his other writing "The Hallucinations", "The Parade Ends", "The Color of Summer" and stories from his long-time friend Lazaro Gomez Carriles. Reinaldo wrote over 20 books, 10 novels, shortstories and poems.

It is my privilege to bring Reinaldo's voice to film. I think he speaks for many. I think it's a voice for many Cubans who we haven't heard, an outrageous voice full of humour that has turned suffering into great beauty. Out of a life of difficulty came one of the most talented voices of Latin America. His huge talent has made him one of the biggest thorns in FideI Castro's side. Even though he died broke and alone and far from the place where he began to dream, he is an emblem to many of endurance and hope."

Exiled Cuban novelist and poet Reinaldo Arenas was born in 1943 in Oriente Province. At 14, Arenas was swept up and educated by the revolution. At 20, he had his first novel published, "Celestino Antes del Alba" (Singing from the W614), which won a National Book Award. It is the only book he ever published in his own country. His eight other novels, short stories and poems were all published internationally and banned in Cuba. His second novel, "El Mundo Alucinante" (Hallucinations), was censored and smuggled to France where it won a National Book Award for Best Foreign Novel in 1969.

Arenas was one of the only Cuban writers living in Cuba to publish a book outside of Cuba without the permission of the revolutionary government. He immediately became a fugitive at home. In 1973, he was arrested, his work confiscated, and he was taken to El Morro prison. He survived there for two years among common criminals, not political prisoners, by writing letters to the wives and lovers of the other inmates. In May of 1980, Castro allowed anyone who was homosexual, mentally ill or had a prison record to leave Cuba. Arenas was one of 250,000 Cubans to leave in the Mariel Harbor boatlift. He did not find paradise in the United States. In fact, maybe the kind of freedom he was looking for doesn't exist anywhere. His memoir, "Before Night Falls", was listed as one of the 10 best books of 1993 by the New York Times Book Review. His manuscripts are kept in the archives at Princeton University.

Julian Schnabel was born in New York City in 1951, moved to Brownsville, Texas in 1965 and attended the University of Houston, Texas from 1969-1973 where he received a BFA. He had his first solo painting exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery, New York City, in February 1979. Since then, Schnabel's paintings and sculptures have been exhibited all over the world. His work is included in private and public collections including New York's Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art, Bilbao's Guggenheim, Paris' Centre Georges Pompidou, London's Tate Gallery, Tokyo's Metropolitan Museum and The National Gallery in Washington D.C. to list a few. His work is represented by the Pace Wildenstein Gallery in New York City. In 1996, he wrote and directed the feature film Basquiat about New York artist Jean Michel Basquiat.

Reinaldo is played by Javier Bardem,  the son and grandson of actors, part of a long dynasty famous both in cinema and theatre. With 16 films to his credit, he has worked with the most important Spanish directors and will soon be seen in The Dancer Upstairs (Pasos de baile),  the directorial debut of John Malkovich. He first achieved international success for his work in Jámon, jámon (1992) by JJ Bigas Luna, receiving a Best Actor Award from the Spanish Actors Union, Fotogramas, and the Saint Jordi award. The following year, Bardem was presented a Special Award by the jury of the San Sebastian Film Festival.  In 1994, he followed with the Fernando Rey Award and ones from the Spanish Actors Union, the Punta del Este Festival in Uruguay, and San Sebastian. Bardem won his first Goya (Spanish Academy Award) in  1995 for best supporting actor for his performance in Imanol Uribe's Días contados. A year later, he received the Best Actor Goya for Boca a boca (Mouth to Mouth), directed by Manuel Gómez Pereira. In 1998 the Berlin Film Festival gave Bardem the Public's Award for Best European Actor, for his work in Perdita Durango. He was also recognized by Fotogramas that same year for his performance in Live Flesh (Carne trémula), which marked his second collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar, after 1991's High Heels (Tacones Lejanos). Bardem's performance in Live Flesh also earned him a third Goya nomination as well as the Audience Award for Best Actor at the European Film Awards.

He won the Best Actor Award (the Volpi Cup) at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls.

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