Rumours about American singer Childish Gambino’s collaboration with Rihanna had been flying since last summer. Finally, after his set headlining Coachella last weekend, the This Is America singer streamed Guava Island, a short movie meets concept music video that had the whole Internet buzzing.
Childish Gambino enlisted the help of Rihanna, Letitia Wright and Nonso Anozie to star alongside him in Guava Island. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Guava Island, directed by Hiro Murai, stars Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino himself) and Rihanna in the lead roles of a couple living on the fictional island of the same name as the movie’s title. And while Guava Island might not be real, the place where the movie was shot is very much so— so if you want to take a trip following in the footsteps of Glover’s Deni and Rihanna’s Kofi, all you have to do is head over to Cuba.
The fictional Guava Island was recreated in the streets of Cuba’s capital Havana. Photo by Kriangkrai Thitimakorn/Getty Images
The cast and crew spent four weeks in the tropical island over last summer, choosing not-so-famous alleys in the capital, Havana, to act as a background for this story about music and justice.
For example, the factory where Kofi works as a seamstress was an abandoned building in the Alamar neighbourhood, in the eastern area of the capital; other scenes were shot at the Circúlo Social Abreu Fontán in the Miramar neighbourhood, in the westernmost part of the capital and along the seashore. If you want to look for the sets of Guava Island, then, you have to move away from the beaten path and get lost in the alleys and little streets of Havana.
The Miramar district was one of the places chosen as sets for the short movie. Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images
Funnily enough, it was sightings of Rihanna at central Havana spots that started the rumours about her presence in Childish Gambino’s movie. The Barbadian singer was seen at a hotel and immediately recognized, after her Cuban photoshoot with Annie Leibovitz in 2015 had made her an immediate favourite of the people of Havana.
During one of her first Cuban trips, Rihanna was spotted dancing in Havana’s Plaza de la Catedral. Photo by Prisma by Dukas/UIG via Getty Images
Guava Island is streaming on Amazon Prime, and talk of an Emmy nomination is already flying around. Would you like to take a Childish Gambino-inspired trip to Cuba?
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