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Old Cuban Propaganda Movie Gains Respect From Yankee Film Lovers

Credit O Cinema
The 1964 Cuban-Soviet film collaboration "Soy Cuba" was first seen by American audiences in 1995.

There were no steadicams in 1964, no lightweight cameras or drone-cams.  Perhaps that's why film lovers watching “Soy Cuba” for the first time get understandably excited by what has become known as the “hotel shot.”   At the start of the film, a camera pans across the upper decks of a Havana hotel during a beauty contest, then descends straight down to the pool level as if held by ghostly hands.  The camera pans across bathing beauties basking in lounge chairs, then actually goes underwater in the hotel pool.

That’s just one of several scenes garnering praise from audiences and critics alike.  The film, a creative collaboration between the Cuban and Soviet governments, was a fabulous disaster as a propaganda film.  After its premiere in Havana and Moscow, it was shelved for nearly three decades.  “Soy Cuba” was brought to American audiences in the mid-90’s with the help of filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, both of whom were blown away by its artistry.

The film gets a limited run at O Cinema Miami Beach starting today, Oct. 2.  And we recently got a chance to talk to the film’s distributor, Dennis Doros of Milestone Films.

“Soy Cuba”

O Cinema Miami Beach

500 71st Street

Miami Beach

(786) 207-1919

Fri, Oct 2nd @ 8:00pm

Sat, Oct 3rd @ 2:00pm, 5:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, Oct 4th @ 2:00pm, 5:00pm & 8:00pm

Mon, Oct 5th @ 8:00pm

Tue, Oct 6th @ 8:00pm

Wed, Oct 7th @ 8:00pm

Thu, Oct 8th @ 8:00pm

Christine DiMattei is WLRN's Morning Edition anchor and also reports on Arts & Culture.
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