The Cuban Filmography, 1897 Through 2001

225 Pages·2006·1.762 MB·English

by  Alfonso J. Garcia Osuna

The Cuban Filmography,
¡897 through 200¡

The Cuban
Filmography,
¡897 through 200¡
by Alfonso J. García Osuna
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
The present work is a reprint ofthe library bound edition
of The Cuban Filmography, ¡897 Through 200¡, first
published in 2003 by McFarland.
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
García Osuna, Alfonso J., ¡953–
The Cuban filmography, ¡897 through 200¡ / by Alfonso J.
García Osuna.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-¡3: 978-0-7864-2727-7
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
¡. Motion pictures—Cuba—Catalogs. 2. Motion pictures—
Cuba—History. I. Title.
PN¡993.5.C8 G375 2006
79¡.43'75'097291—dc2¡ 2002¡53760
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2003 Alfonso J. García Osuna. All rights reserved
No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means,electronic or mechanical,including photocopying
or recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover photograph ©2006 Clipart
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company,Inc.,Publishers
Box 6¡¡,Je›erson,North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For Elvira and Xavier,
always my inspiration

Contents
Preface
¡
Introduction
5
A History ofCuban Film
9
The Films
49
Conclusion
185
Bibliography
189
Index
207
vii

Preface
To write about Cuban cinema is to write about the fate ofa Euro-Amer-
ican medium in a world ofalien experience. It is not only a world where tra-
ditional institutions like marriage and family have su›ered a profound change,
but also one that has lost the traditional distinction ofclass; a world without
a significant history or a substantial past; a world that left behind the horror
ofcapitalist society not for the socialist innocence it dreamed of, but for new
and special guilts associated with unfulfilled dreams; a world doomed to play
out the old mistakes of the First World. In the end, Cuban cinema is only
finally Cuban in spirit; its appearance is an event in the history ofthe Cuban
imagination, as, indeed, is the very invention ofCuba itself.
As a researcher ofSpanish medieval and Renaissance literature writ-
ing a book on Cuban film, I believe it is especially appropriate and impor-
tant to acknowledge my debts to the film savants who have guided my
way. Although scholarship is based on private research and the interpre-
tive e›orts ofthe individual, I owe much to current film researchers and
historians. At the same time, I owe a very real debt to my colleagues at the
City University ofNew York and to my Cuban friends who shed light on
the fascinating world ofCuban social history. It is thanks to them that this
work took shape. I must also acknowledge the pioneering work of Paulo
Antonio Paranagua, who directed the edition ofLe Cinéma Cubain(Paris:
Centre Pompidou, ¡990), a work that contains a wealth of information
that has considerably assuaged the task of gathering facts, names and
dates. The publications of the Cuban Institute for the Cinematic Arts
1