Événement

Screening of STRAWBERRY AND CHOCOLATE (Cuba)

Masterful Filmmaker and Cuban Legend: A Retrospective of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Presented with Havana Film Festival NY

STRAWBERRY AND CHOCOLATE

Co-Directed by Juan Carlos Tabío

(1993 | Drama/Romance | Cuba | 110 min.)

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19 | 6 PM | $10 ($7 for Friends of SAC)

Spanish with English Subtitles

In 1979 Cuba, flamboyant gay artist Diego (Jorge Perugorría) attempts to seduce the straight and strait-laced David (Vladimir Cruz), an idealistic young communist, and fails dismally. But David conspires to be friends with Diego so he can monitor the artists subversive life for the state. As Diego and David discuss politics, individuality and personal expression in Castros Cuba, a genuine friendship develops between the two. Can it last in such an oppressive environment?

Strawberry and Chocolate is the only film from Cuba to have ever been nominated for an Academy Award.

About Tomás Gutiérrez Alea: Generally regarded as Cubas foremost filmmaker, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1928-1996) first rose to prominence with Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) and later found a wider international audience with Strawberry and Chocolate-the first and only Cuban film nominated for an Oscar in 1994. Influenced by Italian neorealism and an early love of cinema, Gutiérrez Aleas work created a sharp post-revolutionary Cuba analysis. Commenting on his style, Gutiérrez called himself a man who makes criticism inside the revolution, who wants to ameliorate the process, to perfect it, but not to destroy it.