This documentary asks what was Fidel Castro to the leftists and revolutionaries of the world; what was Fidel Castro to Latin America; and what was Fidel Castro to Cuba? At the end of the documentary the question of “Will History Absolve Fidel Castro” is asked to the persons interviewed such as Andres Oppenheimer (Argentina); Alvaro Vargas Llosa (Peru); Patricia Poleo (Venezuela); Jorge Dominguez; Carlos Alberto Montaner; an ecologist; a peasant woman from Cuba; a doctor from Villa Clara, etc. It is a study about how 50 years of the Castro government has affected Cuba and what the country has experienced.
This will be the premier of this documentary.

Approx. – 59 minutes
Audio – Spanish & English
Subtitles - English

A comedy about a young man who is escaping Cuba on a “Freedom Flight.” Or is it, because there is something not quite right going on. For one thing, the pilot has a beard, smokes a cigar and wears fatigues. He can’t pilot worth a dime and “has not learned to fly in over 45 years.” The passengers are a sidesplitting combination of misfits, militia men and desperates. One wonders where the flight will finally end, if it is not cut short by the comic Strategic Air Command.

Approx. – 80 min.
Rated – PG 13
Audio – Spanish & English
Subtitles – English

Beyond Borders moves past the headlines and takes an in-depth look at the hot-button issues of legal and illegal immigration. Beyond Borders explores the psychological forces driving the immigration controversy from both sides of the debate. Anti-immigration activists demand we stop this "illegal alien invasion,” while some pro-immigration forces speak of a Reconquista, a reclaiming of the American Southwest by Mexico. In search of a middle ground, Beyond Borders travels across the U.S. and beyond to give voices to those on the front-line of this issue, including candid interviews with Border Patrol agents, radio celebrities, demographers, the Minute Men, potential migrants, and a host of experts including Noam Chomsky (Distorted Morality) and Gustavo Arellano (Ask A Mexican). Beyond Borders is an entertaining and enlightening film that asks: Is migration a basic human right?

Approx: 75 min.
Audio: English

In August, 1994, more than 33,000 Cubans attempted to escape the island by sea. Two writers, friends since adolescence, are faced with a choice-continue struggling with the hardships of the island or brave the open water on a homemade raft. Ernesto Santana chooses Cuba, Jorge Mota chooses the sea. This is the story of their struggles, their successes and the friendship that binds them. Filmed on location in Cuba, the U.S. and Mexico. (Directed by Gary Marks)

Approx. - 81 min.
Audio – English & Spanish
Subtitles – English

"Alamar Express. El Hombre Nuevo" documents the story of a group of young Cuban artists striving to create a space for cultural expression in one of Havana's sprawling suburban wastelands. Their community of Alamar, a Soviet relic of the 1960s, was born out of the failed utilitarian concept of a "model city", and their people out of the revolutionary ideal of the New Man.
By seeking a future in a country where time stands still, these young artists struggle to transform the cultural desert of Alamar. Using multidisciplinary art, creative performance, and a positive spiritual message, the group tries to awaken their community to a new social reality in Cuba, where artistic expression is one of the last forms of independent thought permitted by the government.
A unique cultural and social phenomenon in Cuba, the group rejects the decades-old concept of a New Man and introduces the world to the Hombre Nuevo, living in the collective spirit of today's Alamar community. Under the modern-day backdrop of a vanguard Cuban counterculture movement, "Alamar Express" exemplifies the hopes of a struggling nation through the independent voices of some of Cuba's most unique and talented artists.

Approx: 57 min.
Audio: Spanish
Subtitles: English

CONTACT

Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies (ICCAS)
Cuban-American Film Festival

The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies is located on the University of Miami Campus at 1531 Brescia Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33124.

Cost: $8.00 each film. Seating capacity limited. For reservations, please call the Institute at (305) 284-CUBA (2822).

Our mailing address is:

1531 Brescia Avenue
Coral Gables, Florida 33124
(305) 284-2822 Phone
(305) 284-4875 Fax

For additional information or details contact Eugene Pons at iccas@miami.edu.