The latest movie from the ‘Hooligan Sparrow’ and ‘One Child Nation’ filmmaker explores her friendship with Cuban activist Rosa Maria Payá to better understand dissent against authoritarian rule.

As the election frenzy quiets, Night Is Not Eternal gains resonance. Nanfu Wang’s latest doc deals in matters of authoritarian rule and fascism, considering how both entrench themselves within a nation — likely to be of particular interest to Americans processing unpleasant aspects of their political reality. Wang stages a kind of comparative analysis of China, her home nation; the United States, where she is now anchored; and Cuba, which her friend and pro-democracy activist Rosa Maria Payá calls home, to affirm the idea that the people’s power is the key to building a liberatory consciousness and the only means of opposing consolidated rule. 

Wang uses archival footage to build a biographical portrait of Payá. The activist is the daughter of Oswaldo Payá, who founded a pro-democracy movement in Cuba to oppose its one-party rule. In videos culled by Wang, a younger Payá talks about the legacy of her father (older footage gives us a glimpse of his personality) and the Cuban government’s harassment campaign against him. Wang occasionally interjects her own commentary during this section, adding information about the younger Payá’s brief exile from the island.

Wang is an efficient storyteller and Night Is Not Eternal moves through its introduction of Payà, a history of Cuba and early comparisons to China with ease. Archival footage helps the director explore the history of Cuban resistance, its antagonism to the American imperial project and Fidel Castro’s evolving reputation. Wang’s distance from the subject makes her a compelling interlocutor, one who wrestles with the myth of Cuba and its reality. Of course, there are moments, especially when it comes to understanding Cuban’s contemporary political landscape and Payà’s place within it, that inspire some questions and would have benefited from additional context. Still, throughout Night Is Not Eternal, Wang models an urgent and necessary type of critical thinking. Her questions become one of the most striking elements of this project, which takes a surprising turn. 

After building an intimate friendship strengthened by a shared political vision, Wang finds herself disappointed in Payà during the U.S. presidential election in 2016. While watching television one day, Wang sees her friend sitting with Donald Trump. Was this a strategic move or a tacit endorsement?

Investigating this question leads Wang down a thorny intellectual and emotional path. She confronts the reality that some émigrés from authoritarian-ruled countries settle in the United States and then go on to support a figure like Trump. Wang wrestles with the differences between herself and Payà, who begins attending events like a gala for the Victims of Communism and begins referring to the ideology as a great evil that must be eradicated. Through confrontational exchanges with her friend, Wang tries to understand this side of Payà. The answers complicate this dual portrait, and Payà’s political choices force Wang to clarify her own. 

The United States, with its increasing threats of fascism, becomes the arena in which Wang and Payá elucidate their political missions. Their attitudes about the direction of the country also creates frictions in their friendship, a poignant emotional thread that the filmmaker approaches with admirable subtlety. Interviews between the two in the latter half of the film are tense and informative, with Wang leaning into the challenge of rebutting her friend’s views.

For all the painful turns it takes, the director’s project is ultimately a hopeful one, as affirmed by later footage of recent protests in China and Cuba. Night Is Not Eternal testifies to the will of the people and serves as a reminder that governments work for the people — not the other way around.