Pitt's Center for Latin American Studies Partners with Pittsburgh Filmmakers and Mattress Factory Museum to Present Mini Film Festival Exploring Diverse Perceptions of Cuban Identity

PITTSBURGH—Four films presented Oct. 8 through 17 at Regent Square Theater—1035 S. Braddock Ave., Edgewood—and the Melwood Screening Room—477 Melwood Ave., Oakland—explore diverse perceptions of Cuban identity. These films make up the first of three thematic mini festivals of Cuban films presented by Pitt's Center for Latin American Studies within the University Center for International Studies, Pittsburgh Filmmakers, and the Mattress Factory museum.

The four films include:

Soy Cuba [I am Cuba] (1964), 141 minutes

Friday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m., Melwood Screening Room

Sunday, Oct. 10, 2:30 p.m., Regent Square Theater

Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, Soy Cuba dramatizes the need for revolution in Cuba during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Guántanamera (1994), 101 minutes

Saturday, Oct. 9, 2:30 p.m., Regent Square Theater

Monday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m., Melwood Screening Room

A romantic comedy directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío that presents an ambitious and remarkably bold overview of contemporary Cuba.

El Otro Francisco [The Other Francisco] (1974), 100 minutes

Thursday, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m., Melwood Screening Room

Sunday, Oct. 17, 2:30 p.m., Regent Square Theater

The first in a trilogy of films created by Sergio Giral that depict the history of Cuba's dependence on slavery, the development of a slave culture, and, ultimately, how slaves rebelled against the institution of slavery.

Lucía (1974), 160 minutes

Friday, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m., Melwood Screening Room

Sunday, Oct. 17, 2:30 p.m., Regent Square Theater

Considered by international critics to be one of the most important films in world cinematography, Lucía provides an epic historical vision of Cuba. The film is structured in three parts, each focusing on a woman in different era of Cuban history: an aristocratic spinster during the Spanish occupation of 1895, a bourgeois girl in the uprisings of 1933, and a strong-willed young peasant woman in 1960s postrevolutionary Cuba.

On Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m., prior to the showing of Lucía, Michael Chanan, professor of cultural studies at the University of the West of England and author of the new book Cuban Cinema (University of Minnesota Press, 2004), will give a talk, titled "Cuba: Socialism and Identity in the Cinema," at the Regent Square Theater.

For more information on the films in this mini festival, visit www.pghfilmmakers.org or call 412-682-4111. The other thematic mini festivals are scheduled for February and April 2005.

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