ICAIC Chaplin Poster - Cuba
Date: 1980s
Size: 20 x 30
Notes: poster
Artist: Anonymous
Information: For more details, please call 514 656 3301
About The Poster:
According to WIkipedia (my source for all the things I don't know) "The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry ( ICAIC ) is an institution in Cuba dedicated to the promotion of the film industry that was created in 1959 to 83 days before the start of the Cuban Revolution . ICAIC The main event of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema . Group of the ICAIC In the early sixties, the ICAIC sponsored the creation of experimental music group as a collective work to create music for documentaries and films. This was intended to revive the prospect of Cuban music outside the criteria of the market. Leo Brouwer was director of this group and the other founding members were Silvio Rodríguez , Pablo Milanés , Noel Nicola and Sara González , among other members of the so-called Cuban nueva trova ." Another Wikipedia entry for Cuban cinema states: "In Cuba films like "El Capitán Mambí" y "Libertadores o guerrilleros" (1914), de Enríque Díaz Quesada with support from the general Mario García Menocal are worth mentioning. Díaz Quesada adapted from the Spanish novelist Joaquín Dicenta in 1910, as a tendency widely used then, of using literary works adapted for movies, as well as imitating Chaplin, the French comedies and cowboys adventure films. The silent stage of production was extended until 1937, when the first full-length fiction movie was produced.
Before that Cuban Revolution of 1959 the total film production was around 80 full-length movies. Some films are worth mentioning, such as La Virgen de la Caridad starring Miguel Santos and Romance del Palmar by Ramón Peón. Many famous people from the continent came to the island to film, and some leading Cuban actors had a strong presence mainly in Mexico and Argentina. Musicians such as Ernesto Lecuona, Bola de Nieve or Rita Montaner also performed and composed for movies in several countries.
In the first days of 1959 the new government created a cinematographic department within the Dirección de Cultura del Ejercito Rebelde (Culture division of the Rebel Army), which sponsored the production of documentaries such as "Esta tierra nuestra" by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, and "La vivienda" by Julio García Espinosa. This was the direct ancestor of what would eventually become the ICAIC (Instituto Cubano del Arte y la Industria Cinematográficos), which was founded in March as a result of the first culture law of the revolutionary government. Film, according to this law, is "the most powerful and provocative form of artistic expression, and the most direct and widespread vehicle for education and bringing ideas to the public."[1] From its foundation up until 1980, Alfredo Guevara was head of the ICAIC. Under his direction, the organization was pivotal in the development of Cuban cinema which came to be identified with anti-imperialism and revolution.
The first ten years of the institution were called by critics, the Golden Age (Decada de Oro) of Cuban cinema, most of all because of the making of Lucía (1969) by Humberto Solásand Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968) by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. These two directors are often regarded as the best film directors to have come out of Cuba. Memorias del subdesarrollo was selected among the best 100 films of all times by the International Federation of Film-Clubs. One of the most prolific and strong branches of the Cuban cinema in the last 40 years has been documentaries and short-films. The documentary Now (1965) by Santiago Álvarez is often considered the first video clip in history. It combines a song with an uninterrupted sequence of images depicting racial discrimination in the U.S."
