Give Me Future

GIVE ME FUTURE features a free concert performed in Havana in 2015 by EDM supergroup Major Lazer. This concert would be something special, both because of its political import and the many unknowns involved. Director Austin Peters is interested in more than just the music, however. There are plenty of behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Major Lazer performers and crew as they set up the venue. There are also sequences that explore how modern-day cubans become literate in the arts, especially in a country that still puts stringent limits on access to the internet and other virtual resources. There’s a particularly fascinating section, shot through with CITIZENFOUR-esque paranoia, about “El Paquete Semanal,” a weekly digital packet, usually curated by one to two people, that is uploaded to a one-terabyte hard drive and then shared to the country at large through unofficial channels. “Paquete,” as the cuban populace calls it, includes everything from telenovelas to GAME OF THRONES to, of course, the latest in music, which is precisely how Major Lazer became such a big draw in the country. (Keith Uhlich)