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Also in this program
Logline
A fascinating find.
A touching portrait of a misunderstood genius: Nicolás Guillén Landrián, Cuba’s first black filmmaker. He started out as a resourceful intellect in the service of the Cuban revolution, but was subsequently banned as a rebel, locked away, given electroshock “therapy”, forced into exile, and ultimately forgotten. Enlisting Landrián’s cohorts, including his widow and his cameraman, multiple award-winning director Ernesto Daranas embarks on a search for documentary clues. He discovers a filmmaker with whom the young generation of Cuban directors identify particularly strongly. What emerges is a disturbing account of a revolution that became increasingly entrenched in its ideology and the way it mistreated its most talented people when they stepped out of line.
The true protagonists, however, are Landrián’s experimental documentary works themselves. They introduced a new style to Cuban filmmaking: inspired on the one hand by the Soviet avant-garde and on the other by Godard and the Nouvelle Vague. In the film, director Daranas can be seen in the basement of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry, where he tracks down and restores the original prints that have been rotting away for decades. The audience in Munich will now be able to see firsthand the result of his struggle against oblivion.
Following the documentary, the restored version of the work by Nicolás Guillén Landrián, 90 minutes, will be shown:
1. En un barrio viejo -1963 – 9′
2. Los del baile – 1965 – 6′27″
3. Un festival – 1963 – 10′12″
4. Ociel del Toa – 1965 16′28″
5. Reportaje Plenaria Campesina – 1966 – 9′53″
6. Coffea Arábiga – 1968 – 17′37″
7. Taller de Línea y 18. – 1971 – 14′55″
Calendar
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Filmmuseum
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HFF Kino 2
Meet the director
Ernesto Daranas Serrano
Cuban filmmaker Ernesto Daranas Serrano studied education and geography. His TV movie LA VIDA EN ROSA (2004) received awards at numerous festivals. All three of his motion pictures made for the cinema were submitted as the Cuban entry for best international film at the Academy Awards.