2. History
Cinema didn’t arrive to Cuba until the 20th
century
Cuba fell into the “Golden age” of film post-
revolution
Cinema was first introduced in Havana on
January 24, 1897 by Gabriel Veyre from Mexico
A little less than a decade before WWI, Latin
America was switching from dependency on
Europe to the US
An emphasis was put on the cinema business
in Hollywood and Cuba became a part of it
beginning with melodramatic* films and
historical reviews: “El Capitán Mambí” and
“Libertadores o Guerrillos” (1914) by Enríque
Díaz Quesada
* The theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music
to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and
to denote character types
3. Pre-revolution
Only had about 80 full-length films pre-
revolution such as: La Virgen de la
Caridad (1959) starring Miguel Santos
and Romance del Palmar by Ramón Peón
The Silent-film era lasted up until 1937 in
Cuba
Many directors (like Enríque Díaz
Quesada) directed films that imitated
the Chaplin films from France
Only a few directors from the US or
Europe did any work in Cuba
Most of the Cuban Actors/ Actresses Ramón
would become famous in Argentina and Peón & his
films
Mexico
4. Post-revolution
Most of the post-revolutionary film had “anti-
imperialism and revolution” content
1959 the gov. created the Culture division of
the Rebel Army which was in charge of
creating documentaries
The Cuban’s recognized film as “…the most
direct and widespread vehicle for education Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
and bringing ideas to the public”
The Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria
Cinematográficos (IAIC) was a copy of the
former Cultural Division
The 1st 10 years were known as the “Golden age”
The directors Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and
Humberto Solás are thought of as the best 2
directors from Cuba
Some of the most famous films from Cuba are:
Lucía (1969) by Solás and Memorias del
subdesarrollo (1968) by Gutiérrez Alea
Humberto Solás
5. Cuban Film Festivals
Cuba has 1 famous film festival called
“the Festival of New Latin-American
Cinema of La Havana” or the “Festival
Internacional del Nuevo Cine
Latinoamericano de La Habana”
It began December 3, 1979 and has been
hosted in December ever since
The Festival features only films produced
in Spanish
The Categories consist of :
Films
Documentaries
Animation
First Work
Direction
Cinematography
Etc.
6. Sources
“Cuban film” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 10
Aug. 2004.
“Melodrama” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 10
Aug. 2004.