BAM joins the American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba for
Cuban Culture Festival New York, a citywide celebration of Cuban arts
BAMcinématek film series Cuba: Golden 60s in partnership with Havana Film
Festival New York, Mar 20—31
BAMcafé Live performances by Cuban hip-hop artist Telmary, Mar 27 & 28
A master class with Osnel Delgado of Malpaso Dance Company, in partnership with
Mark Morris Dance Group, Mar 4
Additionally, BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins to be honored by the Ludwig
Foundation of Cuba on Jan 28
Brooklyn, NY/January 20, 2015—BAM joins several renowned New York institutions for the
Cuban Culture Festival New York, an exciting multidisciplinary initiative in celebration of the
American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba’s 15th anniversary, and its efforts to promote
arts exchange between the US and Cuba. As part of this citywide festival, BAM presents a master
class with Malpaso Dance Company artistic director Osnel Delgado at Mark Morris Dance Center
(Mar 4), a film series in conjunction with Havana Film Festival celebrating work by Cuban
filmmakers (Mar 20—31), and free live performances by Cuban poet and rapper Telmary (Mar 27 &
28).
Other festival collaborators include the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, Americas Society, Jack Shainman
Gallery, the Joyce Theater, and the National Arts Club. For additional programming and festival
information, visit BAM.org/cubanculture or AFLFC.org/programs.
Additionally, the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba will honor BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins on
January 28 in Havana for her longstanding commitment to cultural exchange between the US and
Cuba. BAM’s previous Cuban engagements include DanceAfrica performances by Ballet Folklórico
Cutumba in 2002 and 2011, 2012’s Red Hot + Cuba celebration featuring some of Cuba’s most
renowned singers and musicians, and playing a leading role in the citywide ¡Sí Cuba! festival in
2011, which included dance, music, film, and literary events.
Cuban Culture Festival New York events at BAM
Master Class: Malpaso Dance Company
With Osnel Delgado
Mar 4 at 12pm
Mark Morris Dance Center (3 Lafayette Ave)
Price: $25
Founded in 2012 under the artistic direction of Osnel Delgado, Malpaso Dance Company is
committed to bringing Cuban contemporary dance into the 21st century by collaborating with top
international choreographers and nurturing new voices in Cuban choreography. Delgado’s master
class—for experienced and professional dancers—will focus on the Cuban approach to
contemporary dance, a style that has been born out of a dense blend of references including Latin
social dance, North American modern movement and Afro-Cuban religious traditions.
Delgado will also lead a master class for BAM’s Dancing Into the Future after-school program on
March 5.
These classes are in conjunction with the company’s appearance at the Joyce Theater from March
3—8.
BAMcinématek: Cuba: Golden 60s
BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave)
Mar 20—31
In the wake of the Communist revolution of 1959, Cuba experienced a cinematic golden age. Aided by
the state-sponsored Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC), filmmakers unleashed a stream of formally radical
works that reflected the country’s massive social upheaval. Crossing New Wave-inspired stylistic
experimentation with politically charged subject matter, these vital transmissions from a country in
transition are revolutionary in every sense of the word. Cuba: Golden 60s features the films I Am Cuba
(1964), Death of a Bureaucrat (1966), The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin (1967), Lucia (1968),
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), The First Charge of the Machete (1969), and a Santiago
Alvarez shorts program. Film descriptions below.
BAMcafé Live: Telmary
Mar 27 & 28 at 9pm
BAMcafé (30 Lafayette Ave)
FREE
BAMcafé Live presents two nights of rapper and poet Telmary, one of the shining stars of the Cuban
underground music movement.
For master class or BAMcafé Live press information contact Lauren Morrow: [email protected] or
718.636.4129x1.
For BAMcinématek press information contact Lisa Thomas: [email protected] or 718.724.8023.
About the artists
Osnel Delgado is founder, artistic director, and a performer with Malpaso Dance Company, based in
Havana, Cuba. Before founding Malpaso, Delgado danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba
(DCC) from 2003—11. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth
Kvanstrom, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando, and George Cespedes,
among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan and Ebony Dance of Cuba. In 2014,
Delgado was named the 2014 McKnight International Artist by the Northrop and McKnight Artistic
Fellowship which brought him to Minneapolis, MN to develop a new work for Zenon Dance Company.
He is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance
studies.
Telmary is one of the shining stars of the Cuban underground music movement. Without placing
herself completely in the hip-hop tradition, Telmary has been able to use the genre as a means of
expressing her ideas and communicating with young people in Cuba. She has collaborated with the
likes of Dr. John, Janet Bunnet, Isaac Delgado, Descemer Bueno, Kelvis Ochoa, the Afro-Cuban All
Stars, Los Van Van, and the Buena Vista Social Club. She has performed and recorded with figures
from the international hip-hop and electronica community such as Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Raphael
Seebag of the United Future Orchestra, and DJ Akakage from Japan. Her first album A Diario was
awarded the Cubadisco award for Best Hip-Hop Album in 2008, and her second album, Libre, won the
same honor in 2014. Other awards include the 2006 Cubadiso Gran Premio as a member of jazz
fusion collective Interactivo, and a 2009 Juno Award for her participation in Jane Bunnett’s album
Embracing Voices. This will be Telmary’s third appearance at BAMcafé Live.
About the films
The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin dir. Julio García Espin (1967) 112min
This infectiously picaresque parody chronicles the comic escapades of Juan Quin Quin (Martínez) as
he goes from altar boy to farmer to bullfighter to revolutionary in pre-Castro Cuba. Laced with playful
reflexive touches—spoofs of every movie genre imaginable, cartoon thought bubbles over characters’
heads, tongue-in-cheek intertitles—this breezy, comic book-style adventure was the most popular
Cuban film of its era. 16mm.
Mon, Mar 30 at 7, 9:30pm
Death of a Bureaucrat dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1966) 85min
When a deceased factory worker is buried along with his union card, his family, who needs the
document so that his widow can collect the pension she’s due, must contend with endless bureaucratic
red tape to have the body exhumed. Marrying Buñuel-style surrealism with nods to 1920s silent
comedy, this uproarious absurdist farce is a daring satire of governmental inefficiency. BetaSP.
Sun, Mar 22 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
The First Charge of the Machete dir. Manuel Octavio Gómez (1969) 84min
Cuban farmers turn their machetes against Spanish colonialists in this highly experimental recreation
of an 1868 battle for independence. Told in a gritty, cinéma vérité style, The First Charge of the
Machete uses swirling handheld camerawork, authentically aged-looking, high-contrast black and
white photography, and pseudo-documentary interviews with participants to create the impression of
an artifact unearthed. Digital.
Tue, Mar 31 at 7, 9:30pm
I Am Cuba dir. Mikhail Kalatozov (1964) 141min
This retina-dazzling agit-prop masterwork is Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov’s delirious dream
vision of the Cuban revolution, in which the Felliniesque decadence of Batista-era Havana gives way
to the explosion of Castro’s guerrilla uprising. A head-spinning mix of Constructivist aesthetics and
sensuous photography, I Am Cuba pulses with “some of the most exhilarating camera movements and
most luscious black-and-white cinematography you'll ever see” (Jonathan Rosenbaum). 35mm.
Wed, Mar 25 at 8pm
Lucía dir. Humberto Solás (1968) 160min
Three eras of Cuban history—the 1890s, 1930s, and 1960s—are depicted via the stories of three
different women, all strong-willed heroines named Lucía, who rise up against various forms of
subjugation. Employing a distinct style for each episode, this trailblazing feminist manifesto is “easily
the finest film to come out of Cuba in the '60s… Way ahead of its time in linking sexual and political
oppression” (Time Out London). 35mm.
Fri, Mar 20 at 8pm
Memories of Underdevelopment dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1968) 97min
The first post-revolution Cuban film to gain international acclaim is a breathlessly inventive portrait of
an alienated bourgeois intellectual (Corrieri) coming to terms with life under Communism—as those
around him flee and the missile crisis hovers tensely in the background. Cannily employing montage,
still photos, and documentary footage, this stylistic tour-de-force espouses a surprisingly ambivalent
attitude toward the changes wrought by the revolution. 35mm.
Sat, Mar 21 at 6:45, 9:15pm
Santiago Alvarez shorts program
NOW (1965)—This agitprop Molotov cocktail sets newsreel footage from the American civil rights
movement to Lena Horne’s banned protest song “Now.” The result is a radical call to arms in which
even the title is spelled out in bullet holes. + LBJ (1968)—Alvarez’s senses-shattering cinematic
collage is an incendiary mash-up of found footage that links the assassinations of Martin Luther King,
Jr., Bobby Kennedy, and John F. Kennedy to the rise of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Mon, Mar 23 at 8pm
About American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba
American Friends of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba (AFLFC), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has
been building cultural bridges between the US and Cuba since the year 2000 through exchange
programs in the arts. Our unique partnership with the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, a nongovernmental, non-profit art and cultural organization in Havana, has allowed us to maintain exclusive
ties to the vibrant art community of Cuba. AFLFC’s unique visual arts, film, dance and music initiatives
deeply touch and transform the lives and careers of American and Cuban students, artists, art
professionals and the general public, enabling them to interact with each other. AFLFC’s flagship
project, Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) annually premieres exceptional films from and about
Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinos in the US For more information, visit AFLFC.org.
Credits
The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor of BAM Rose Cinemas and BAMcinématek.
Viacom is the BAM 2015 Music Sponsor.
Pepsi is the Official Beverage of BAM.
Steinberg Screen at the BAM Harvey Theater is made possible by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg
Charitable Trust.
Major support for BAM Community Programs provided by Con Edison.
Additional support for BAMcafé Live is provided by Con Edison. BAMcafé Live receives endowment support from
the BAM Fund To Support Emerging and Local Musicians, created in part with a major gift from The Mary Flagler
Cary Charitable Trust. Programming in BAM Lepercq Space is supported by The Lepercq Charitable Foundation.
BAM Rose Cinemas are named in recognition of a major gift in honor of Jonathan F.P. and Diana Calthorpe
Rose. BAM Rose Cinemas would also like to acknowledge the generous support of The Peter Jay Sharp
Foundation, The Estate of Richard B. Fisher, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Brooklyn Delegation of
the New York City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts,
Bloomberg, and Time Warner Inc. Additional support for BAMcinématek is provided by the Coolidge Corner
Theatre Foundation, The Grodzins Fund, The Liman Foundation, Summit Rock Advisors, and Cultural Services
of the French Embassy.
Your tax dollars make BAM programs possible through funding from the City of New York Department of Cultural
Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. The BAM facilities are owned by the City of New York and
benefit from public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from
Mayor Bill de Blasio; the New York City Council including Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Finance
Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras, Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer, the Brooklyn Delegation
of the Council, and Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo; and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. BAM would like
to thank the Brooklyn Delegations of the New York State Assembly, Joseph R. Lentol, Delegation Leader; and
New York Senate, Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Delegation Leader.
General Information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, and BAMcafé are located in the Peter Jay Sharp
building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of
Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between
Ashland and Rockwell Places). Both locations house Greenlight Bookstore at BAM kiosks. BAM Fisher, located
at 321 Ashland Place, is the newest addition to the BAM campus and houses the Judith and Alan Fishman
Space and Rita K. Hillman Studio. BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run
independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, offers a
dinner menu prior to BAM Howard Gilman Opera House evening performances. BAMcafé also features an
eclectic mix of live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday and Saturday nights with a bar menu available starting at
6pm.
Subway:
Train:
Bus:
Car:
2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center (2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St for Harvey
Theater) D, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue
Long Island Railroad to Atlantic Terminal – Barclays Center
B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM
Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM
For ticket information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.
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