MIAMI.- Miami Dade College (MDC) announces the launch of the Cuban Film Series, presented by the Miami Dinner Festival. Beginning Friday, January 26, the series (with free admission) will feature screenings of six iconic Cuban films at MDC’s newly renovated, state-of-the-art Koubek Center theater located at 2705 SW 27th Ave, in the heart of Little Havana. The first two films will have English subtitles.
The executive director of the Miami Film Festival, James Woolley, celebrates the launch of the series: “It seems like the perfect time to announce the Cuban Film Series. With a newly renovated Koubek Theater as part of the Miami Film Festival family, we have an exceptional venue to showcase classics beloved by the entire community.”
As he added, “this is a great addition to the extensive Cuban film programming of the 41st Miami Film Festival that will be held from April 5 to 14.”
Founded and directed by renowned film critic and author Alejandro Ríos, who originated the series in 1993, this year’s lineup begins with The supermarketwith filmmakers, special guests, free valet parking, live music and refreshments available for purchase.
Inaugural film program:
Friday, January 26 at 7:30 pm
The supermarket (1979)
The series begins with a special presentation of the film The supermarket, directed by León Ichaso and Orlando Jiménez Leal. The film was released in 1979 and is based on the play of the same name written by Iván Acosta and released in 1977 with notable public and critical success. This presentation, which will feature the appearance of Orlando Jiménez Leal, the producer Manolo Arce and some of the actors who participated in the film, pays tribute to León Ichaso, one of the most prominent directors of Cuban exile cinema, who died on December 21. May 2023. With the presence of León Ichaso, the Cuban Film Series sponsored the first exhaustive tribute to his filmography in 2005, when the public enjoyed, among other films: Azúcar amarga, Piñero, Sugar Hill, Crossover Dreams, The Fear Inside, Execution of Justice y Hendrix. In April 2024, The supermarket turns 45 and continues to be the emblematic cinematographic work of the Cuban exile.
Thursday, February 29 at 7:30 pm
8-A (1989)
The Cuban Film Series continues its performances on February 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Koubek Center with the cinema of Orlando Jiménez Leal and the reissue of his revealing documentary 8-Awhich recreates the Kafkaesque judicial process carried out by the Castro regime against one of its military heroes in 1989.
Appetizer
Reserve free tickets for the first two films here. The cycle will resume after the 41st Miami Film Festival, scheduled for April 5-14, 2024. The next festival will include numerous new Cuban films also programmed by Ríos.
About the Miami Dade College Miami Film Festival
Celebrating cinema at two annual events, the Miami Film Festival (41st Annual, April 5-14, 2024) and the GEMS Miami Film Festival (11th Annual, November 2024), The Miami Film Festival at Miami Dade College is considered the most prominent film festival to showcase Ibero-American cinema in the US and an important launching platform for all documentary and international cinema.
The annual festival welcomes more than 45,000 spectators and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talents and industry professionals. It is the only major festival that takes place within a college or university. Over the past five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 world, international, North American, American and East Coast premieres. Major sponsors of the GEMS Miami Film Festival include the Knight Foundation, the Miami Downtown Development Authority, Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida. The Festival also offers unparalleled educational opportunities for film students and the community at large. For more information, visit miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-237-FILM (3456).
Source: Press release/Miami Dade College
