Great Day in Havana (NR)

synopsis

The best, the truest landscape of a city is the human landscape. What began as days of filmmakers' excursions became years of discovery. Havana painters, sculptors, filmmakers, poets, dancers share their worlds in this documentary, baring the artistic, the spiritual soul of old and new Havana. It is not the view from Miami. The artists proudly display their city, the crumbling buildings contrasting with the vibrant people and their art. Painter/graphic artist Israel del Monte relates how he left Cuba and returned to see his city as if for the first time, saw that it is beautiful. Others speak of the burdens caused by world and US politics of the last 12 years-in Cuba, where all gestures are political, it is close to impossible to avoid politics. Interweaving stills and videotape shot over eight years with interviews and music of salsa performers, filmmakers Schag and Stoll have created a love song to the Havana people and the barrios of their city.