CinemaHistory
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Titón and the art of political cinema
MICHAEL CHANAN previews three films of Tomás Alea to be shown in Screen Cuba 2026 Looking back at the films of Tomás (Titón) Gutiérrez Alea almost thirty years after his death, the claim can be made that he occupies a unique position for a deeply political filmmaker in a country of political filmmakers, in the…
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The Last Supper: “A masterpiece from the first image to the last”
Screen Cuba is set to bring Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s awardwinning film The Last Supper / La última cena from 1976, to the 2026 festival this March. This powerful yet painterly drama brings a pious sugar plantation owner in 1790s Cuba to share his table at Easter with 12 enslaved men. A radical parable showing slavery…
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12 Chairs – the first comedy of the revolution
This first comedy of the revolution and the first feature film by the godfather of revolutionary Cuban cinema, Tomas Gutierrez Alea, is this cunning adaptation of a comic novel from the early years of the USSR by Ilf and Petrov. The madcap plot concerns the hunt for family jewels hidden by a wealthy Cuban matriarch…
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About the director Humberto Solás
Humberto Solás Borrego was born to a poor family in Habana Vieja (the capital’s Old Town) on 4 December, 1941. While still at school, aged 14, he joined the urban guerrillas of the 26 of July Movement against the dictator Fulgencio Batista, supporting the band of rebels, including Fidel Castro and Ché Guevara. After the…
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The preservation of Cuba’s film archives is an urgent race against time
OVER THE last year more than 15,000 children and teenagers have crowded into Cuban cinemas to see animations featuring Elpidio Valdés, restored with the help of funds raised by the Screen Cuba film festival. Elpidio is a cartoon character created for children in the 1970s by Juan Padrón, who symbolises the fight for Cuban independence…
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TUESDAY 18 MARCH Screen Cuba presents: Guantanamera + Elpidio Valdés
A satire on life in Cuba during the ‘Special Period’ of the early 1990s, as well as an absurd comedy road trip from one end of the island to the other by the master of Cuban cinema. Tuesday 18 March, 6.30pm Screen 1 at the ICA London BOOK TICKETS NOW Guantanamera | Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Juan Carlos Tabío |…
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SATURDAY 29 MARCH Screen Cuba presents: Accelerated Under-development: A Film in the Idiom of Santiago Álvarez + Hurricane + Cerro Pelado + Funeral of Benny Moré
A tribute to the revolutionary Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álvarez and his “urgent cinema” approach he developed, making hundreds of innovative newsreels and documentaries raising public consciousness from the early 1960s. Followed by three important early shorts by Alvarez. Introduced by Michael Chanan, filmmaker and writer, author of ‘Cuban Cinema’ (2003) and special guest from Cuba,…
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Cuban newsreels – a memory of the world
On 6 June 1960 ICAIC released its first newsreel shown in cinemas around the country
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A Short History of Cuban Cinema
Highlighting some stand-out films in revolutionary Cuba’s cinematic history
SCREEN CUBA, 15-28 March 2026, LONDON & BEYOND 