{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = Unfinished Spaces | image = Unfinished_Spaces_film_website_banner_2011.jpg | alt = Unfinished Spaces Logo | caption = Unfinished Spaces Logo | director = Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray | producer = Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray | starring = Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti, Roberto Gottardi | music = Giancarlo Vulcano | cinematography = Benjamin Murray | editing = Kristen Nutile, Alex Minnick | studio = Ajna Films | released = {{Film date|2011|6|19}} | runtime = 86 minutes | country = United States | language = English<br />Spanish }} '''''Unfinished Spaces''''' is a 2011 documentary film about the revolutionary design of the National Art Schools (Cuba), directed by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray. The film tells the dramatic story of the art schools from their founding by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to their eventual abandonment and fall into ruin and recent efforts to restore them.
The three visionary architects Ricardo Porro, Roberto Gottardi, and Vittorio Garatti are interviewed on camera. They talk about the intense atmosphere of revolutionary Cuba and how they strove to create an entirely new language of architecture, one without precedent. They also speak about why their design fell into disfavor and how the complex was mostly abandoned, uncompleted.
As the film shows, parts of the schools are in ruins while other parts are used today by young dancers and artists. These schools are on the watch list of the World Monuments Fund, and efforts to restore the abandoned buildings are being explored.<ref>The World Monuments Fund: [https://www.wmf.org/project/national-art-schools National Art Schools]</ref> [[File:Alysa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray.jpg|thumb|Directors Alysa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray at the 2012 Miami international Film Festival presentation for the film]] ''Unfinished Spaces'' was produced by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray, filmmakers who became obsessed with the story of the schools' rise and downfall. The film received several important grants<ref>Grants include the Arnold W. Brunner Grant http://www.cfafoundation.org/files/Brunner_Grant_Recipients_Names_and_Project_Topics.pdf</ref> and had its World Premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival<ref>[http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2011/xslguide/eventnote?EventNumber=3643 LA Film Fest 2011]</ref> in June 2011. The film was favorably reviewed in ''The Hollywood Reporter''<ref>''Hollywood Reporter: ''[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/unfinished-spaces-film-review-203367 Film Review]</ref> and ''LA Weekly''.<ref>''LA Weekly: ''[http://www.laweekly.com/2011-06-16/film-tv/los-angeles-film-festival-2011-preview/6/ Los Angeles Film Festival Preview]</ref> It went on to have its Cuban premiere at Havana's 2011 Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano and win an award at the Miami International Film Festival in 2012. It was broadcast on PBS in the United States, HBO Latin America, and the "Witness" series on Al-Jazeera English.
The film was the recipient of the 2014 Society of Architectural Historians Film and Video Award and winner of a 2012 Film Independent Spirit Award.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://archinect.com/news/article/98266550/unfinished-spaces-documentary-receives-2014-sah-award-for-film-and-video|title="Unfinished Spaces" documentary receives 2014 SAH Award for Film and Video|work=Archinect|access-date=2017-08-27|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thewrap.com/film-independent-grants-34415/|title='Unfinished Spaces' Tops Film Independent Grants|date=2012-01-14|work=TheWrap|access-date=2017-08-27|language=en-US}}</ref> ''Unfinished Spaces'' also won the 2014 Society of Architecture Historians Award for Film and Video.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}
''Unfinished Spaces'' is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/221838?locale=en|title=Alysa Nahmias, Benjamin Murray. Unfinished Spaces. 2011 {{!}} MoMA|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en|access-date=2017-08-27}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.unfinishedspaces.com ''Unfinished Spaces'' website] * {{vimeo|19665915}}
Category:Documentary films about education <!--Category:2011 films--> Category:Documentary films about architecture Category:Architecture in Cuba Category:Documentary films about Cuba Category:American documentary films Category:2011 documentary films Category:American independent films Category:2011 directorial debut films Category:2011 independent films Category:2011 English-language films Category:2011 American films Category:English-language documentary films Category:English-language independent films