Clandestinos:
Contemporary Cuban Film and Video
From February 8 through February 22, the Gene Siskel Film Center, in partnership with The Nineteenth Step, presents Clandestinos: Contemporary Cuban Film and Video, a series of more than twenty films and videos that offers a rare opportunity to experience present-day Cuba through a myriad of vantage points and genres.
As a whole, Clandestinos is a testament to how digital media has made its way into the landscape of Cuban film production. The series gathers films and videos from four distinct sources: First, works by artists, most of them with a strong background in the plastic arts. Second, works by independent film and video makers trained at professional film schools, such as the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) and the internationally renowned Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión de San Antonio de los Baños (EICTV). Third, works from Televisión Serrana, an independent network located in the heart of the Sierra Maestra. And, fourth, a number of works by Fernando Pérez, one of the most prolific and innovative filmmakers working in Cuba today, to serve as a historical anchor, as well as a counterpoint to the more recent digital work. We hope that these films and videos will provide an opportunity, however modest, to examine the myths and misconceptions created around Cuba by almost fifty years of broken dialogue.
Cristina Venegas, Assistant Professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, presents her latest research on digital production in Cuba on February 14 in a special program of shorts in the continuing series Conversations at the Edge. Clandestinos also welcomes Cuban-American filmmaker Juan Carlos Zaldívar for the closing-night program on February 22.
-- Cecilia Cornejo and Luis Ulloa,
Curators of Clandestinos
Cuba, Past and Present
Chicago premiere!
MADAGASCAR
1994, Fernando Pérez, Cuba, 50 min.
With Elena Bolaños, Zaida Castellanos
“MADAGASCAR has the resonance and eloquence of the best poetry.”--Caryn James, The New York Times
Fernando Pérez’s third film was never theatrically released in Cuba and is rarely shown in the United States. The story takes place during the “Special Period,” after the fall of the Soviet Union, and chronicles the troubled relationship between a single mother and her adolescent daughter who persistently daydreams about going to another island, Madagascar. In Spanish with English subtitles. Beta SP video.
Also on the program: VIDEO DE FAMILIA (2001, Humberto Padrón, 47 min., Beta SP Video), centering on the efforts of a family to make a video-letter for their estranged son in Miami, and the animated film GREEN MEN (2006, Yimit R. González, 5 min., Mini-DV video). (CC & LU)
Friday, February 8, 8:00 pm
CLANDESTINOS
(aka LIVING DANGEROUSLY)
1987, Fernando Pérez, Cuba, 103 min.
With Luis Alberto García, Isabel Santos
The film that gives our series its name was Fernando Pérez’s feature debut, and it enjoys tremendous popularity in Cuba to this day. Set in the late 1950s, CLANDESTINOS chronicles the romance between two Cuban youths who work on an underground printing press. The struggles of urban guerrilla fighters against the government of Fulgencio Batista are rendered through a moving story of young people who loved and fought with the same passion. In Spanish with English subtitles. Beta SP video.
Preceded by OJOVIDEO CORPORATION (2006, Lázaro Saavedra, 3 min., Mini-DV video), a playful animated video that illustrates the dangers of uniformity. (CC & LU)
Saturday, February 9, 5:30 pm
LIFE IS TO WHISTLE
(LA VIDA ES SILBAR)
1998, Fernando Pérez, Cuba, 106 min.
With Luis Alberto García, Coralia Veloz
Nimbly mixing allegory, surrealism, and haunting Havana locations, this exuberant valentine to Cuba hopscotches among three troubled characters: Mariana, a lusty young ballerina who beds every man in sight until tempted into a rash vow of chastity; Elpidio, a modern-day buccaneer who steals the wallets and hearts of visiting turistas; and Julia, a timid social worker who faints at the very mention of sex. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm.
Preceded by the short film ZONA AFECTADA (2005, Alex Hernández and Asori Soto, 8 min., Mini-DV video). (MR)
Monday, February 11, 6:00 pm
Cristina Venegas in person!
Mapping Cuba’s Digital Audiovisual Landscape
1999-2006, Various directors, Cuba, 87 min.
Guest scholar Cristina Venegas of UCSB hosts this wide-ranging selection of videos, presented as part of Conversations at the Edge. The program includes animation (GREEN MEN), performance video (PIN PONG), music video (SANTA), experimental films (FOOLING AROUND WITH THE VIDEO CAMERA; POOL WITH TWO FIGURES; LA ÉPOCA, EL ENCANTO Y EL FIN DE SIGLO), and documentaries (DE GENERACIÓN; WINTER; DEMOLER). In Spanish with English subtitles. Mini-DV video. (CC & LU)
Thursday, February 14, 6:00 pm
Chicago premiere!
VIDEO DE FAMILIA
2001, Humberto Padrón, Cuba, 47 min.
With Elsa Camp, Verónica Lynn
Shot with a VHS camcorder in five uninterrupted hand-held takes, VIDEO DE FAMILIA centers on the efforts of a Cuban family to make a video-letter for their estranged son, who left for Miami four years ago. In Spanish with English subtitles. Beta SP video.
Also on the program: MALEGRÍA (2006, Marcelo Martín and Daniel Diez, 26 min., Mini-DV video), featuring a conversation with musician Manu Chao; GOZAR, COMER, PARTIR (2006, Arturo Infante, 23 min., Mini-DV video), a humorous look at the three most conjugated verbs in Cuba today (to enjoy, to eat, to part); and the animated film HORIZONS (2004, Adanoe Lima Cruz and Yemelí Cruz, 3 min., Mini-DV video). (CC & LU)
Friday, February 15, 8:00 pm
Chicago premiere!
THREE TIMES TWO
(TRES VECES DOS)
2004, Pavel Giroud, Lester Hamlet, and Esteban Insáusti, Cuba, 84 min.
With Georbis Martinez Manzo, Marta del Río
This three-part film was produced and executed by three of the hottest young directors in Cuba today. The first story involves a young photographer disturbed by strange apparitions in his work as he prepares his big solo exhibit. The second story finds Lila reminiscing about her first love in a most unusual mix of musical and historical film. The third story follows two lonely characters as they fill their lack of love with sexual fantasies. In Spanish with English subtitles. Beta SP video.
Preceded by the short films BAJO HABANA (2003, Terence Piard, 15 min., Mini-DV video) and SANTA (2005, X Alonso, 4 min., Mini-DV video). (CC & LU)
Sunday, February 17, 5:30 pm
SUITE HABANA
2003, Fernando Pérez, Cuba, 90 min.
SUITE HABANA is a kaleidoscopic look at the city of Havana. Within this multiplicity of faces and places, a number of characters and stories cross paths. The occupations, customs, rituals, idiosyncrasies, and hopes of those who inhabit the city come alive with the visual and acoustic richness of a place that breathes with movement, music, and vigor. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm.
Preceded by the short documentary SEARCHING FOR YOU, HAVANA (2006, Alina Rodríguez, 23 min., Mini-DV video). (CC & LU)
Monday, February 18, 6:00 pm
Chicago premiere!
Juan Carlos Zaldívar in person!
90 MILES
(90 MILLAS)
2005, Juan Carlos Zaldívar, Cuba, 75 min.
Juan Carlos Zaldívar came to the United States from Cuba when he was thirteen years old. In this intensely personal account, Zaldívar speaks of his experience, as well as that of his family, as they navigate and negotiate the uneasy territory of exile. In Spanish with English subtitles. 16mm. (CC & LU)
Director Juan Carlos Zaldívar will be present for audience discussion.