GIRAL MEDIA PRODUCTION

AFRO-CUBAN AND CARIBBEAN FILMS

SERGIO GIRAL FILM TRILOGY

 Sergio Giral's film trilogy is a hard-hitting dramatization of the role of slavery in the colonial era and its legacy in Cuban and Caribbean societies. Giral has dedicated his cinematic work to promote a better understanding of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean history and culture.

 THE OTHER FRANCISCO (Cuba, 1974)

Cast: Miguel Benavides, Ramoncito Veloz, Alina Sánchez, Adolfo Llaurado. A socio-economic analysis of slavery and class struggle through the retelling of the original novel. Contrasts the romantic conceptions of plantation life found in Suárez Romero's novel with a realistic exposé of the actual historical conditions of slavery throughout the Americas. Offers a critical analysis of the novel, showing how the author's social background led to his use of particular dramatic structures to convey his liberal, humanitarian viewpoint. Based on the novel Francisco by Anselmo Suárez y Romero. 97 min.

RANCHEADOR (Slave Hunter) (Cuba 1975) 

 Cast: Reynaldo Miravalles, Adolfo Llaurado, Samuel Claxton, Omar Valdes, Raul Pomarés. Rancheadors were henchmen of the slave-owning colonialists in the West Indies charged with the task of pursuing fugitive slaves and returning them to their owners. Getting paid for his work by using the severed ear of a returned slave as proof of his success, Pedro Esteves, bloodthirsty central figure of this film not ony hunted down runaways but as others of his kind bolstered the power of the ruling class, cutting off the buds of rebellion and thus liberty for all the oppressed, blacks and whites alike. Based on the book, Diario de un rancheador by Cirilo Villaverde. 98 min.

 MALUALA (Cuba, 1979)

 Cast: Samuel Claxton, Miguel Navarro, Roberto Blanco, Miguel Guitiérrez. In 19th century Cuba, African slaves known as Cimarrons overpower their Spanish masters and hide in settlements in the eastern mountains. But discord among the Cimarrons is sown by traitors working secretly for the Spanish.

MARIA ANTONIA 9CUBA 1990) 

A prostitute in Havana during the 1950s leaves prison after serving time for drugs and sets out to reclaim the heart of her lover, a young boxer and local hero. Astory of love, passion, resentment and revenge invokes Yoruba religion, specifically the Oshun, the goddess of love.

PLACIDO (Cuba 1986) 

Placido portraits the dramatic story of Gabriel de la Concepcio Valdes (Placido), a mulatto Cuban poet accused of leading a conspiracy against the Spanish colonial government. Preoccupied by the development of Afro-Hispanic artist and craftsmen of the mid XIX century, Placido was executed after living a short and controversial life as a man between two races and between a cruel reality and a dream of freedom.

TECHO DE VIDRIO (Glass Roof) Cuba 1981
A contemporary look at the frustrations experienced by Cuban  in the early days of the "Special Period”.