I Am Cuba

I Am Cuba 1964

7.90

Four vignettes on the lives of the Cuban people in the pre-revolutionary era. In Havana, Maria is ashamed when a man she loves discovers how she makes a living. Pedro, an old farmer, discovers that the land he cultivates is being sold to an American company. A student sees his friends attacked by the police while they distribute leaflets supporting Fidel Castro. Finally, a peasant family is threatened by Batista's army.

1964

Virgin Rose

Virgin Rose 2006

4.20

Simón transports illegal immigrants to New York, leaving them to their fate. When he is discovered by the coastguard, a young sailor, named Andrés saves his life. But when Andrés falls for Marie—a young protegée of Simón's—conflict erupts.

2006

Juan of the Dead

Juan of the Dead 2011

6.10

While Havana is full of zombies hungry for human flesh, official media reported that the disturbances are caused by dissidents paid by the United States. Panic seizes all until Juan comes to the rescue: he discovers he can kill the undead destroying his brain, and decides to start a small business under the slogan "We kill your loved ones."

2011

Buena Vista Social Club

Buena Vista Social Club 1999

7.50

In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.

1999

Behavior

Behavior 2014

7.20

Meet Chala, an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela suffers an accident, things get complicated…

2014

The Lost Eden

The Lost Eden 2007

4.00

Gonzalo's life has been marked by the story of his mother, a Mambisa heroine of the war of 1895. After her death, he is sent to Spain. In 1931, he returns to Cuba to reclaim the family possessions and discovers the value of love and death, truth and lies, pain and hatred.

2007

Strawberry and Chocolate

Strawberry and Chocolate 1993

7.10

Set in 1979, following a young Communist man's relationship with a gay Catholic writer, exploring tolerance, inclusion, homophobia and challenging its Cuban audience with great humour. Based on the short story by Cuban writer Senel Paz.

1993

Yuli

Yuli 2018

7.00

Yuli is the nickname given to Carlos Acosta by his father, Pedro, who considers him the son of Ogun, an African god and a fighter. As a child Yuli avoids discipline and education, learning from the streets of an impoverished and abandoned Havana. His father, however, has other ideas, and knowing that his son has a natural talent for dance, sends him to the National Ballet School of Cuba. Despite his repeated escapes and initial poor behaviour, the boy is inevitably drawn to the world of dance, and begins to shape his legendary career from a young age, becoming the first black dancer to be cast in some of the most prestigious ballet roles, originally written for white dancers, in companies such as the Houston Ballet or the Royal Ballet in London.

2018

Dragon Hunter

Dragon Hunter 2012

4.80

Gorka has long postponed again and again the answer to the pressing questions that his son Aitor asks about his past. Gorka, a member of ETA political-military until its dissolution in the early eighties, ends joining the guerrillas in Central America. A life experience shared with Maddalen, a nurse and committed Christian, with José, an indigenous guerrilla member, and Andrés a former military, head of the insurrection. An experience that will transform them all.

2012

The Headless Rider

The Headless Rider 1973

5.20

The film takes place in 1850, Texas, United States. Louise, daughter of the wealthy plantation owner Poindexter, master of the hacienda Casa del Corvo, falls in love with a poor mustanger Maurice Gerald. The night their secret rendezvous happens, her brother Henry disappears. Suspicion in murder falls on Gerald, who was found covered in blood, with signs of struggle on the body and on Henry's cloak. One more minute, and an angry crowd would have Gerald lynched, but then the mysterious Headless Horseman appears...

1973

Memories of Underdevelopment

Memories of Underdevelopment 1968

7.40

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident, Sergio chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana. He finally meets Elena, a young girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?

1968

Entangling Shadows

Entangling Shadows 1998

5.30

Documentary that celebrates 100 years of cinema in Latin America and talks about the origins and the development of cinema in this subcontinent. Its structure is based in 12 short films directed by various Latin American directors. These are: 1) "Los inicios", Iván Trujillo 2) "Cuando comenzamos a hablar", María Novaro 3) "Jugando en serio", Jacobo Morales 4) "De cuerpo presente [Las espirales perpetuas del placer y el poder] Cine Mexicano [1931- 1997]", Marcela Fernández Violante 5) "Cuando quisimos ser adultos", Edmundo Aray and David Rodríguez 6) "Cinema Novo", Orlando Senna 7) "Memorias de una isla, Juan Carlos Tabío 8) "Un grito, 24 cuadros por segundo", Julio García-Espinosa 9) "El día de la independencia", Federico García 10) "¿Sólo las formas permanecen?", Fernando Birri and Pablo Rodríguez Gauregui 11) "Todo final es un principio", Andrés Marriquín.

1998

Lucía

Lucía 1968

6.40

In his award-winning film Lucía, Humberto Solás interpreted the theme of Cuba’s hundred years' struggle in an entirely novel way to create an epic in three separate episodes, each centred around a woman called Lucía and each unfolding in a different period of Cuban history, corresponding to the three stages of colonialism (1895), neocolonialism (1930) and socialist revolution (1968). The three episodes also present us with "Lucías" of different social classes. Solás described his film in this way: "The woman's role always lays bare the contradictions of a period and makes them explicit: Lucía is not a film about women, it's a film about society."

1968

Madrigal

Madrigal 2007

5.00

Javier is an actor with an affinity for writing. When he begins his love story with Luisita, he does not know where the truth begins and ends. Fifteen years later he has converted his story into literature that relates his tragic love story in a creative way.

2007

Sergio and Sergei

Sergio and Sergei 2018

6.00

In 1991, the USSR is falling apart and Cuba enters its hardest economic crisis. Sergio, a professor of Marxism who can't provide for his family, and Sergei, a Soviet cosmonaut stranded in the Mir space station, share a common passion: amateur radio. Through this hobby, both men will be able to help each other in facing the dramatic changes of their countries.

2018

The Battle of Chile: Part III

The Battle of Chile: Part III 1979

7.30

Guzmán’s final installment shifts from covering the actions of Allende’s opponents to those who battled to revive & promote their toppled leader’s vision for a new Chile.

1979

Horn of Plenty

Horn of Plenty 2008

5.30

An unclaimed fortune, grown for centuries in a British bank account, becomes a potential windfall for Bernadito Castiñeiras and the residents of the tiny village of Yaragüey, Cuba. To receive his massive inheritance check, Bernadito must prove his lineage to the Castiñeiras nuns who first populated the region. In an isolated and impoverished town where many residents share the same surname, a feud breaks out between the "Castiñeiras" and "Castiñeyras" families.

2008

A Time to Die

A Time to Die 1986

6.60

A man is released from prison, and after 18 years, returns to his village. But in this village, time, in many ways, has stood still. The time served by Juan complied with the court's justice, but not with some villagers. There are some who still seek true justice.

1986

Death of a Bureaucrat

Death of a Bureaucrat 1966

7.20

A young man attempts to fight the system in an entertaining account of bureaucracy amok and the tyranny of red tape. Restored by the Academy Film Archive and the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos in 2019.

1966