El
Festival Cubano
Thursday, October 2 ~ Saturday, October 4 and
Friday, October 10
For a third consecutive year, in conjunction
with El Festival Cubano,
Film @ International House gives Philadelphia audiences a chance
to view an eclectic assortment of cinematic discoveries and
rediscoveries from Cuba. This year we proudly present new works
by acclaimed anthropologist turned filmmaker Ruth Behar and
Festival Cubano founder Laurence Salzman. Also scheduled is
the restored classic I Am Cuba, a program of shorts
which includes a little known gem from Agnes Varda and the award
winning Our House in Havana by Temple University alum Stephen
Olsson.
On Friday, October
10, enjoy Cuban food from Café Habana, a performance
by the dance troupe, Ballet Folklorico Cutumba and salsa the
night away at our Latin Dance Party.
The
Friday, October 10th performance by Ballet Folklorico CUTUMBA
has been postponed due to VISA restrictions. But the Dance Party
will go on!! See below.
Thursday,
October 2 at 8:00 PM
I
Am Cuba (Soy Cuba)
dir. Mikhail Kalatozov, USSR/Cuba, 1964, 35mm, b/w, 141
mins, Spanish and Russian with English subtitles
Introduced by John
MacKay
 Reminiscent
of the city symphony films of the 1920s and inspired by Sergei
Eisenstein’s unfinished film ode to Mexico (Que Viva
Mexico!), Kalatozov’s I Am Cuba is a loving
portrait of Mother Cuba by Mother Russia that juxtaposes the
harsh realities of life during the Batista era with the triumphs
of the then-recent Castro revolution. Composed in four episodes,
the film crisscrosses the country from urban slums to lush countryside,
embellishing the journey with Sergei Urusevsky’s striking
widescreen black-and-white cinematography and an equally emphatic
Afro-Cuban score. The result is a supreme masterpiece of the
poetic documentary form and an engaging time capsule of the
first flush of life after the revolution, which marks the reemergence
of a potent new form of radical film practice born of that earlier
revolution in Russia.
John MacKay is
Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale
University and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Film
Studies Program at Yale. He teaches courses on film theory and
Russian culture, literature and cinema, and is working on (among
other projects) a critical biography of the Soviet documentary
filmmaker Dziga Vertov.
Friday, October
3 at 8:00 PM
Goodbye
Dear Love (Adio Kerida)
dir. Ruth Behar, USA/Cuba, 2002, Beta SP, color, 82 mins,
Spanish and English with English subtitles
Filmmaker Ruth Behar in Person!
 Distinguished
Anthropologist Ruth Behar returns to her native Cuba to profile
the island’s remaining Sephardic Jews and chronicle her
family’s journey to the U.S. as Cuban-Jewish exiles. Highlighting
themes of expulsion and departure that are at the crux of the
Sephardic legacy, Behar seeks reconciliation with Cubans on
the island and advocates for the possibility of return and renewal.
She debunks myths about the country’s Jewish community
and unravels the influence of interfaith marriage, Afro-Cuban
santería, tourism and the embargo on contemporary Cuban-Sephardic
cultural identity. The result is a bittersweet, lyrical, and
often humorous portrait of modern-day Cuba that few know exists
today. Narrated by Elizabeth Peña.
Saturday,
October 4 at 6:00 PM
Salut
les cubains
dir. Agnes Varda, France/Cuba, 1963, 35mm, b/w, 30 mins,
French w/ English subtitles
Described by Varda
as "socialism and cha-cha-cha", this short film juxtaposes
1500 still photos to the infectious rhythms of Cuban dance music.
Winner of the Bronze Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Mambo Madness
dir. Adal Maldonado, USA/Cuba, 2003, Beta SP, color, 10
mins
Mambo Madness takes place in a totalitarian state called
Silencio City. The film unfolds in an asylum designed to resemble
a night club that has been specially created to detain citizens
that have been infected with clave: the erotic and propulsive
rhythms that keep time on the dancefloor of the imagination.
La Promessa
dir. Cheryl Hess, Cuba, 2003, Beta SP, color, 30 mins
Set against the backdrop
of St. Lazarus Day (December 17th), La Promessa was
filmed in Cuba over three consecutive years and tells the story
of Fidel who is in the process of fulfilling a five-year promise
that he has made to St. Lazarus for the health of his young
son.
Followed at
8:00PM by:
Our
House in Havana
dir. Stephen Olsson, USA/Cuba, 2000, Beta SP, color, 53
mins
Filmmaker Stephen
Olsson in Person!
 After
40 years, Silvia Morini returns to the palatial house of her
youth in Cuba, where her nostalgia for a pre-Castro world confronts
modern Cuban reality. Filmmaker Stephen Olsson presents Silvia's
tapestry of rose-colored memories, history, culture, and tragi-comic
encounters, contrasting sharply with recollections from working-class
Cubans. Yet as Silvia discovers an evolving Cuba, she herself
undergoes a surprising change-not entirely altering her political
outlook but becoming, as she puts it, "more human."
with
Willy’s Blessing
dir. Laurence Salzman and W. Keith McManus, USA/Cuba, 2003,
Beta SP, color, 28 mins
A man at odds with his culture, Willy
Adler boasts of America's superiority yet also decries many
of its values. It is through his eyes that we encounter Cuba,
an island only 90 miles from Florida but still a mystery to
most Americans. Willy finds an unexpected and unprecedented
joy among every day Cubans falling in love with the country
through its people, its architecture and its cars.
Tickets are $6.00
for general admission, $5.00 for I House members, students and
seniors. Available in advance at your local TLA
Video, on line at www.tlavideo.com/ihouse
or one hour before showtime at the International House box office.
Friday, October
10 at 8:00 PM
Latin
Dance Party
Spice up your weekend!
Celebrate El Festival Cubano with a closing night blowout fiesta
you won’t soon forget!
Sip refreshing mojitos
as you dance the night away at our lively Latin dance party.
Authentic Cuban fare provided by Juan Fernandez of Café
Habana. University City Arts League's
Kelly Ray will teach you how to salsa and meringue. An
evening not to be missed!
Tickets for the dance
party are $10.00 for general admission. $8.00 for I House members,
students and seniors (cash bar). Available in advance at your
local TLA Video, on line at www.tlavideo.com/ihouse
or one hour before showtime at the International House box office.
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