Mn-prog-events Mailing List: FOURTH MINNESOTA CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL

[Minnesota Cuba Committee (mncuba]

*FOURTH MINNESOTA CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL*

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

February 8, 2013
 Contact:Anya Achtenberg, 651-214-9248
Franklin Curbelo,612-824-6109
Greg Klave, 763-228-2899

MINNEAPOLIS- On February 21, the Fourth Minnesota Cuban Film Festival opens
at St. Anthony Main Theatre in Minneapolis. Presented by the Minnesota Cuba
Committee, in partnership with the Film Society of Minneapolis/St. Paul,
the festival includes a mix of new feature films and documentaries, along
with two vintage classics. The films will all be accompanied by short
features from Cuba's International Film School and other sources.

The festival is co-curated by the Cuban Film Institute, ICAIC (*Instituto
Cubano de Arte y Industria Cinematográficos*), through a unique cultural
exchange between the institute and the Minnesota Cuba Committee.
Festival coordinators
have also been working closely with Cuba’s international film school, EICTV
(*Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión*), co-founded by Colombian
writer and journalist Gabriel García Márquez.

The festival will continue each Thursday evening at 7:00 pm through March
28. The star of one of the documentaries, Cuban-American musician Victor
Alvarez, will be a special guest on March 14. As in previous years, there
will be a closing night party at Pracna on Main, this year with Tr3O
Cubanía featuring Viviana Pintado, Gloria "la Niña" Rivera and Shai Hayo.
For the other five nights of the festival, a lively conversation about the
films and all things Cuban will follow the films at Pracna on Main.

All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. Screening copies are
available on request. The line-up is as follows:


 February 21,
*Marina*
by Enrique Alvarez (2011, Cuba, 80 min.). One of Cuba’s entries in fiction
for the 2011 International Film Festival in Havana, a story of love and
loss refracted through the coastal background of the small town of Gibara.

February 28
*El Brigadista*
“The Teacher,” by Octavio Cortazar (1977, Cuba, 111 min.). 1978 Berlin film
festival prize winner. The fictionalized story of a high school student
from Havana who is part of the early ‘60s Literacy Brigades.

March 7
*Irremediablemente Juntos*
“Hopelessly Together,” by Jorge Luis Sánchez (2012, Cuba, 104 min.). One of
Cuba’s entries in fiction for the 2012 International Film Festival in
Havana. A musical drama from the director of *El Benny*, with a frank take
on race and class divisions and corruption.

March 14
*One Among Thousands*
by Carlos G. Meier (2009, U.S., 77 min.).
A bittersweet documentary about Santa Fe, New Mexico musician Victor
Alvarez, one of the “Peter Pan” children, who revisits his Cuban homeland
for the first time in 43 years. Special guest appearance by Victor Alvarez.
The film will be accompanied by *Omara*, (1983, Cuba, 25 min.) a lush
documentary about singer Omara Portuondo whom we came to know through the
Buena Vista Social Club. The film was a prizewinner at the 1986 Cannes Film
Festival.

March 21
*Fabula*
“A Fable,” by Léster Hamlet (2011, Cuba/Canada, 92 min.).
 Winner of the third “Coral” in fiction for the 2011 International Film
Festival in Havana. A story of the contradictions of evolving Cuban
society; a romance between a prostitute from a dysfunctional environment
and a young man from a privileged background.

March 28
*Los 100 Sones Cubanos*
“100 Cuban ‘Sones,’” by Edesio Alejandro, Rubén Consuegra, (2010, Cuba/
Dominican Republic, 81 min.). In search of authentic Cuban *son*, the
filmmakers travel the island for the best examples of the music and its
artists. The results were five Grammy-nominated CDs that became the film.

Trailers and further information on the films are available at
www.minnesotacubacommittee.org