Miami Dade College (MDC) has announced the launch of the Cuban Cinema Series, presented by the Miami Film Festival!

The Series will feature presentations of six emblematic Cuban films at the newly renovated, state-of-the-art theater at MDC’s Koubek Center, in the heart of Little Havana. Admission is free for all films in the series. 

Founded and directed by renown film critic and author Alejandro Ríos, who originated the Series in 1993, featuring filmmakers, special guests, free valet, live music, and refreshments available for purchase. 

The Series is sponsored by ArtesMiami. Here are some words from both the President and the Chair:

“ArtesMiami is proud to partner with the Miami Film Festival as cinema is an important art form mirroring our lives. Through film we see stories that resonate with our own lives.”
– Maria Bechily, Chair of ArtesMiami, Inc.

“Becoming the Producing Sponsor of the Spotlight on Cuba films at the Miami Film Festival and of the Cuban Cinema Series is a great source of pride for us at. ArtesMiami. We are committed to supporting Hispanic artists, including filmmakers, and to promoting great cultural organizations such as the Miami Film Festival so this partnership with Miami Dade College is especially meaningful for our nonprofit organization.”
– Aida Levitan, PhD, President of ArtesMiami, Inc.

Upcoming Films:

María Antonia
Friday, June 21, 2024 7:00 PM EDT
Miami Dade College Koubek Memorial Center

The Miami Film Festival’s Cuban Cinema Series pays tribute to director Sergio Giral, pictured, with the screening of his feature film María Antonia. Giral died in Miami at the age of 87 on March 12.

María Antonia (1990), based on the play of the same name by Eugenio Hernández Espinosa, was the last film he made in Cuba before going into exile.

Armando Dorrego, screenwriter of María Antonia and Giral’s closest collaborator, as well as the actor and playwright Alexis Valdés, protagonist of the feature film, and the actress Micheline Calvert, also a member of the cast, will be present during the tribute.

The praised film María Antonia features the stellar performance of Alina Rodríguez, who died in 2015, and plays a young woman who challenges her religious beliefs and lets herself be carried away by the unbridled passion of love and rebellion.

Sergio Giral has a valuable work in anthropological and aesthetic terms, which accentuates the presence of African culture in Cuba with films such as El otro Francisco (1974), Rancheador (1976), Maluala (1979) and Plácido (1986).

His film Techo de vidrio (1980), about a case of corruption in Cuban dictatorship, was banned by censorship for 8 years.

María Antonia was nominated for a Goya Award and premiered at the Miami Film Festival when Giral returned to the United States in 1991.