Cuban film

We’ve teamed up with the Picture House to present a screening of De Cierta Manera at the City Varieties on Tuesday 21st February at 8pm.

A fascinating docu-romance-drama and critical ethnographic study of a new couple, Yolanda and Mario. The filmmaker assesses the complexities of intersectional, marginalised lives in 1970s Cuba through a factual narrative that contextualises the relationship, the community, and the tensions of life in a new socialist society.

This was the first Cuban feature film directed by a woman and the last directed by Sara Gómez (1942-1974), who died suddenly while De Cierta Manera was being edited. The film was completed with the technical supervision of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Julio García Espinosa, who also co-wrote the screenplay.

This screening includes a special live introduction from Lisa Harewood

Lisa is a digital storyteller from Barbados and co-founder of The Twelve30 Collective, a curating partnership that works with cinemas, festivals, universities and community groups to screen Caribbean films for UK audiences. Lisa has written, produced and directed films, virtual and augmented reality works, and is currently developing a multiplatform documentary project about the experiences of Caribbean families separated due to migration.

Members of the Friends committee will be at the screening to answer any queries about membership or other aspects of the Friends and we hope to see some of you there.

Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of Cuba, smokes a cigar during his meeting with two U.S. senators, the first to visit Castro’s Cuba, in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 29, 1974. (AP Photo)

Apart from reactionaries in the USA most people will mourn the passing of this revolutionary leader. So a good way to celebrate his achievements and contributions would be to screen one of the outstanding films that were produced by ICAIC. My preferred title would be Memories of Underdevelopment (Memorias del subdesarrollo, 1968) directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea which has been restored by the World Cinema Foundation. And Alea’s later The Last Supper (La última cena 1976) is likely to be available on 35mm . Another would be Lucía (1968) directed by Humberto Solás which should also still be available in a 35mm print.

Since either would now be in a 2017 programme this would also provide a harbinger for celebrations of the centenary of the 1917 Revolution as ICAIC were among the important heirs of Soviet Silent Montage.