When hip-hop takes to Havana, Cuban artists’ spirited beats and rhymes are just as much a product of the troubled economy as of their insatiable revolutionary spirit. The film intimately engages five hip-hop groups and two producers as they negotiate the Havana summer. With Havana’s 9th Annual National Hip-Hop Festival approaching, invited performers prepare, battling economic hardship, unsympathetic mothers, and the threat of government censorship. Everyone must decide where they stand, from established groups seeking institutional support to fledgling cooperatives establishing alternative circuits, with allegiances ranging from commercial to feminist vegan.

With unheard-of access to some of Cuba’s best musicians, this documentary witnesses the future of Cuban hip-hop in the making. Official selection New Directors/New Films 2005. A gowanus projection release.

“Fascinating” —indieWIRE

“As young Cuban musicians with few hopes of commercial success embrace rap music, they look at American hip-hop with a mixture of pride (in the purity of their own political and social messages) and envy (at the wealth and fame achieved by American rappers). This informative doc introduces us to a number of these earnest young pop messengers, who barely have the resources to make a CD ... but have the wherewithal to organize a rap festival.” — Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Wednesday, August 3, 9pm - buy tickets online!
Thursday, August 4, 9pm - buy tickets online!
Friday August 5, 9pm - buy tickets online!
Saturday, August 6, 8pm - buy tickets online!
Sunday, August 7, 9pm - buy tickets online!
Monday, August 8, 9pm - buy tickets online!
Tuesday, August 9, 9pm - buy tickets online!

The Cinema Tropical Film Series is sponsored by The New York Times and is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency
For more information visit www.cinematropical.com or call (212) 592-3428