A film on the lives of three women who live in contemporary Cuba.
Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: 106 minutes
A film on the lives of three women who live in contemporary Cuba.
Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: 106 minutes
In the film, Esteban returns home due to his father’s illness. Existential conflicts come back to life because little has changed since his departure.
Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: About 100 minutes
Habanastation is a 2011 Cuban drama film directed by Ian Padron. Filmed in a slum in western Havana, the film addresses inequalities in Cuba through the relationship between two children of different social strata. The film was selected as the Cuban entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards.
Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: 115 minutes
Cuba, 1993. Eunice, a motherless teenager, seeks to escape her father’s sexual harassment. So, she seeks out her sister who lives in a town near the capital. Alejandro, a young rock ‘n’ roll singer, is tired of being discriminated against. And after robbing a pharmacy, he departs for Havana with a pair of friends. Fate intertwines the lives of the two teenagers and they embark on a “ticket to paradise.”
Copies: 1 (DVD+R); Length: 88 minutes
Title: WHICH WAY HOME
Description: A heart-wrenching exploration of a lesser-known dimension of Central American migration to the United States. Every year tens of thousands of unaccompanied children, attempt to migrate through Mexico to the United States. Some as young as nine years old, these children ride atop the roofs of Mexican freight trains in hopes of getting to the United States. This film centers on the experiences of two teenagers from Honduras, Kevin and Fito, following them as they make their way north. The film explores their experiences undertaking a journey that is harrowing even for the most resourceful of adults. Interviews with migrant children,immigration officials, and parents back home reveal the myriad dangers these children face and their determination to brave these dangers in hopes of obtaining a better life.
Subject: Migration/Immigration, Latinos/Chicanos, Social Issues
Type: Documentary
Year: 2009
Director: Rebecca Cammisa
Country: Central America/Mexico/United States
Film ID: 700
Comments:
Created: 5/13/2010
Copy: 1 Format: DVD-R Language: English and Spanish Subtitles: English Length: 90 minutes Copy ID: 1362 Comments: Source: Price: 0 Acquired: 4/7/2011
Title: THOSE I LEFT BEHIND
Description: Those I Left Behind is a documentary that explores the transnational ties that bind Cuban-Americans in the United States to their families still living on the Island. The film also speaks to the controversial travel restrictions enacted by the U.S Government and the emotional impact on the lives of four Cuban families.
Subject: Migration/Immigration, Social Issues, Culture/Festivals/Food
Type: Documentary
Year: 2006
Director: lisandro Perez-Rey
Country: U.S / Cuba
Film ID: 770
Comments:
Created: 2/10/2012
Copy: 1m Format: DVD Language: english and spanish Subtitles: Length: 45 minutes Copy ID: 1402 Comments: master copy for classroom use only Source: Gato Films Price: 0 Acquired: 9/9/9999
Title: TENGO VAMOS A VER
Description: Tengo Vamos a Ver is a short documentary and tribute to 50 years of UNEAC, with testimonies by several contributors and through poems by Nicolas Guillen. The director provides a brief tour of the development of UNEAC on the island of Cuba, and its achievements and contribution to Cuban culture policy.
Subject: Culture/Festivals/Food, Politics/Human Rights
Type: Documentary
Year: 2011
Director: Miguel Tores
Country: Cuba
Film ID: 774
Comments:
Created: 3/20/2012
Copy: 1m Format: DVD Language: Spanish Subtitles: None Length: 22 minutes Copy ID: 1404 Comments: master copy for classroom use only Source: UNEAC Price: 0 Acquired: 9/9/9999
Title: LA PRISION INSOMNE
Description: This documentary gives the viewer the unfortunate important facets of life and the controversial work of the poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, Plácido, during the first half of the turbulent and contradictory colonial nineteenth century in Cuba. The audiovisual speech reveals different nuances and mysteries about the identity of the bard and the essential features and significance of the poetry staff. The film also delves into their participation in the so-called Escalera Conspiracy against the Spanish government in power at the time.
Type: Documentary
Year: 2009
Director: Regino Olivar
Country: Cuba
Film ID: 757
Comments:
Created: 11/30/2011
Copy: M Format: DVD Language: Spanish Subtitles: English Length: 47 min. Copy ID: 1389 Comments: Source: M. Barret Price: 0 Acquired: 11/1/2011
Title: LA CONJURA DE APONTE
Description: With the help of two important Cuban historians, La Conjura de Aponte describes the social context at the time of Jose Antonio Aponte’s rebellion against Spanish rule in Cuba. Aponte, a free black, sought to unite slaves and free blacks in order to stop Spanish rule.
Subject: History, Social Issues
Type:
Year: 2010
Director: Regino Oliver
Country: Cuba
Film ID: 761
Comments:
Created: 1/13/2012
Copy: 1 m Language: Subtitles: Length: 24 minutes Copy ID: 1394 Comments: master copy for classroom use only Source: Price: 0 Acquired: 9/9/9999
Title: EL HOMBRE ILLUSTRANDO
Description: Manuel Mendive is known as one of the most important contemporary Cuban painters. Medive was born in 1944 in Havana, Cuba. Mendive integrates materials such as paint, fabric, and shells to create costumes, and decorate the forest. This VHS contains two short films. The first short film shows the dance performance piece, while the second film shows Mendive painting and illustrates his artistic process.
Type:
Year: 1992
Director: Ortiz Zárate
Country:
Film ID: 764
Comments: No dialogue; Set to music; Features some nudity
Created: 1/17/2012
Copy: 1 m Format: VHS Language: Subtitles: Length: Copy ID: 1397 Comments: dialogue; Set to music; Features some nudity, master copy for classroom use only Source: Price: 0 Acquired: 9/9/9999
Title: CUBA: AN AFRICAN ODYSSEY
Description: Cuba : an African Odyssey is a documentary of Cuba’s central, yet little known, role in supporting African national liberation during the Cold War. This two-part DVD firsts deals mainly with Cuba’s involvement in the Congo in the early 60’s and the second with Cuba’s intervention in Angola in the 70’s to early 90’s. Directed by Jihan El-Tahri , the documentary also includes interviews with many of the powerful people involved including Pik Botha and Fidel Castro.
Subject: History, Politics/Human Rights
Type: Documentary
Year: 2007
Director: Jihan El Tahri
Country: Africa , Cuba
Film ID: 772
Comments:
Created: 2/14/2012
Copy: 1m Format: DVD Language: Eng,French,Spanish, German , Portuguese Subtitles: English & Spanish Length: 190 minutes Copy ID: 1403 Comments: master copy for classroom use only Source: art france development Price: 0 Acquired: 9/9/9999
This film describes the story of Esteban, a Cuban who lived through slavery and the War of Independence, through the eyes of Miguel Barnet. Esteban Montejo, a 105- year old, who lived through beatings and the cruelty of slavery recounts his story of how his African roots were grounded in the Caribbean. Barnet describes his experience of interviewing and getting to know an extraordinary man like Esteban.
Description: In the 70’s and 80’s , Cuba had overcome the crises of the first decade of the revolution and had settled into realizing a new identity, creating the new man Che had envisioned.Despite the lask of many material comforts, the idealism if the people kept afloat their proud , shared conviction that a new type of society was possible.People were not obsessed with consumption and gain and the basic necessities were provided, along with free education and health care. Here is an intimate portrait of those who lived Cuba’s utopian dream during the golden era of the revolution.It is alos a lament for the end of that dream, which began to fizzle after the fall of the Berlin Wall and has since continued on a downward spiral. Through interviews we learn of the disillusionment of the Cuban people suffere- and continue to suffer – seeing the beloved island of their youth turn into a nightmare.
Copies: 1 (DVD master) – For classroom use only
Description: Baracoa shows the beauty of Baracoa, a municipality of Guantanamo province in Cuba. The film includes footage of the natural environment of Baracoa, the major city, Guantanamo while Cuban music is playing in the background.
Copies: 1 (DVD master) – For classroom use only
Description: Los 50 Vividos offers insight into the intellectual and cultural side of Cuba. The Union de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) or the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba was founded by Nicolas Guillen, the national poet of Cuba. The film features Guillen’s poems, photos of the various congresses of the UNEAC starting in 1961 through 2008, photos of different festivals, awards, and interviews of the founders of the UNEAC and its major collaborators. The film also includes a section showcasing the music of more than twenty Cuban artists
Cpoies: 1 (DVD master) – For classroom use only
“Fuera de Liga,” a documentary that has circulated the Havana streets, raises the problems that exist in Cuban baseball, those hidden behind the passions that are awoken by the stadiums of Cuba’s national sport. Directed by Ian Padrón and produced by ICAIC, this 68 minute film was never released into theaters. It is presented as a documentary about the baseball team the “Industriales,” an emblem of Cuban baseball, which has won a record 10 national series. The difficult conditions of life for the players as well as many other themes are approached in this film. It also talks about those athletes that left Cuba play professional baseball elsewhere.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 68 Minutes
Description: This documentary combines social commentary with surrealism to explore the Cuban soul. The filmmakers take the viewer on a trip through the heart of twenty-first-century Cuba, making stops in Pinar del Río, los Acuáticos, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Guaraabuya. In each stopping place, local lore and characters help present an overall portrait of Cuban history, society, and culture.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 56 minutes
Description: “Looking For You, Havana” is a documentary that follows a group of undocumented Cubans from the eastern province of Oriente looking for a better life in Havana. Without proper documents allowing them to legally live there, they often set up a home in areas close to the city, building with whatever they can get their hands on–wood, cardboard, sheet metal. These shantytowns, called fanguitos, are similar to Brazil’s favelas. Quite often lacking running water and electricity, without proper papers residents are not entitled to medical care or education and, if caught, are deported back to their province
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 30 minutes
Description: This feature-length film deals with 24 hours in the life of Santiago de Cuba, one of the main supply cities of the rebels led by Fidel Castro and of underground urban action perpetrated by the rebel and clandestine 26th of July Movement. Taking place in 1959, the movie narrates how escalating violence bursts out in the tranquil life of people and different social groups in the city. First-time director Rebeca Chávez participated in the clandestine struggle in her teenage years and has characterized the film as “a reflection on violence.”
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 90 minutes
Description: Laura, a professor, conducts research for a PhD dissertation that delves into the Havana underworld in search of Albert Yanini, the most famous Cuban pimp from the turn of the twentieth century. Shot to death by his French rivals for control over the Havana prostitution business, Yarini’s power of seduction captivate the soul of a culture that both criticizes and reveres him. Recently submitted by Cuba for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, the film is an exploration of Cuban sexuality and masculinity.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 96 minutes
Description: Over the course of the 1960s, the revolutionary government in Cuba confronted active and violent opposition from armed counter-revolutionary groups operating on the island. This film dramatizes this confrontation through the story of Alberto Delgado, a Cuban agent who infiltrated one counter-revolutionary group in the Escambray Mountains.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 124 minutes
Description: Enchanting, playful, and outrageous, this film presents two unsuccessful people who each adopt fictional personae in order to escape the doldrums of their daily lives. It is a web of adorable little lies told to brighten their otherwise gray existence creating a complicated and ambivalent love story.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 100 minutes
Description: Aleida Guevara talks fondly about her father, the world famous Che. Aleida talks about the real Che, separating the myth from the man. This bilingual DVD contains a Spanish language version, and another version in Spanish with English subtitles.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 31 minutes
Description: In this groundbreaking satirical film about the Cuban Revolution, the craziest situations are seen as normal by most of the inhabitants of Wondertown. Alicia, however, struggles to make sense of what is happening around her from the moment she arrives. This film by Daniel Diaz Torres mixes absurdity, humor and horror, and was banned because it was believed to be anti-revolutionary.
Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS)
Description: “Fire in the Mind” This program looks at revolutionaries in the region today, with a special emphasis on the former guerrilla fighters in El Salvador and the current movement in Peru, and links these movements to the revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 60 minutes
Description: This visceral, energizing look at contemporary Cuba is an impassioned love story set against the political and economic tensions of Havana. Gustavo, an idealistic young Communist with a glorified vision of the Castro regime, falls in love with Yolanda, a disenchanted dancer who longs to escape to Miami. Despite their radically opposed beliefs, Gustavo and Yolanda are inseparable. The city begins to erupt around Gustavo when his rebellious musician brother injects himself with the AIDS virus in suicidal protest, and his father realizes that he will earn more money as a hotel bar pianist than as a doctor.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 102 minutes
Description: The second in a trilogy, Barrio Cuba tells a trio of stories, all dealing with commonplace Cuban social struggles. Solás and his superior cast pay tribute to the authentic slums of the Havana suburbs, stripping away the sheen of a world previously glamorized by touristy stereotypes.
Copies: 3 (DVD)
Length: 106 minutes
Description: An impressionistic journey through the music of Cuba, Spain and Mexico from pre-Columbian times to the present, on the occasion of the Fifth Centenary of the Conquest.
Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS)
Length: 111 minutes
Description: Episodic look at the life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reynaldo Arenas (1943-1990), from his childhood in Oriente province to his death in New York City. By 1964, he is in Havana where his writing and homosexuality get him into trouble: he spends two years in prison, writing letters for other inmates and smuggling out a novel. He befriends Lázaro Gomes Garriles, with whom he lives stateless and in poverty in Manhattan after leaving Cuba. When asked why he writes, he replies cheerfully, “Revenge.”
Copies: 2 (DVD)
Length: 133 minutes
Description: A period musical, based on the novel The Song of Rachel by Miguel Barnet, the film concerns a young woman who uses everyone to attain her dream of being a singer at the Alhambra, Cuba’s top burlesque theatre in the 1920’s.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 108 minutes
Description: This creative film is shot from the perspective of a German shepherd on the streets of Havana. It is a comic portrayal of the idiosyncrasies, foibles, and hypocrisy of the human species, as seen from the obviously superior point of view of a dog. Interspersed interviews highlight peoples strange and excessive behavior toward their pets.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 22 minutes
Description: During a track and field meet a meteor strikes a stadium in Cuba, killing roughly 93 people. A round table of journalists has a discussion on the significance of the event, debating what the most important aspects of the event are. The film is a meditation on the role of journalism in contemporary Cuba; a practice that supposedly has to be combative, investigative, and neutral. What, then, is the real role of journalism?
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 25 minutes
Description: The German filmmaker Wim Wenders directs a documentary about the Cuban musicians in the group Buena Vista Social Club. This group has toured the U.S. and their albums have been best sellers for months. The elder members have many unique stories to tell from a country that has been sealed off to American citizens for decades.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 101 minutes
Description: An introspective look at young Cuban-Americans, the now-adult children of the first wave of Cuban exiles that came to the U.S. This documentary focuses on the fusion of traditional, old world values of yesteryear and modern, American culture, as the young Cuban-Americans comment on their experiences growing up bi-culturally.
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 85 minutes
Description: Avant-garde performance art / plays performed by the Buendía theatre group in 1992
Copies: 1 (DVD)
Length: 106 minutes
Description: Loosely based on the classic nineteenth-century Cuban novel, Cecilia Valdéz by Cirilo Villaverde. The movie is a reflection on the birth of Cuban nationality. A beautiful mestizo woman struggles to become a part of the world of the white aristocracy. She chooses Leonardo to accomplish her goals. Their tortuous passion is juxtaposed against the emergence of the nation and the struggle for independence.
Copies: 2 (VHS) Length: 120 minutes
Description: This educational video aimed at children is separated into three sections. The first section explains what Cinco de Maya is, why it is celebrated and its importance. The second section talks about the history of Cinco de Mayo. The third section talks about how the holiday is celebrated. It includes music, arts and crafts, food, parades and general festivities that take place on Cinco de Mayo.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 17 minutes Type: Documentary, Year: , Director: Sue Russell, Country: USA/Mexico, Format: DVD, Language: English, Subtitles: None
Description: Based on Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s memoir Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, this film constitutes part 1 of the two part series directed by Steven Soderbergh on the life of this iconic hero of the Cuban revolution. While focusing on Guevara’s role in the guerrilla campaign that begins in the Sierra Maestra and ultimately ousts Fulgencio Batista from power, the movie also splices in scenes depicting Guevara’s visit to the United Nations and audio re-creation of an interview that presents some of Guevara’s political philosophies and thoughts on being a revolutionary. The film portrays the personal dynamics of his relationship with Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, and other anti-Batista activists during the war, Guevara’s leadership style as reflected in his efforts to maintain discipline in the rebel army, and the final military campaign that culminates in the capture of the city of Santa Clara and the flight of Batista from the country.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 135 minutes
Description: Part two of Stephen Soderbergh’s chronicle of the revolutionary activities of Ernesto “Che” Guevara examines Guevara’s attempts to start a revolutionary guerrilla movement in the jungles of Bolivia. Beginning with his arrival in Bolivia under a false identity, the film traces the factors which result in ultimate failure, as well Guevara’s untimely demise. Efforts to attract the support of Bolivian peasantry ultimately fail as Che’s band is unable to convince the peasants that supporting them is in their best interests. The insurgency effort becomes more and more desperate as the Bolivian military, with the support of the United States, steadily gains the upper hand in its attempts to quell the rebellion.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 136 minutes
Description: With passion and uncertainty, Tzunami, a small-town Cuban girl prepares for her quinceañera. The celebration is for her fifteen birthday –the official crossroads between innocence and maturity. This short film won nine international film awards, including the 1998 Berlin Jury Prize for the best short film. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 12 minutes
Description: A fast paced weaving of sound bites and interviews that lets young Cubans speak and argue for themselves. What they have to say or sing or rap suggests that everyone born after the revolution has an opinion. Directors/Producers: Gail Dolgin, Vicente Franco. USA (the filmmakers consulted with many Cubans, and filming is entirely in Cuba, but production was done in San Francisco). Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: Experience a tour through mountains, beaches, and the colorful panorama Cuba has to offer. This video provides pieces of folklore, music, architecture, history, as it shows the major cities of the island. Video Visits. Copies: 1 (VHS) Length: 52 minutes
Description: This program gathers together the most representative of exiled Cuban filmmakers, who recount their personal experiences of having to abandon their work and start a new life away from their country, culture and natural environment. The program features clips of their film and photographs as it takes viewers on a journey from Cuba in the late 1950s to the lives of the filmmakers today. Although Castro encouraged the development of a state sponsored cinema in Cuba, opening doors for many talented filmmakers, his policies towards intellectuals led many of these same filmmakers to abandon the island, leaving behind a broken image, an interrupted flow of creativity which some were able to find again abroad but others were not. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 46 minutes
Description: This documentary follows two Cuban exiles, Bay of Pigs invasion veterans, upon their return to their native island. As attendees of a conference discussing the invasion, they interact and attempt to reconcile the past with former battlefield adversaries, including Fidel Castro. Narrated by Martin Sheen.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 52 minutes
Description: This short film explores the work of several Cuban artists who collaborate with Vígia Press, a unique publishing house in Matanzas which makes beautifully crafted books by hand. The interviewed artists discuss their imaginative modes of contemplating what constitutes a book or text, and the ways in which they blur the boundaries between artistic and literary expression. This film was produced in conjunction with the exhibit Cuban Artists’ Books and Prints, an exhibit organized at Wake Forest University that featured 120 pieces of Cuban art, including several of the handmade books mentioned in the film. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 18 minutes
Description: This is a collection of five short experimental videos made by Cuban directors. Here is a brief description of each film: DeMoler (12 min) is a short documentary directed by Angel González about a small sugar mill and its meaning to its workers; Horizontes (3 min) is a silent animated film directed by Yemelí Cruz Revero and Adanoe Lima Cruz; 25 KM (19 min) is a film directed by Jeffery Puento that follows the journey of two Cuban women on their way to church; Freddy o el Sueño de Noel (7 min) is an experimental film directed by Waldo Ramirez that shows short clips of men fishing; Todo Por Ella (20 min), directed by Pavel Giroud, tells the story of a 19 year old male who is caught up in the world of sex, drugs, and debts. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 62 minutes
Description: An exploration of the experience of Cubans living in the United States, focusing especially on the nature of the community since 1959. The film avoids explicit discussions of politics and instead focuses on the maintenance of community, culture and identity among Cubans now living in the United Staes. Through interviews with numerous celebrities, the film explores the experience of leaving Cuba and subsequent exile in the United States, that challenges of building lives as newly arrived immigrants in the United States, and the cultural forms that served as vehicles for the preservation of Cuban identity. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes
Description: Identical Twins, Margarita and Ramona de Saá, grew up to become acclaimed ballerinas with the National Ballet of Cuba. Once inseparable, their relationship deteriorated as one sister left for America and the other embraced the Cuban Revolution. Mirror Dance is the story of two women forever linked by birth and dance but struggling to overcome a deep rift between sisters and nations alike. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 54 minutes
Description: A fascinating cinematic mix of documentary and fiction, Gómez (who died just before completing work on the film) looks at the marginal neighborhoods of Havana shortly after the triumph of the 1959 Revolution. With Mario Balmaseda and Yolanda Cuellar. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 79 minutes
Description: A provocative artistic film about a Cuban woman, Antoñica, possessed by a deity, or orisha. Set in Pinar del Río in 1936, first the local clergy and doctors conspire to remove her and her followers. A politician comes to their defense to project himself into power, only to call in the army later. Please note that this film is not subtitled. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 109 minutes
Description: Elpidio Valdés is an animated film which deals with the risky mission of bringing from Tampa, Florida, a shipment of arms for the freedom fighters of the Ejército Libertador. With Captain María Silva, his horse Palmiche, and his compatriots of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano, they confront their enemies, the Spanish colonialists and the Yankees.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 80 minutes
Description: Compilation of short animated films not meant for younger audience because of their political propaganda upholding socialist ideals. These films were produced for the Cuban government to educate people on the values of the Revolution and/or to educate on certain governmental programs such as agricultural reform. Directors include Jesus de Armas, Harry Reade, Luis Rogelio Rodriguez, Hernan Henriquez, Juan Padrón, Mario Rivas, Tulio Raggi, Rayner Valdés Padrón, Tony Nodarse, Nelson Serrano, Jose E. Garcia, Isis Chaviano, and Johanhn Ramírez. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 85 minutes
Description: Two of Cubas leading hip-hop groups, Obsesion and Doble Filo, have formed the collective La Fabri_K to showcase their art. This film follows the artists from their homes in Havana through their eye-opening concert tour in the United States, exploring the conflicts they confront along the way. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 62
Description: This documentary is a personal profile of Fidel Castro and a view of the developments since the revolution 10 years before. There are a lot of images of Fidel: listening to complaints, arguing, laughing, and philosophizing. There is beautiful footage of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and of Fidel and Che Guevara in the mountains. Also there are interviews with political prisoners. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 96 minutes
Description: This film is an intimate portrait of the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Filmmaker Estela Bravo presents rare interviews with Castro and footage of him swimming with bodyguards, visiting his childhood home and school, and trading jokes with his friend Nelson Mandela. It introduces a positive portrayal of Castro rarely shown in the US media. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 91 minutes
Description: Experience the heartache and uncertainty of the 1960s flight of more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States. The children of Operation Pedro Pan share their personal stories of the sacrifice, survival, broken hearts and new beginnings through interviews and archival footage. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes
Description:
Description: A single, iconic image of Ernesto Che Guevara has been remembered, revered and reproduced over the years. In this documentary, photographer Alberto Korda recounts his feelings at the moment he snapped the world famous photo. A fast-paced collage of images follows, showing how this photo was used internationally as a symbol of inspiration in liberation and human rights struggles. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 15 minutes
Description: This award-winning film raises issues of tolerance and diversity by presenting sexual, artistic, and ultimately political struggles in Cuba through the story of several individuals. Through the touching relationship of a middle-aged gay artist and a young idealistic student, Alea portrays many of the current debates and ideologies impacting the lives of Cubans. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 112 minutes
Description: The treatment of gays and lesbians in Cuba after the Revolution has been a topic of great controversy. This film depicts, through personal experiences, the conflicts arising in this marginalized sector of Cuban society. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 57 minutes
Description: While unfolding the story of the Cuba vs. the Baltimore Orioles games, this documentary develops a narrative of the history of baseball as an element of Cuban national identity, and the impact the sport has had on both the United States and Cuban relations. Especially interesting is the story of African Americans playing for Cuban teams, and both white and black Cubans playing in the early American Negro Leagues when baseball was segregated in the United States Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s last film before his death, Guantanamera is a romantic, fluid road-trip movie set in contemporary Cuba amid economic crisis and crumbling infrastructure. In a tribute to the resilient spirit of Cubans in trying circumstances, and a sly critique of the regime, Alea masterfully weaves in tributes to Death of a Bureaucrat and other works. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 104 minutes
Description: This film presents a revisionist view of the life Ernesto Che Guevara. Various interviews with former comrades of Guevara present a portrait of the man that is a stark contrast to the official mythology of Ches historical role in the revolution. Their stories present a cruel, vindictive side of Ches personality responsible for a number of botched revolutionary ventures, including the campaign in Bolivia that led to his death. Far from the selfless hero of official Cuban history, viewers are presented with a cowardly, incompetent ideologue whose disregard for the views of others led to his downfall. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 71 minutes
Description: Cuba is a land of music and consequently a land of musicians. Habana Blues is full of lots of extraordinary music, but what makes it so special is the way Zambrano details the lives of the protagonists and the choices they are forced to make regarding their music, their families and their country. Cannes Festival Official Selection, 2005. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 115 minutes
Type: Documentary, Year: 2008, Director: Jose Araujo, Country: Brazil, Format: DVD, Language: English, Subtitles: None
Type: Documentary, Year: 1990, Director: Felipe Bernaza, Country: Cuba, Format: DVD-R, Language: Spanish, Subtitles: English
Description: This documentary traces the history and presence of the Jewish community in Cuba. It explores the impact of the 1959 Revolution on the five percent of the original community, the community’s recent resurgence, and the international issues that affect its future. Rich in footage of Cuba, archival material and interviews, this film depicts an important history of Jewish immigration, with a focus on the particular experience of Cuban Jews. Edited by Vicente Franco and narrated by Isabel Alegría. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 57 minutes
Type: Documentary, Year: 2001, Director: Cecilia Ricciarelli and Diego Malquori, Country: Cuba, Format: DVD-R, Language: Spanish, Subtitles: English
Description: Set in pre-revolutionary Cuba (late 1950s), this winner of the 1990 Grand Coral Prize in Havana deals with the inner conflicts of a young girl’s coming of age, her identification with a Hemingway she never meets, and a society she finds confining. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes
Description: Documentary including three dramatic stories about the insurrection struggle in Cuba during the 50s. The saga of young people, who lived, loved and fought with the hopes of a better future. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 81 minutes
Description: With César Evora, Jorge Trinchet, and Daisy Granados. A young ambitious man begins climbing the social and political ladder in Cuba in the 1930s. After the fall of Machado in 1933, his political career takes off, his ethics and scruples continue to decline, and his connections to family and friends deteriorate. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 106 minutes
Description: A documentary about the Cuban-Jewish community in South Florida, with interviews from both Cuban-Jewish and Non-Jewish members of the community. Robert Levine began the documentary after realizing the effects of the generation gap between Cuban-Jewish teenagers and their parents and grandparents, who were originally from Cuba. Robert Levine, joined with Mark D. Szuchman, a colleague at Florida International University, began to record their interviews with the community members to reflect the views of the community members. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 27 minutes
Description: In a mens bathroom a discussion takes place. One member of a committee votes against a presidential proposal, and suddenly becomes the hero of the democratic process. What seems to him to be a perfectly reasonable and ordinary act strikes others as a courageous and noteworthy gesture, raising questions about the true nature of popular political participation. He ultimately finds himself in an awkward position with respect to the reality he lives in. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 11 minutes
Description: This film examines the now vibrant hip-hop community that has emerged in Cuba since the onset of the special period, interviewing numerous artists and getting their perspectives on a number of issues, including racism, issues of censorship, economic conditions, gender and sexuality, and relations with the United States. In many ways the Cuban hip-hop scene evokes memories of the culture when it first emerged in the United States in terms of its grassroots character as a form of expression for marginalized youth. Rappers comment on the significance the genre has as a form of cultural expression and social commentary, as well as the danger of Cuban hip-hop progressing down the same path of commercialization that has become so prominent in the United States. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 70 minutes
Description: Cuban boxing legend Kid Chocolate was the first Cuban to win a world boxing title, and is still considered by many as the best Cuban boxer ever. In this documentary produced by the Cuban film institute ICAIC, Chocolate recounts tales of his boxing career and experiences as a celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 19 minutes
Description: CBS Reports with Dan Rather presents a biography of Fidel Castro. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Type: Documentary, Year: 1992, Country: Latin America, Format: DVD-R, Language: English, Subtitles: None
Description: A dramatic and sensitive analysis of the lejanía, the distance or separation among members of the same family, created by the Cuban revolution. A Cuban mother, now living in Miami, returns to visit her son whom she abandoned 10 years earlier. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes
Description: A diverse group of Cubans finds itself stuck at a remote bus station. Their shared situation brings them together such that they transform the bus station into a kind of socialist utopia, and when they can finally leave, they dont want to. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 106 minutes
Description: A classic of Cuban cinema, which looks at the lives of three women, an upper class Lucía in the 1890s, a middle class Lucía in the 1930s, and a working class Lucía in the 1960s. Copies: 2 (DVD and VHS) Length: 160 minutes
Description: Breaking new ground in the world of Cuban art, this is the first documentary to focus exclusively on the art and artists from Cuba’s easternmost region: Oriente. This film takes the viewer on an insightful journey where one will be introduced to Eastern Cuba’s most highly acclaimed painters in this culturally rich region by way of studio visits and interviews as well as excursions into the countryside. A unique and delightful brand of Cuban humor often permeates the content and adds to the emotional and intellectual impact of the story. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 43 minutes
Description: Nominated for best film award and recipient of the Special Jury’s Prize in Havana’s 1994 film festival, this movie tells the story of a Havana University Physics Professor’s torturous relationship with her daughter during the special Period in Cuba. Based on the 1984 short story by Mirta Yáñez "Beatles Contra Duran Duran," the film marks a departure from director Fernando Pérez previous style of documentary-like realism and evokes a hypnotic trance-like feel as it presents generational conflict and the adolescent search for identity as metaphoric representations of post-revolutionary Cuban society. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 58 minutes
Description: Manuela is the story of a mulato guajira (peasant woman) who is transformed into a revolutionary guerrilla fighter. With little dialogue and the use of hand held cameras Solas manages to convey the message and engage the viewer emotionally. A collaboration with cinematographer Jorge Herrera. Por Primera Vez is a documentary in which the crews of ICAICs Moving Cinema visit Los Mulos, in the mountains of Baracoa. There, they observe and interact with the peasants of the area who are seeing film for the first time. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 41 minutes
Description: A rare view of what day-to-day life is like for the gay and drag community in modern Cuba. This award-winning documentary is the first since the 1959 revolution to examine the issues gays and transvestites face in the context of evolving attitudes towards homosexuality in Cuba, where people are judged first on what they achieve for their country. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 74 minutes
Description: In this animated film, a sequel to the original Vampiros en la Habana, multiple scientific discoveries are made that allow vampires to go out into the sun. Many people want control of the substance, and are willing to fight for it. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 87 minutes
Description: This documentary depicts the story of the two Cuban worlds of Miami and Havana, and the social, cultural, and political processes that have created this divide since 1959. It provides many touching moments that portray the difficulties of this fragmentation, as well as the ideological struggles in both communities. An excellent point of departure for considering the Cuban Revolution, migration and communities of exile. Produced by the Institute for Policy Studies, USA Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 52 minutes
Description: Taken from Cuba as a child by his father, Roberto returns to the island 32 years later in search of his mother. He soon finds his American customs in conflict with those of his birthplace. Also, he discovers new revelations about his family history: though told his mother had abandoned him, Roberto learns from his cousin Pilar that his wealthy father had kidnapped him when fleeing the Revolution- leaving behind his poor black mother. Roberto, Pilar, and a driver named Antonio then take up a journey through Cuba to track her down, only to make more shocking discoveries along the way. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 123 minutes
Description: The story of a young man’s attempt to fight the system is an entertaining, hilarious account of galloping bureaucracy and the tyranny of red tape.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 87 minutes
Description: They were the women a man would silence. Robbed of their dignity and hope, they became his anonymous victims. Political prisoners, wives, mothers, writers, artists, children, lost at sea Forgotten over and over. Once deprived of their voices, they now speak.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 80 minutes
Description: On the history in Cuba of an extensive West Indian community (consisting of people from Jamaica, Barbados, & many others)
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 53 minutes
Description: The charming story of the brief meeting of two children from opposite socioeconomic status. One is a girl from the countryside, the other, a boy from the city on his way to the United States.
Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 17 minutes
Description: In Oggun, Gloria Rolando relates the mythical story of the Yoruba god Oggun, the tireless warrior who, enamored of his mother, decided as punishment to imprison himself in the mountains: Only Ochun, goddess of love, succeeded in captivating him when she let fall a few drops of honey on the lips of the god of metal, war, progress, and civilization. This documentary includes chants, dances, a “tambor” (Yoruba religious ceremony with the bata drums), and the experiences of Lázaro Ros, a legendary Akpwon, or lead singer in the Yoruba tradition, who not only made his the beauty of the African chants, but had the opportunity to sing them in trips throughout the world.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 55 minutes
Description: An impassioned exploration of the roots of black rebellion in nineteenth-century Cuba, based on a famous Cuban anti-slavery novel of the period. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 98 minutes
Description: A humorous portrayal of romance, this light comedy presents a typical young Cuban couple, sexually liberated, who nonetheless cannot cope with the affair between his mother and her father. A commentary of the generation gap and machismo. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 90 minutes
Description: Awarded best film in 1990 at the New York Festival Latino. A theater group in crisis is the setting for this story. Its aging actors, on stage as in life, confront their fears and failures. The story takes a new twist when a group of young actors join the group, unleashing a chain of unexpected events. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 110 minutes
Description: This comedic film gives us a nonconformist view about everything. The heroine (Daisy Granados, in the role of a lifetime) is constantly attacked by a mysterious hand that throws eggs at her house. Limited by her prejudices and fears and incapable of finding a way out of her internal conflicts, she comes to a tragic and unexpected end. Tabío also shows and criticizes real characters and situations of contemporary Cuban society. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 98 minutes
Description: This documentary offers a look into the practice of santería and people’s opinion of these practices in Cuba. Directed by Adriana Paris. Copies: 1(VHS) Length: 18 minutes
Description: With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990 Cuba lost half of its oil imports and survived. The economy shifted from large farms or plantations and reliance on fossil-fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers, to small organic farms and urban gardens, converting Cuba from a highly industrial society to a sustainable one. This documentary shows Cubas success in this transition and is aimed at giving hope to a developed world hooked on oil and to lift American’s prejudice against Cuba by showing the Cuban people as they are. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 53 minutes
Description: A documentary about the Congo or Bantu religion in Cuba. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 35 minutes
Description: Shot in Cuba and the US over a period of three years, this film features remarkable cinematography by first time director Carlos Marcovich. Winner of the Latin American Cinema Prize. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 91 minutes
Description: A documentary exploring what Cubans think and believe about race today. The film intersperses opinions expressed by everyday citizens with interviews of prominent Cuban intellectuals and artists to explore the issue of racial discrimination and inequality, a subject that is often considered taboo and divisive. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 35 minutes
Description: Shot in fluid vérité style, the film focuses on the stubborn survival of deeply-ingrained traditions of machismo and sexism in post-revolutionary society. Teresa is a housewife and mother whose involvement in political and cultural groups incurs the displeasure of her husband. This film is most appropriate for university students and adults, but may also be used in high school classroom settings. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 120 minutes
Description: This is a joyous and colorful three-part musical odyssey that follows the powerful flow of Afro-Cuban music from its origin five centuries ago in Africa and Spain to the contemporary sound of such exciting popular artists as Gloria Estefan, Ruben Blades, and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie. Program one traces the African and Spanish roots, Program 2 traces the cultural blending in the Caribbean, and Program 3 traces its popularity in the United States and eventually through the world. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 58 minutes each part
Description: Beautifully filmed in Cuba, South Africa, Gambia, Honduras and Venezuela, Salud reveals the human dimension of the worldwide health crisis, and the central role of international cooperation in addressing glaring inequalities. The film examines the remarkable case of Cuba, a cash-strapped country with “one of the world’s best health systems,” and accompanies some of the 28,000 Cuban health professionals now serving in 68 countries. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: The political, social, and international implications of the custody battle over five-year-old Elián González pitted the U.S. Department of Justice, the Miami Cuban exile community and the Cuban government in a new acrimonious struggle. Documentary footage from Miami, and some from Cuba, along with interviews and observations from participants, legal observers, and US- Cuban experts. The film explores how Elián became a metaphor over the future on both sides of the Florida strait. A PBS Frontline Documentary. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 60 minutes
Description: A comedy about the politics of exchanging residences, which reveals the practical problems of everyday life and the conflict between traditional and revolutionary values in modern Cuba. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 105 minutes
Description: A film director embarks upon a search for black women actresses to play the central dramatic role in his next project ? a musical comedy. Rather than opt for an experienced actress, he searches for the freshness and spontaneity of inexperience. By way of interviews with candidates, and the film crew, we are drawn to the underlying conflicts inherent in Cuba today. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 87 minutes
Description: After the revolution of 1959 and the U.S. embargo that followed, the people of Cuba were left to fend for themselves. Deprived of even the most basic goods, many scavenge alleys and scrap heaps, giving new vitality to the discarded. Their recycled products are often remarkably ingenious and creative. For Andres the sculptor, Tomas the canary breeder, and the other subjects of Sin Embargo, even the greatest pressure – whether levied by government or circumstance – cannot crush the spirit nor quash the desire to forge a better life for themselves and their families. Shot entirely in Cuba, Sin Embargo is a look into the hearts and dreams of a struggling people and a tribute to their optimistic and resourceful determination to survive. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 49 minutes
Description: A visually stunning film that was made in Cuba between 1961 and 1964 by the acclaimed Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov (The Cranes Are Flying). The camera work is amazing in this propaganda epic that portrays four vignettes of Cuba in the period immediately prior to the 1959 Revolution. The film is a rivetingly beautiful examination of the social and economic conditions in Cuba during the Batista era. Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 141 minutes
Description: Silent motion picture footage of the Spanish-Cuban-American War and the subsequent Philippine insurrection produced by Edison pictures between 1898 and 1901. The two conflicts were the first in which the motion picture camera played a role. Most footage is staged for the hand-cranked camera, but views of ships, parades, and notable figures is also included. Silent with English captions Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 70 minutes
Description: Dawn breaks in La Habana, and as the day advances we follow the simple lives of ten ordinary Cubans, with only sounds and images accompanied by music. The film documents a day in the life of Cubans who struggle with the harsher side of life in revolutionary Cuba. The adults do not smile or utter a single word throughout the film. Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 86 minutes
Description: This black and white documentary travels to La Tropical, a Cuban dance club just outside of Havana, where dance, passion and music take precedence over the politics of the nation.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 93 minutes
Description: Based on an incident in Cuban colonial history, this masterful film tells the story of a pious 18th century slave owner who reenacts the last supper, portraying himself as Christ, and with twelve slaves selected to play the disciples. He selects a rebellious slave to be Judas, leading to the brilliant supper scene with ominous undercurrents of imminent reckoning.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 110 minutes
Description: A critical comedy of the pain and frustration encountered by a mother of a low income family when she attempts to throw a costly party for her daughter’s fifteenth birthday. The father’s objections (he sees such celebrations as antiquated and petit bourgeoisie) highlight the contradictions of family and social relations in modern day Cuba.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 84 minutes
Description: This hilarious animated spoof of horror and gangster movies, presented in an outrageously caricatured style reminiscent of Fritz the Cat, features Professor Von Dracula, a vampire scientist who leaves Transylvania for Cuba, where he invents "Vampisol," a potion that allows vampires to survive in sunlight. The action escalates crazily with bad guys, police, vampires and other monsters all caught up in a crazy chase.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 75 minutes
Description: An absurd, slyly critical film in which Bebe takes us on a taxi ride through Havana on the day of Santa Bárbara/Chango. Set to the music of Bola de Nieve and Benny Moré, the characters of Mariana, a ballerina, Julia, a middle-aged woman, and Elpido, a musician, intersect in a surreal, dazzling slice of life.
Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 106 minutes
Description: A raucous home video is the focus of this hilarious film. What begins as a simple taped message to an expatriate son unveils the complexity and often humorous travails of a contemporary Cuban family. On the eve of Raulitos birthday, his family decides to send a videotaped greeting from Cuba to his home in the United States. Everything goes well with the videotaping until his sister reveals a secret: Raulito is gay. Family chaos ensues, and as the videotape rolls Raulitos outing brings forth his fathers bitterness toward his son for leaving Cuba.
Copies: 2 (DVD) Length: 47 minutes
Description: Jorgito (age 12) and Malú (11) are neighbors, classmates and best friends. When Malú’s mother decides to marry a foreigner so she can leave Cuba Malú is deeply upset and hopes to reach her father before he signs an agreement allowing her to emigrate. She runs away from her home with Jorgito, her traveling companion. Thus begins their adventure. The film was shown in the San Francisco International Film Festival, and was nominated for the 2006 Oscar.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 80 minutes
Description: The history of Cuba told through a collage of photos and other archival materials.
Copies: 1 Length: 100 minutes
Description: This documentary denounces the CIA’s involvement in internal Cuban affairs and its active aggression against the Cuban government. This film offers a straightforward presentation of facts, and contains footage of actual espionage activities as well as a reading of names of CIA agents known to be active in Cuba. Produced by Cuban television.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 33 minutes
Description: A musical phenomenon in 1960’s Cuba, Los Zafiros brilliant mix of American-inspired Doo-Wop and traditional Latin forms caused an international sensation. Music from the Edge of Time explores the memories of Manuel Galban and Miguel Cancio, the two surviving members of Los Zafiros, as they are reunited in Havana. The film also features the perspectives of numerous Zafiros family members in Miami and Havana, international musicologists, and musical colleagues of the group. In evoking the Cuban post-revolutionary epoch of the 1960s, this feature-length documentary presents a vivid, moving, and balanced portrait of the remarkable musical success story that was Los Zafiros.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 84 minutes
Description: Two short documentaries by Asori Soto about life in Cuba. Zona Afectada, illustrates the hard physical work involved in securing water in Havana, Cuba in order to take a bath. Mosquitos tells the story of how the government deals with the mosquito problem.
Copies: 1 (DVD) Length: 8 minutes; 6 minutes
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