Grand Prix Competition

I AM CUBA, THE SIBERIAN MAMMOTH

SOY CUBA, O MAMUTE SIBERIANO



Vicente Ferraz

Country of production: Brazil
Year: 2004
Language: Spanish, English, Russian, Portuguese
Mins: 90

Production company: Tres Mundos Producoes
Producer: Isabel Martinez
Cinematography: Tareq Daoud, Vicente Ferraz
Editing: Mair Tavares, Dull Janiel
Sound: Cesar Fernandez
Music: Jenny Padrón

Source: Tres Mundos Producciones
Isabel Martinez
Tel: 5521-2554-5653
e-mail: tresmundosproducciones@yahoo.com


An informative piece of cinematic archeology that also provides insight into vintage Iron Curtain ideology, this is a documentary about I am Cuba, the extraordinary film made by Soviet director Mikhail Kalatosov in Cuba during the early 1960s. It was intended as a propaganda piece for the Cuban revolution. However, a week after screening in Moscow and Cuba, it was taken out of release, shelved and consequently unknown to the West for more than 30 years until it was rediscovered by Western film scholars and championed by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
Director Vincente Ferraz investigates the motives behind the Cuban and Soviet ban of I am Cuba and its subsequent consecration by North American critics (a big irony of destiny). Using clips from the film and interviews with surviving participants, he reconstructs a unique collision of entrenched political beliefs and surpassing artistic ambition. Is it possible to make a metaphor about the history of Socialist Cuba, the project that the Soviets abandoned at the end of the Cold War? Perhaps both Cuba and the movie have navigated the same waters and suffered the same fate.


Vicente Ferraz was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied at the International School of Film and Television (EICTV) in Cuba. He is also a scriptwriter and cinematographer. He has made several shorts and documentaries. Resides and works in Rio de Janeiro.

Filmography:

I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth (2004)
Presente de futuro (2004)
L Rey de cha cha cha (1997)
Homen Naturaleza (1996)
TV Escuela (1995)
Ciudadania (1993)
Erdidos en el camino (1991)
Carrera contra el tiempo (1989)

SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2005 AT 2.00 PM. / FACET CINEMATHEQUE
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2005 AT 5.30 PM. / FACET CINEMATHEQUE