Ferraz’s documentary is a fascinating trip through the making of “one of the most deliriously beautiful films ever made” (L.A. Weekly): Mikhail Kalotosov’s 1964 masterpiece, I Am Cuba. Requiring an unprecedented 14 months of shooting, this first and only Cuban/Soviet co-production ever made was intended as a celebration of Castro’s revolution.

Why then was the film rejected by Cubans and Soviets alike upon its release and shelved for more than 30 years until it was rediscovered and championed in the 1990s by North Americans, including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola?

Through a combination of breathtaking shots from the original film and interviews with surviving Soviet and Cuban cast and crew members, Ferraz investigates the motives behind the banning of the film. The resulting documentary, I am Cuba, The Siberian Mammoth, provides us with insights into the ideology of the Cold War, the recent history of Cuba, and the great irony of I Am Cuba which only the passage of time has been able to reveal.

Cinema Tropical is proud to release this documentary at the time when Milestone Films is releasing brand-new prints of I Am Cuba to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its discovery.

"An addictive chronicle!" — Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice

"A worthy celebration and making-of about Kalatozov's hallucinatory film." — John Anderson, Newsday

"Mr. Ferraz has produced a welcome piece of historical explication." — A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Wexner Center for the Arts

Avon Theatre

Loft Cinema

The Cinema Tropical Film Series USA is sponsored by The New York Times.

For more information call (212) 592-3428