Cinema
Cuba Feliz
Cuba feliz
Karim Dridi · 2000
Synopsis
Miguel Del Morales, known as El Gallo, an old street singer, travels across Cuba with his guitar. He stops wherever music is being made, in people's homes, in bars, in the street, and plays with those he meets: salsa stars, rappers from poor neighbourhoods, old orchestras, bolero singers, improvising jazzmen. From town to town, the journey becomes a sound portrait of the island.
Context
Dridi shot the film with a single handheld camera and a boom microphone, doing the cinematography himself. All those seen performing are Cuban musicians, including Pepin Vaillant. The film appeared in the wake of the vogue for Cuban music that followed Buena Vista Social Club. Presented at the Directors' Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2000, it was released in France on 7 June 2000.
Who it is for
An hour and a half; a musical journey with no real plot, which is listened to as much as it is watched.
Prizes and reception
Cannes selection of 2000; Variety saw it as a musical journey better suited to television than to cinemas.
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