Celebrating International Women’s Day with the inaugural launch of the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque

Co-presented by the Women in Film International Committee, the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque, the InstitutoCubano del Arte e IndustriaCinematograficos (ICAIC) and NewFilmmakers Los Angeles.

Panel Moderator: Laura Bickford, Producer (Traffic, Che, Arbitrage)

Join an afternoon screening of documentary and narrative shorts from the women of the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque. These women are Cuba’s preeminent female directors, writers and actors.
These films, which make their U.S. debut here before the program travels to New York and Miami. The screening is followed by a panel discussion on The Independent Story Finds A Home In Global Cinema: Where Women Are Taking The Lead followed by a light refreshment reception to get a chance to meet the visiting filmmakers from Cuba.

Join Moderator producer Laura Bickford and a panel of the visiting Cuban filmmakers Marina Ochoa, Milena Almira,Gloria Rolandoand Claudia Rojas in a discussion that will explore how American and Cuban women filmmakers are fueling modern global cinema. Topics will include how the two countries see women depicted and the perception of each other’s roles in storytelling. Examine what drives women filmmakers in to bring stories to life and to an audience.  Enjoy meeting the filmmakers at a light refreshment reception.

Seating is limited. If not sold out, tickets will be available at the event at the door (cash or check only).

Honorary Hosts: Annette Bening, Laura Bickford, Jackson Browne, Lisa Cholodenko, James Cromwell Isabel Cueva, Benicio Del Toro, Hector Elizondo, Naomi Foner, Brad Horwitz, Penny Marshall, Mike and Irena Medavoy, RickNicita and Paula Wagner, Sean Penn, Shervin and AnahitaPishevar, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon, Hilda Solis, Oliver Stone, Andy Spahn and Dionne Warwick

Sponsors: Shangri-La Entertainment, Sean Penn, the Shervin& Ana Pishevar Foundation, Brad Horwitz, Cuba Travel Services, SDI Media Group, ArisAnagnos, Hector Elizondo,Harvey Vechery, Councilmember Eric Garcetti, www.cubanow.net and other generous individuals.

Los Angeles Media Sponsor: KPFK 90.7fm Pacifica Radio Network, Los Angeles: Vanity Cosmetics

Julieta Busca A Romeo

Documentary Film Program
Director: Marina Ochoa
Time: 25 Mins. – Country: CUBA
» Film Synopsis

Julieta Busca A Romeo (Juliet is Looking for Romeo)

Holguín, Cuba, the 1990s. A group of girls talks about what receiving a letter from abroad means.

Misericordia (Mercy)

Fiction Film Program
Director: Maryulis Alfonso
Time: 20 Mins. – Country: CUBA
» Film Synopsis

Misericordia (Mercy)

A housewife suffocated by her reality, tries to alleviate the misery of stray dogs. One day, she discovers she can also alleviate hers and her family.

Tacones Cercanos

Documentary Film Program
Director: Jesica Rodríguez
Time: 20 Mins. – Country: CUBA
» Film Synopsis

Tacones Cercanos (Close Heels)

A travesty from Havana is torn between the ideal and aesthetic world of his aspirations and the crudeness daily life gives him in return.

Mírame Mi Amor

Short Film Program
Director: Marilyn Solaya
Time: 16 Mins. – Country: CUBA
» Film Synopsis

Mírame Mi Amor (Look at Me My Love)

A dramatized documentary, which includes the testimonies of victims and killers, as well as interviews with psychologists and lawyers, on a difficult topic that is not frequently approached in the cinema: exhibitionism, seen as a dysfunction of sexuality and behavior.

Tierra Roja (Red Land)

Fiction Film Program
Director: Heidi Hassan
Time: 18 Mins. – Country: CUBA
» Film Synopsis

Tierra Roja (Red Land)

A Latin immigrant woman in Europe reveals her desires and frustrations through the letters she writes to her daughter in Cuba.