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Fourth Annual Minnesota Cuban Film Festival

Cuban Fest Head

On February 21, the Fourth Annual Minnesota Cuban Film Festival opens at Saint Anthony Main Theatre in Minneapolis. Presented by the Minnesota Cuban 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.

Ticket Info: $40 Six Film Pass; $8.50 General Admission; $6 Members/Seniors/Students/Children

Tickets will be on sale soon.

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

February 21 at 7:00 pm

Marina



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marina
Cuba • 80 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Narrative • 2011
Directed by: Enrique Alvarez

Love and loss refracted through the coastal background of the small town of Gibara.

The story turns on the protagonist’s return home after years in Havana to find that her father has died and his house is inhabited by a family of hurricane victims.

February 28 at 7:00 pm

El Brigadista (The Teacher)



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brig
Cuba • 111 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Narrative • 1977
Directed by: Octavio Cortazar

A 1978 Berlin Film Festival prize winner, El Brigadista is the fictionalized story of a high school student from Havana who is part of the early '60s Literacy Brigades. These voluntary brigades encountered mistrust from the peasants they were hoping to teach, and death threats from the counter-revolutionaries still fighting in the Zapata Swamp. And then there were the crocodiles!

March 7 at 7:00 pm

Irremediablemente Juntos (Hopelessly Together)



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junto
Cuba • 104 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Narrative • 2012
Directed by: Jorge Luis Sánchez

From the director of El Beny, a musical drama with a frank take on race, class divisions and corruption.

March 14 at 7:00 pm

One Among Thousands



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thousand
USA • 77 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Documentary • 2009
Directed by: Carlos G. Meier

A bittersweet documentary about Santa Fe musician Victor Alvarez, on of the "Peter Pan" children, who revisits his Cuban homeland for the first time in 43 years.

Special Guest Appearance by Victor Alvarez!

March 21 at 7:00 pm

Fabula (A Fable)



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fabula
Cuba/Canada • 92 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Narrative • 2011
Directed by: Léster Hamlet

From the director of the 2012 Cuban Film Festival's Casa Vieja. "In Havana, where economic difficulties are numerous, two young people try to find out if love and aspirations can survive in a city defined by adversity." (IMDB)

March 28 at 7:00 pm

Los 100 Sones Cubanos (The 100 Cuban "Sones")



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100 Sones
Cuba/Dominican Republic • 81 min • Spanish w/English subtitles • Documentary • 2010
Directed by: Edesio Alejandro, Rubén Consuegra

In search of authentic Cuban sones (a Cuban musical tradition), the filmmakers travel the island for the best examples of the music and its artsts.

Many thanks to our underwriting sponsors: Victor’s 1959 Café, Trujillo’s Tax Services and Fenelon Sanctuary; and to our sponsors and supporters: Acentos, the Spanish Specialist, Dialog One Language and Cultural Services, Global Citizens Network, St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, Mediterranean Cruise Café, De León & Nestor, Abogados Luchando Con la Comunidad, University of St. Thomas International Leadership Program, Paraiso Musical, and Paraiso Lounge.
Special thanks to David Schnack, Pagoda Pictures, for the photo on the poster and brochure.

For more information about the festival and the Minnesota Cuba Committee, please visit: www.minnesotacubacommittee.org.