9.01.2002

Cuban Films in the UGA Media Department

       

Cuban Films in the UGA Media Department compiled by Laura D. Shedenhelm

Buena Vista Social Club. Road Movies Filmproduktion, c1999. 105 mins. Directed by Wim Wenders. Featuring: Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén Gonzáles, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo, Compay Segundo. In 1996, music legend Ry Cooder went to Cuba to search for buried treasure. He found gold. Looking for lost songs and forgotten singers, Cooder discovered an exotic land of passion, sensuality and music. In Spanish with yellow English subtitles. UGA Libraries Media Department: DVD 57.1. Rated G.

Fresa y chocolate = Strawberry & Chocolate. El Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinema, 1993. 104 mins. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío. Starring: Jorge Perugorría, Vladimir Cruz, Mirtha Ibarra, Francisco Gattorno, Joel Angelino. A naive young Cuban college student meets both a writer and a woman who teach him about the passion of life and the passion of love. Based on the story "El lobo, el bosque y el hombre nuevo" by Senel Paz. In Spanish with English subtitles. UGA Libraries Media Department: LASER 722.1. Rated R.

¡Guantanamera! Tornasol Films, 1995. 104 mins. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío. Starrring: Jorge Perugorría, Mirtha Ibarra, Carlos Cruz, Raúl Eguren, Pedro Fernandez. In this romantic comedy, Yoyita, a world-famous diva, returns to her home town of Guantanamo for an elegant reception and a surprise reunion with her once beloved, Candido. Overjoyed with the rekindled memories of her first love, Yoyita's elated heart fizzles while in Candido's embrace. Joining Yoyita's funeral procession back to Havana are her sexy niece Gina, a former professor blacklisted for political nonconformity, and her husband Adolfo, a tasteless government official in charge of the funeral proceedings. As the cortege wends westward across Cuba, its path keeps crossing that of Mariano, a gallant truck driver who once had a crush on Gina and whose recurring presence crystallizes her doubts about her marriage. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: Great directors) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3033.1. Not rated.

Hasta cierto punto = Up to a certain point. Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográfica, 1983. 70 mins. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Starring: Oscar Alvarez, Mirta Ibarra, Omar Valdés, Coralio Veloz, Rogelio Blain. This clever self-reflexive satire about the battle of the sexes in contemporary Cuba tells the story of an educated, liberal filmmaker who, in doing research for a film about the social problem of machismo in Cuban society, finds himself falling in love with the sexy, liberated Lina, a pioneering female dockworker. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: Cuban cinema) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 2679.1. Not rated.

IA-Kuba = I Am Cuba. Joint production of Mosfilm (USSR) and ICAIC (Cuba), 1964. 2 hours, 21 mins., in black and white. Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. Starring: Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Vud, José Gallardo, Raúl García, Luz Maria Collazo, Raquel Revuelta. A series of vignettes illustrates the extremes of wealth and poverty, the exploitation, and the passions that led to the Cuban Revolution. In Spanish and English with Russian voice-over and English subtitles. (Series: Criterion collection; 295) UGA Libraries Media Department: LASER 720.1-2. Not rated.

Memorias del subdesarrollo = Memories of Underdevelopment. Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográfica, 1968. 97 mins., in black and white. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Starring: Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez, Omar Valdés. In the early 1960's, a Europeanized Cuban intellectual is too idealistic (or lazy) to leave for Miami, but too decadent to fit into the new Cuban society. Based on the novel by Edmundo Desnoes. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: Cuban cinema) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 855.1. Not rated.

Retrato de Teresa = Portrait of Teresa. Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográfica, 1979. 103 mins. Directed by Pastor Vega. Starring: Daisy Granados, Adolfo Llaurado, Alina Sanchez, Raul Pomares, Volanda Ruiz. Teresa is a housewife and mother whose involvement in political and cultural groups incurs the displeasure of her husband. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: Cuban cinema) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3404.1. Not rated.

Spirits of Havana. National Film Board of Canada, 2000. 91 mins. Directed by Bay Weyman & Luis O. Garcia. Featuring: Jane Bunnett, soprano saxophone and flute; Larry Cramer, trumpet; with Bobby Carcassas, Amado Dedeu, vocals; Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, rhumba group; Desandann, a cappella choir. Soprano sax player and flautist Jane Bunnett bridges two cultures as she travels across Cuba with her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer. They meet up with some of Havana's finest musicians for a recording session, then travel across Cuba by bus to play with local musicians and visit music schools. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 3615.1. Not rated.

El Súper. Max Mambru Films, 1979. 80 mins. Directed by Leon Ichaso and Orlando Jiménez-Leal. Starring: Raimundo Hidalgo-Gato. A Cuban exile, working as a building superintendent in New York, longs to return to his homeland--or at least Miami, where it doesn't snow. In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: American Independents) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 1307.1. Not rated.

La última cena = The Last Supper. Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos, 1976. 110 mins. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. Starring: Mario Acea, Mario Balmaseda, Francisco Borroto, Samuel Claxton. During Holy Week at the end of the eighteenth century, a count visits his Havana sugar mill on a day a slave has run away. The count tells his cruel overseer, Don Manuel, to pick 12 slaves who will be guests at the count's table. Don Manuel objects, but to no avail. The twelfth guest is the recaptured runaway. During the dinner, using religious analogies, the count lectures his guests on the perfect happiness possible in slavery. They in turn tell stories and make requests. He promises no work on Good Friday, but he leaves early that morning and Don Manuel rousts the slaves for a long day cutting cane. They rebel. Which side will the count take? In Spanish with English subtitles. (Series: Cuban cinema) UGA Libraries Media Department: VHS 2339.1. Not rated.

Please cite this work as: Shedenhelm, Laura D. Cuban Films in the UGA Media Department. (August 2002) <http://www.libs.uga.edu/media/events/hhm/hhm2002/cuba.html> [Date viewed]

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