Événement

Screening of MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (Cuba)

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

Presented with Havana Film Festival NY

MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT

(1968 | Drama | Cuba | 104 min.)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16 | 6 PM | $10 ($7 for Friends of SAC)

Spanish with English Subtitles

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), an affluent writer, chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Sergio is pessimistic about the revolution's promise to bring sweeping change to his country, and he squanders his days prowling the streets of Havana looking for female companionship. Trouble erupts when his fling with chaste Elena (Daysi Granados) nearly ruins him after her family accuses Sergio of rape.

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.