The 1st Cuban Film Festival has been warmly welcome, featuring on its second night the film “Sisters of the Heart” (2021), a one of a kind and little-known story of the Oblates of Providence, a black Catholic order that started to engage in educational endeavors in 1829, in the United States, Cuba and other parts of the Americas.

A work by activist and filmmaker Gloria Rolando, the film captures the work done by the Oblates when they decided to establish schools and orphanages for poor black children in Haiti, Cuba, New Orleans, Baltimore, New York or Costa Rica.

The film show started with the screening of “Cuba Libre” (2015), by filmmaker Jorge Luis Sánchez, who revisited a part of Cuba’s history during the occupation by the United States Army (1899-1902) after the end of the Spanish-Cuban-American war, seen through the eyes of two black Cuban children, Samuel and Simon.

“I sincerely hope that this will be the first of many festivals to come, which will allow us to grow, bring more filmmakers from Cuba, screen more films and create a local event that will attract everyone,” enthused Lianys Torres, Chargé d’Affaires of the Cuban Embassy in this capital, at the opening of the event.

On Tuesday, the show will screen the biopic “El Benny” (2006), also by Sánchez, who debuted as full featured film director with this personal tribute to his relative and worldwide music star Beny Moré, an undisputable icon of Cuban culture.

Last night, on the other hand, the air was filled with Afro Cuban Jazz, thanks to an excellent performance by Melvis Santa and his group, Jazz Orishas, in the historic Blues Jazz Alley here.

In 2024, there are two main motifs behind the Cuban Culture Day, namely the 120th birthday of world-renowned writer Alejo Carpentier and the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC for its Spanish acronym).

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