The screening will take place on Friday, November 5 at 7 p.m. at the Cosford Cinema on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus.

All the shorts have won important prizes at Havana’s Young Filmmakers Festival during the last two years. The screening, co-curated by Ann Marie Stock (College of William and Mary) and Lillian Manzor (University of Miami), will be followed by a panel discussion with Stock and filmmakers Laimir Fano and Yolyanko Williams, moderated by Manzor and Uva de Aragón.

The list of shorts scheduled to be shown include:

• Revolution: Making its United States premiere, Mayckell Pedrero Mariol presents the worldview of Cubans born during the Special Period through the music of Los Aldeanos, the underground Hip Hop group whose music reflects the “expectations, dreams and frustrations” of this nation’s youth. The film has won numerous awards including best documentary at the 2010 New Filmmakers Festival in Havana, amidst polemic and debate over its challenging content.
• Model Town (Laimir Fano) is a story of nostalgia and chocolate.  The film portrays the residents of Hershey, a settlement built in Cuba in the 1920s by U.S. chocolatier Milton S. Hershey, as they reflect on an era that pre-dates the revolution.
• Ode to the Pineapple (Laimir Fano) draws upon multiple Cuban cultural references–poetry, music, dance.  This visually stunning short has earned prizes in Colombia, China and Cuba, and was awarded the Special Jury Mention at New York’s Tribeca Festival in 2009. Shown thanks to Tanya Valette from the EICTV(Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión).
• The Engulfed Cathedral: In full moon nights the sunken cathedral emerges to show us hidden and bare chaos and confusion. Screenplay, cinematography, and designs by Yolyanko Williams, music by Tomita. Winner of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award in 2008.
• The Dictation: A young girl reinterprets a teacher’s dictation exercise.  Winner of the special animation prize at the 9th New Filmmakers Festival in 2010. Screenplay, cinematography, and designs by Yolyanko Williams.
• The Hands and the Angel, by Esteban Insausti, is an innovative piece on the jazz musician Emiliano Salvador that shows experimentation in filmmaking and continues longstanding Cuban tradition of music in film.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact 305-284-1854 or [email protected]. Directions for the Cosford Cinema can be found here.