When she went to a small village in south India, Celia Contreras Ziegler fell in love with the place, as it reminded her so much of her hometown in Cuba. Celia had heard of Kerala being similar to Cuba, but had not expected such closeness in everything she experienced in the God’s Own Country.

Cuba has been compared to Kerala in many ways, mostly in the aspects where both struggled  for  freedom  and  the uncanny similarities in political ideologies  

and practice of Communism. 

When Zeigler reached Kerala, although she knew that Kerala was a state where the Communists came into power through ballot elections, she had no idea that Keralites carried the red flag of revolution close to their hearts that much.

Celia has been in Kerala for a while, in one of the northern Kerala districts named Kannur, where she has been assisting the director of a children’s movie called ‘Sanam.” The movie is being directed by T. Deepesh. ‘Swanam’ is been filmed at Pathiriyad Kottayam Rajas School.

Settled in the United States of America, working in the movie industry, Celia has Cuban political heritage running through her veins as well. Celia’s mother Gadelia, had a sister named Naomi, who was the personal nurse for Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary hero and politician who served as their Prime Minister for a long time.

Although Celia’s father was an architect who immigrated from the western central South American country of Bolivia to Havana, the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba, during the discussions that decorated the living room, there were topics of politics and football always coming into the house. 

Even though Celia is a qualified architect,

she was so passionate about making movies and a name for herself, she moved back to America, where she came to watch and be inspired by many Indian movies. Celia, by chance, watched a Malayalam movie called ‘Pithavinum Puthranum’, (For the Father and the Son) directed by T. Deepesh, which led to her becoming the assistant director of his next film, ‘Sanam.’

Celia had attended the renowned International Film Festival of Kerala or IFFK, conducted in the southern Kerala district of Thiruvananthapuram in the year 2014. She got the opportunity to work with Deepesh from ‘Swanam’ through the cinematographer Vishnu Nair.

Celia does her work dedicatedly, and she is always seen sporting a scarf around her neck which has a picture of the Argentine revolutionary leader Che Guevara, the young inspiration of many of the college-going crowd in Kerala. Colleges and their walls in Kerala are mostly decorated with the painted face of Che Guevara and his quotes that ignite the minds of the youth to fight against social evils and injustices.

Working as a complaint coordinator at a place called Silver Springs in the US, Celia also manages the role of a storyboard artist. She names Satyajit Ray as her preferred Indian director, who has gifted the world with classic ’.films like ‘PatherPanchali’ (Song of the Little Road), which is one of her favorite Indian

movies. She has also worked as an art director for an Indo-Kerala light movie called ‘Ubhayam'.

Celia, is a football lover and is an ardent fan of the Argentine team and Lionel Messi, the footballer. She even expresses her desire to learn the Malayalam language (the native language of Kerala). The only thing that has been upsetting her is the heat and the spicy food in Kerala.                                                                                             -Josekutty Pulikkunnel