The Sebastopol Center for the Arts is partnering with the Numina Center for Spirituality & the Arts to present the first Sonoma County Cuban Film Festival on July 24 & 25, 2015. An exciting Festival is planned, featuring five major recent Cuban films, many Cuban short films, and two catered musical events. Director Alfredo Ureta will attend the Festival on Saturday the 25th for the screening of his film “The Mole’s Den (La Guarida del Topo).”

Following an early reception for donors and pass holders, the Festival will begin Friday night with a screening of “Chico & Rita” (2010), a remarkable animated film about the world of jazz in the 1940s and 1950s. It will be accompanied by two short musical films: “Ode To The Pineapple” and “Searching For Chano Pono.”

Four films will be shown on Saturday, along with a variety of related Cuban short films. The day begins with “Viva Cuba” (2005) in which two children journey the entire length of Cuba to try to keep one of them from having to leave with their family for Miami. The afternoon matinee will be “Juan of the Dead (Juan de los Muertos)” (2011), which is a Cuban zombie film, not to be missed, and a film festival favorite around the world. The first of the Saturday evening films will be “The Mole’s Den (La Guarida del Topo)” (2011), director Alfredo Ureta’s rather bleak drama about life and relationships in Cuba today. And the Festival’s grand finale will be “Conducta” (2014), a compelling film of coming of age and childhood redemption by director Ernesto Daranas. “Conducta” (in English called “Behavior”) has won many awards worldwide, and was nominated for an Academy Award as “Best Foreign Language Film” in 2015.

There will be a large catered music event on Saturday night July 25th, following the last film.
“Viva Cuba” also screens Friday night at the Sonoma Film Institute (SFI) on the SSU campus. Director Alfredo Ureta will also appear at the SFI Saturday afternoon for a screening of “The Mole’s Den.” “Chico & Rita” also screens Saturday morning at the Clover Theater in Cloverdale.