Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Calendar: Twin Cities to Host Three Cuban Film Directors

[Minnesota Cuba Committee (mncuba]

 April 14, 2010

 For more information:

Greg Klave*
gregklave [at] msn.com
*763-228-2899

 Following on the heels of the hugely successful first annual Cuban Movie
Festival (CMF) celebrating 51 years of Cuban cinema, three award-winning
Cuban directors will tour the Twin Cities with their films at the end of
April.According to Diana Vargas of New York's Havana Film Festival, the
United States government has not issued a visa to a Cuban film director
since 2002. It is undoubtedly the first time in decades that Cuban
filmmakers of this stature have visited Minnesota.

 The first, Afro-Cuban director Gloria Rolando, is best known for films such
as "Oggun: An Eternal Presence," "My Footsteps in Baragua," and "Eyes of the
Rainbow." She will screen and discuss her new work in progress, "Breaking
the Silence," about the long-hidden history of the 1912 massacre of
Afro-Cubans by the Cuban army.

 Rolando's film will be screened at 7:15 pm, Friday, April 23, at the
University of Minnesota's Nicholson Hall, followed by a question and answer
session. The event is sponsored by the university's Department of Cultural
Studies and Comparative Literature Student Association, Minnesota Women in
Film and Television and the Minnesota Cuba Committee.

 On Saturday, April 24, at 10:00 am, Rolando will participate in the coffee
hour at the Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Avenue South,
Minneapolis.

 That evening, at 7:00 pm, she will be welcomed to the Twin Cities with a
reception at Marquette Place, 1314 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis. The event
will be held in the 35th floor party room and will include a screening of
the film. The Cuban/Latin band Rumba Eterna will perform. Hors d'oeuvres
will be provided by Victor's 1959 Café; refreshments will be available. A
$10-$20 donation is requested.

 On April 27, co-directors Juan Carlos Cremata and Iraida Malberti (who is
also Cremata's mother) will arrive in the Twin Cities as part of the
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival. Their new film, "The Booby
Prize" ("*El Premio Flaco*") will be shown on Tuesday, April 27, at 7:00 pm,
and Wednesday, April 28, at 7:15 pm at St. Anthony Main Theatre. After the
showing on April 28, a reception for the two filmmakers will be held at
Vic's Bar and Restaurant, 201 Main Street, Minneapolis, to the accompaniment
of live Cuban music. The films and reception are sponsored by Victor's 1959
Café and the Minnesota Cuba Committee.

 CMF curator Greg Klave says, ”The interest in Cuban film far exceeds our
expectations. It’s clear that Minnesotans want to know more about Cuba and
have a keen understanding that there’s more to Cuban society than is usually
portrayed in film or in the media.”

 The Minnesota Cuba Committee's website is www.minnesotacubacommittee.org.