In Asamblea general (1960), the documentary about Fidel's address of the First Declaration of Havana in the Plaza of the Revolution, Alea practises what becomes a sustaining Cuban contribution to documentary. Engaging with Free Cinema and cinema-vérité, his camera seems to touch the faces of the new citizen one by one rather than as a single mass before a leader.
Santiago de Cuba, 1956. Pablo, a young mulatto with a deep poetic sensibility, studies at the university. He loves María, who, despite her parents' wealthy position, is not accepted in high society because of the color of her skin.
The former prison for adolescents is converted into a "rehabilitation center" by the nascent Revolution.
