I Am Cuba
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov • 1964 • Cuba, Soviet Union
Starring Raquel Revuelta, Luz María Collazo, José Gallardo
Both a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion. The result of an extraordinarily ambitious collaboration between the Soviet and Cuban film industries, director Mikhail Kalatozov’s I AM CUBA unfolds in four explosive vignettes that capture Cuban life on the brink of transformation, as crushing economic exploitation and inequality give way to a working-class uprising. Backed by Carlos Fariñas’s stirring score, the dazzling camera work by Sergei Urusevsky—an inspiration for generations of filmmakers to follow—gives flight to the movie’s message of liberation.
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I Am Cuba
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov • 1964 • Cuba, Soviet Union
Starring Raquel Revuelta, Luz María Collazo, José GallardoBoth a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream...
Extras
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I AM CUBA Russian Dubbed Version
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I Am Cuba, the Siberian Mammoth
The making of I AM CUBA was as epic in scope as the film itself. This 2004 documentary, directed by Vicente Ferraz, is a thorough exploration of that process, from the arrival of Soviet filmmakers Mikhail Kalatozov and Sergei Urusevsky in Havana to the movie’s years-long production—and tepid rece...
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Bradford Young on I AM CUBA
Cinematographer Bradford Young pays homage to the innovative aesthetics of I AM CUBA, and the lessons to be learned from its depiction of the revolutionary spirit, in this interview recorded in 2023.
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Martin Scorsese on I AM CUBA
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese discusses I AM CUBA, as well as his role in redistributing the movie in the United States decades after its original release, in this 2003 interview.