Writing
An adolescent leaves his homeland to emigrate to Cuba in 1916. The film covers his life until the 1960s and at the same time reflects on the history of the country that becomes his second homeland.
In 1920s Havana, Rachel is a showgirl who longs to become a headliner at the incredibly popular Alhambra theater. On her way to attain that, she loses the love of her life and falls into the clutches of a passion that nearly destroys her career.
Documentarian Jose Sanchez-Montes turns his attention towards the late Cuban musician Ignacio Villa, known throughout the world as Bola de Nieve (Snowball), with this 2003 biographical documentary entitled simply Bola de Nieve. A master pianist, Bola de Nieve was a mainstay through the middle portion of the 20th century, with his music almost omnipresent in South America cinema throughout those formative decades. With Bola de Nieve's famous statement "I'm a sad person, but my songs sound happy" in mind, Sanchez-Montes also looks at the influence of the musician's African heritage and homosexuality upon Bola de Nieve's unique musical style.
As the author of one of the most influential novels in Latin American literature, Paradiso (1966), the Cuban José Lezama Lima is considered a major figure in his country. In this documentary, the director and writer Ernesto Fundora, carries out a study on the author's life through the testimonies of a long list of writers, artists and personalities close to him. The result is a film that explores his work, but also pays a heartfelt tribute to his immeasurable figure.
In 1672 Cuban revolutionaries launch an uprising against the Spanish who are occupying the country. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2017.
