The American Film Showcase (AFS) organizes today a program of documentaries in the central hall of this capital 23 and 12, to be exhibited from June 22 to 25.
Conceived in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (Icaic) and the Ministry of Culture, the AFS event will open with the screening of the audiovisual Black Art: In the Absence of Light.
The production tells the story of the artists and curators who made possible the preservation of the heritage of African-American culture, according to Icaic's Director of Film Programming, Liliam Morales.
Drawn from interviews with different creators and scholars, the work is inspired by the 1976 exhibition Two Centuries of African American Art, by David C. Driskell, then director of the Art Department at Fisk University, located in Nashville, Tennessee.
It also included about 200 works from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century, to advance a history that few Americans knew about, even professionals in the art field.
Another of the films to be shown as part of the AFS is John Lewis: Good Trouble, directed by Dawn Porter, a tribute to the activist who died in 2020, a key figure in the civil rights movement.
Similarly, for basketball lovers, The Queen of Basketball, by filmmaker Ben Proudfoot, and executive produced by Shakille O'Neal and Stephen Curry, tells the story of Lusia Mae Harris, the first and only woman drafted into the NBA.
Another attraction of the event is in the audiovisual Tina, released in 2021, by filmmakers Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin, which showcases a revealing look at the life and career of the recently deceased Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner.
This creation will also treat us to a wealth of archival footage spanning more than six decades and interviews with film star Angela Basset (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever).
It features journalist and TV host Oprah Winfrey, fellow broadcaster Kurt Loder, co-author of I, Tina -inspiration for the feature film- and playwright Katori Hall, writer of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, reported the Cuban institute's director of Film Programming.
In partnership with the embassies of the North American nation, AFS organizes annual workshops, screenings and master classes in more than 60 countries.
It provides a worldwide audience with information about U.S. society and culture through film and gives local filmmakers the tools to tell their own stories.
This program is funded by a grant from the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and produced by the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.