Cuban Documentary “Rodando en La Habana: Bicycle Stories” San Francisco Premiere with Filmmaker Q&A

Directed by Jennifer Ruth Hosek and Jaime Santos Menéndez, Rodando en La Habana: Bicycle Stories tells of bicycling and community in Havana today, 20 years after the Special Period, when over 1 million Chinese bicycles were imported to Cuba to aid survival on an island suddenly without Soviet petroleum. The independent documentary first premiered to sold-out audiences and intensive media interest at the 2015 Havana Film Festival. For its San Francisco debut, co-filmmaker Jennifer Ruth Hosek joins the Red Poppy Art House for an evening of film screenings, discussion and music.

Forever (1994), a documentary by Cuban filmmaker Luis Orlando Deulofeu, offers a surprisingly tongue-in-cheek look at the trials and benefits of the bicycle during the most difficult part of the Special Period when, left without Soviet petrol, the country imported over one million Chinese bicycles. Its aesthetics recall the madcap comedy The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin and Espinosa’s manifesto for imperfect cinema that belie its production under the auspices of FAR, the Cuban military.
 
Program
6:45-7:05pm: Screening of Forever
7:10-7:40pm: Screening of Rodando en la Habana: Bicycle Stories
7:40-8:20pm: Q&A with Filmmaker Jennifer Ruth Hosek
8:20-10:00pm: Music & discussion
 
About the Filmmakers
Associate Director Jennifer Ruth Hosek works in Cultural Studies and Film with a focus on Cuba, Europe and Germany. An Associate Professor at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, she took her PhD at Berkeley and was Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities at Stanford. She has written numerous articles as well as a book titled Sun, Sex and Socialism: Cuba in the German Imaginary (2012). She is the founder of LinguaeLive.ca, a free, academic platform that allows students learning new languages to connect with peers across the globe.

Jaime Santos Menéndez graduated with a degree in Film Direction in 2014 from the Cuban film school FAMCA. Currently, he works at the Cuban Television Studios as an animator specializing in stop motion as well as assisting in a variety of productions. In addition to his involvement in projects for youth and community uplift, Jaime is active in improvisational theatre including Teatro del Encuentro and Playback Theatre. His films include Familia (2014), Idóneo (2013) and Campos de Fresas (2012). A television spot on which he collaborated, La Última Gota (2008), received the first prize in Canada’s Festival Internacional VideEau Montreal.

Admission: $7-12. Doors at 6:00pm. Event at 6:30pm. All ages welcome.

Tickets will not be sold in advance for this event. Please arrive at the Red Poppy when doors open to purchase tickets.

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