CITY CINEMATHEQUE
Sept. - Oct. 2004
Organized by Prof. Jerry Carlson, The City College and The Graduate Center
The City University of New York

CONTEMPORARY CUBAN CINEMA: THE REVOLUTION AND BEYOND

Saturday and Sunday nights at 9:00 PM, repeated Friday night at 12:00 Midnight.
CITY CINEMATHEQUE is a co-production of City University Television and the Department of Media & Communication Arts of The City College of New York/CUNY.

CUNY-TV is channel 75. It is only available in the five boroughs.

Sept. 18-19/24
FILM: "I Am Cuba"
(1964/Soviet Union/Cuba, 141 min., b&w, drama)
Director: Mikhail Kalatazov. Written by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Cast: Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, José Gallardo, Raúl García, Luz María Collazo, Jean Bouise.
A Soviet filmmaker tells four stories of the Cuban Revolution. In Spanish with English subtitles. Distributor: Lee Krugman & Associates (914-693-6480)

Sept. 25-26/Oct. 1
FILM: "Un Hombre de Éxito"
(aka "A Successful Man") (1985/Cuba, 116 min., color, drama)
Director: Humberto Solas. Cast: César Évora, Raquel Revuelta, Daisy Granados, Jorge Trinchet. Charts the changes in Cuban society from 1932 to 1959 through the relationship of two brothers, one an opportunist quick to bend with the times, the other an ardent leftist who is persecuted for his beliefs. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Oct. 2-3/8
FILM: "Hello Hemingway"
(1990/Cuba, 90 min., color, drama) Dir.: Fernando Perez. Cast: Laura de la Uz, Raúl Paz, Herminia Sanchez, José Antonio Rodriguez, Modesto. In 1956 Cuba, Larita, a poor orphan girl, dreams of a scholarship to the United States. She comes across Hemingway's novel, "The Old Man and the Sea" and draws parallels to her own life. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Oct. 9-10/15
FILM: "Madagascar"
(1994/Cuba, 50 min., color, drama) Dir.: Fernando Perez. Cast: Zaida Castellanos, Laura de la Uz, Jorge Molina. Drama about the turbulent relationship between a mother and daughter-and the dream worlds they inhabit--in a Cuba marked by social change. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Oct. 16-17/22
FILM: "Las Profecias de Amanda"
(The Prophecies of Amanda)
(1999/Cuba, 90 min., color, drama)
Dir.: Pastor Vega. Cast: Daisy Granados, Adolfo Llaurado, Laura Ramos, Consuelo Vidal.
In Spanish with English subtitles. Portrait of Amanda, a female fortune teller in Revolutionary Cuba and her hard life from early childhood to middle age.

Oct. 23-24/29
FILM: "Miradas" (aka "The Gaze")
(2001/Spain-Cuba, 90 min., color, drama) Dir.: Enrique Alvarez. Cast: Jacqueline Diana Arenal, Jorge Molina, Mijail Mulkay. A young photographer gets caught up in the drama of three new acquaintances: a beautiful woman, her ex-boyfriend and his new lover. At the heart of it all is the dilemma of whether he should leave Cuba if he gets the opportunity or not. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Contemporary Cuban Music
A special supplement to Contemporary Cuban Cinema

Concert videos & music documentaries devoted to contemporary Cuban music will follow the Cuban films on "City Cinematheque" on the following dates and times.

Sat. September 25, 2004: 11:20 PM (following "Un Hombre de Éxito")
"Compay Segundo - A Cuban Legend" ("World Music" series)
(1998, 54 min.) Director: Claude Santiago. Producer: Arte (Paris, France). Profile of the famed Cuban musician, featuring interviews, performances and visits to sites around Cuba. Segundo was featured prominently in "The Buena Vista Social Club," which was filmed around the same time as this program. Ry Cooder makes an appearance. (Segundo died at the age of 95 on July 13, 2003.)

Sat. October 2: 11:00 PM (following "Hello Hemingway")
"Spirits of Havana"
(2001, 90 min.) Directors: Bay Weyman, Luis O. Garcia. Distributor: National Film Board of Canada. Sax and flute player Jane Bunnett travels across Cuba on a musical journey with her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer. Among the artists she visits are Tatá Güines, Bobby Carcasses, Los Naranjos and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.

Sat. October 9: 10:20 PM (following "Madagascar")
"Cuba Feliz"
(2000, 93 min.) Dir.: Karim Dridi. Distributor: Empire Pictures.
Follows the travels of veteran street singer, Miguel "El Gallo" Del Morales as he visits different provinces in Cuba to perform. Many appearances by musician friends and colleagues such as Candito Fabré, Mirta Gonzalez, Armandito Machado, Anibal Avila, Alejandro Almanares, Zaida Reyte, Los Cubanos Jubilados and many more.

Sat. Oct. 16: 11:00 PM (following "Las Profecias de Amanda")
"Los Hombres Calientes Live"
(2004, 67 min.) Dir.: Christian Phillip Wagner. Distributor: Basin Street Records. Live performance recorded at the House of Blues in New Orleans on March 28, 2003. Los Hombres happen to consist of trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and percussionist/vocalist Bill Summers who, along with their band, mix a rich blend of Afro-Cuban roots and jazz. They perform original material as well as an interpretation of "Night in Tunisia."

Sat. Oct. 23: 11:00 PM (following "Miradas") + Thurs. Nov. 4: 9:30 AM, 3:30 PM, 9:30 PM
"Juan De Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars: Live in Japan"
(2003, 90 min., color) Distributor: Globe Star Media Entertainment.
Juan De Marcos and his stellar band of Cuban musicians perform Afro-Cuban music in a concert recorded live at the Zepp Tokyo Arena in the Fall of 2002. Other musicians in the concert include timbalero Amadito Valdes, flautist Polo Tamayo, pianist David Alfaro, and vocalists Felix Valoy, Luis Frank Arias and Manuel "Puntillita" Licea."