Name: My Boyfriend el Fascista
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2025-04-05
Duration: 1 h 35 min
Rating: 7.2
Cast: Sadiel Gonzalez, Matthias Lintner

Good portrait of an activist and his political evolution

Matthias, a native Italian, and Sadiel, a Cuban exile, are living together in some sort of ranch in the Italian Alps. Sadiel is unhappy with the lack of freedom in Cuba, and the number of political prisoners. He engages in anti-Cuban activities and joins anti-Cuban organizaitons, and Matthias sometimes participates as well.

Matthias is a filmmaker, and decided to document their relationship, notably including the political aspect. Sadiel is unhappy with the progressives, whose view of Fidel Castro runs from acceptance to hero. That leads him to join the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, only to find other things in that party that he finds objectionable.

This is an interesting portrait of an activist, but also of politics and political parties, where there may not be any that will align 100% with your views, and compromises in principles are needed. However, during the period of the shoot, the couple went to several locations, and I would have liked to have more of the locations identified.

I saw this at the Hot Docs film festival, with a Q+A by the 2 principals.

Italian cinema has deeply influenced world cinema through its socially conscious realism and modernist experimentation, but it also flourished in popular genres like peplum (sword & sandal), giallo thrillers, and broad comedies. Its narratives often weave together politics, contemporary social change, class consciousness, and family dynamics, balancing artistic ambition with entertainment that resonated widely.

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The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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The relationship between Matthias, a left-wing Italian filmmaker, and Sadiel, an idealistic Cuban activist, unfolds against the astonishing beauty of the Alps over coffee, breakfast or lunch, and also love, sex and endless conversations about politics. Eventually, Sadiel's passion for the freedom of his people and his disappointment in communist Cuba leads him to a shift towards right-wing ideologies. Though this strains the men's relationship, Matthias tries to remain mindful of Sadiel's progressive ideals. Meanwhile, he films with graceful sensitivity the day to day of their evolving relationship as they go through personal transformations, acting as a mirror of the political turmoil of our time. This intimate portrait of the loving relationship between two human beings who remain congenial despite being at political odds is also a revelation of the fine line between left- and right-wing politics, what makes them so similar, and of how the binary of polarized politics and ideologies can permeate our everyday lives and relationships.

Sadiel Gonzalez and Matthias Lintner in My Boyfriend el Fascista (2025)

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My Boyfriend el Fascista

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