Miami, July 1, 2016- Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Tower Theater will present the Contemporary Cuban Film Summer Series, which features the exclusive U.S. commercial debut of four internationally renowned Cuban and Cuban subject films, July 8-28.
The showcase features Venecia, the first Cuban film financed by crowd funding. Mónica, Violeta and Mayelín work in a beauty salon. On payday they go out to buy a dress for one of them, starting an unexpected journey into the depths of the Havana nightlife. At dawn, exhausted and penniless, they start dreaming of opening a beauty shop of their own which they will call Venecia. This exciting independent Cuban/Colombian co-production not only gives rare access to an insider’s view of Havana, it also displays a refreshingly frank and empowered take on female sexuality. The film has been presented at several film festivals, including the 2015 MDC Miami Film Festival.
The Cuban box office hit, His Wedding Dress (Vestido de novia), highlights the LGBT community. Starring Laura de la Uz and Luis Alberto García, the film is set in 90’s Havana, where a nurse and a home builder, falls hopelessly in love and becomes happily married. A circumstantial fact of her past life will put their feelings to the test and undermine the most elemental principles. The real life story of Mari Sussel, the first Cuban to legally have a sex change, provided further inspiration for Vestido de Novia, a double nominee at Spanish-speaking cinema’s recent high-profile Platino awards.
Also starring Laura de la Uz and Luis Alberto García, Dark Glasses (Espejuelos oscuros) focuses on Esperanza, a solitary blind woman whose life is altered when a fugitive breaks into her house and tries to assault her. Upon adversity she chooses to entertain her unexpected guest telling him some of the stories she has collected throughout the years. Tales of women that like her hide dark secrets. The film was presented last year at the Havana International Film Festival and 2016 MDC’s Miami Film Festival.
All films are in Spanish with English subtitles.
Tickets are $11.50 for adults; $9 for seniors, students and MDC staff; and $7 for MDC students, Tower Theater and Miami Film Society members. Free parking available in the lot behind the theater.
For more information, contact the Tower Theater at 305-237-2463, or visit www.towertheatermiami.com.