Cuba has a history in film beginning in the late 19th century. During the Golden Age post-revolution, films focused on anti-imperialism and revolution. Two of Cuba's most famous directors from this time were Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Humberto Solás. Cuba also hosts an annual international film festival in Havana each December dedicated to Latin American cinema.

1. Nation Report - Cuban Film By Crystal Keenan

2. History Cinema didn’t arrive to Cuba until the 20th century Cuba fell into the “Golden age” of film post-revolution Cinema was first introduced in Havana on January 24, 1897 by Gabriel Veyre from Mexico A little less than a decade before WWI, Latin America was switching from dependency on Europe to the US An emphasis was put on the cinema business in Hollywood and Cuba became a part of it beginning with melodramatic* films and historical reviews: “El CapitánMambí” and “Libertadores o Guerrillos” (1914) by EnríqueDíaz Quesada * The theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types

3. Pre-revolution Only had about 80 full-length films pre-revolution such as: La Virgen de la Caridad (1959)starring Miguel Santos and Romance del Palmarby Ramón Peón The Silent-film era lasted up until 1937 in Cuba Many directors (like EnríqueDíaz Quesada) directed films that imitated the Chaplin films from France Only a few directors from the US or Europe did any work in Cuba Most of the Cuban Actors/ Actresses would become famous in Argentina and Mexico Ramón Peón & his films

4. Post-revolution Most of the post-revolutionary film had “anti-imperialism and revolution” content 1959 the gov. created the Culture division of the Rebel Army which was in charge of creating documentaries The Cuban’s recognized film as “…the most direct and widespread vehicle for education and bringing ideas to the public” The Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos (IAIC) was a copy of theformer Cultural Division The 1st 10 years were known as the “Golden age” The directors TomásGutiérrezAlea and HumbertoSolás are thought of as the best 2 directors from Cuba Some of the most famous films from Cuba are: Lucía(1969) by Solás and Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968) by GutiérrezAlea TomásGutiérrezAlea HumbertoSolás

5. Cuban Film Festivals Cuba has 1 famous film festival called “the Festival of New Latin-American Cinema of La Havana” or the “Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana” It began December 3, 1979 and has been hosted in December ever since The Festival features only films produced in Spanish The Categories consist of : Films Documentaries Animation First Work Direction Cinematography Etc.

6. Sources “Cuban film” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 10 Aug. 2004. “Melodrama” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 10 Aug. 2004.