VÍDEO DE FAMILIA (Family Video)
Think of a cross between All in the Family and ¿Qué Pasa, USA? set in Cuba after the demise of the Soviet bloc and you begin to get a drift of director Humberto Padrón’s delightful and structurally bold maiden mid-length feature. In Havana, a family records a homemade video greeting card to the son who left for Miami never to return. Startling revelations ensue.
In person: Director Humberto Padrón.
USUFRUCTO
A farmer continues to toil the land expropriated by the revolution. Late in life, he has nothing to speak of, except for a $50,000 debt to the government. Director Eliecer Jimenez Almeida trains his lens on his challenged yet unwavering father.
In person: Director Eliecer Jimenez Almeida.
LOS BAÑISTAS (The Swimmers)
Last year, director Carlos Lechuga was in the news with his censored feature Santa y Andrés. Some years earlier he made the short gem Los bañistas (The Swimmers) about a swimming instructor in search of a working pool to train his students for a competition. The teacher’s travails are bracketed by sequences that recall Paul McCartney: When you find yourself in times of trouble ... “listen to the music playing in your head.”
In person: Actor Mario Guerra.