Cuba / France,
2005, 80 min
Shown in 2006
CREDITS
- dir
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Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti
- prod
-
Nicholas Duval-Adassovsky, John Della Penna
- scr
-
Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Manuel Rodríguez Ramírez
- cam
-
Alejandro Pérez Gómez
- editor
-
Angélica Salvador Alonso, Sylvie Landra
- mus
-
Amaury Ramírez Malberti, Slim Pezin
- cast
-
Malú Tarrau Broche, Jorgito Miló Avila, Luisa María Jiménez Rodríquez, Larisa Vega Alamar, Albertico Pujols Acosta
- source
-
Latido Films, Calle Veneras 9-6, 28013 Madrid, Spain. EMAIL: massimo_saidel@yahoo.com.
-
COMMENTS
John Della Penna in attendance.
OTHER
Director Juan Carlos Cremata relates his road movie fairy tale with a disarming sincerity that is always involving and engaging. Taking elements from the reality of daily life, he weaves a heartfelt fable of children, which gives it its great charm. Jorgito (age 12) and Malú (11) are neighbors, classmates and best friends. They argue and tease each other and pledge their mutual loyalty. Malú’s mother, who is separated from her father, hates her life in Cuba. When she decides to marry a foreigner so she can leave the country, Malú, who loves her life as it is, is deeply upset and hopes that she can get to her father before he signs an agreement allowing her to emigrate. So the girl runs away from her home in Havana—with Jorgito as her traveling companion—in search of her father, who is a lighthouse keeper in the remotest tip of Eastern Cuba, hundreds of miles away. Thus begins their adventure, which will take them the length of the island by train, bus, car, motorcycle, oxcart and on foot. They see shooting stars and animals and encounter spirits. Friendly strangers, unusual characters and various guardian angels help them find their way. Cuba’s candidate for the Oscars, Viva Cuba is a wonderful film for children, but it is not just a children’s film. It is a film for any adult who could be illuminated by a glimpse into the emotions of a child, which is, of course, anyone and everyone.
—Miguel Pendás
FACTOID #95
Later to find fame with the amnesia-tinged film noir update Memento, British director Christopher Nolan was nominated for the SKYY Prize in 1998 for his first feature Following. Nolan shot the film about a writer who stalks strangers, on weekends over the course of a year on a budget of $6,000.
