The film 7 Days in Havana was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23rd at the Debussy Theater. Here’s the official trailer! (Spanish with French subtitles)

After the release of Havana Cultura : The Search Continues—Gille’s Peterson’s second Cuban compilation— last fall, Brownswood Recording presents remixes of two of the album’s tracks: ‘Agita’ and ‘Orisa’.

Preview ‘Agita’ remix (Switch, Sinden and Sunlightsquare)

Preview ‘Orisa’ remix (Atjazz, Chancha Via Circuito, Alex Patchwork)

After a successful European tour this spring, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba will perform in 10 UK cities as part of the 2012 London Olympics cultural program. The show features Sombrisa, a piece by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili that draws inspiration from boxing, an Olympic discipline deeply ingrained in Cuban sporting tradition. It is also for this reason that the first performance will take place in Newscastle, the official Olympic boxing venue. Also included in the program are Carmen?! by Kenneth Kvarnström as well as Mambo 3XXI by George Céspedes.

Click here for complete dates of DCC’s UK tour

Cuban singer-composer Niuver will release a bilingual Spanish-French new album on May 28th entitled Trasnochando.  The first single, “C’est toi que j’aime”, is already playing on major French radio stations like RTL and France Inter. You can preview the album here. 

The 2012 edition of the Cannes Film Festival includes the film 7 Days in Havana as part of the official selection for the “Un certain regard” [“A particular look”] category, which presents a number of original and different works seeking international recognition.

 7 Days in Havana is a snapshot of modern-day Havana; a portrait of an eclectic, fascinating, and timeless city sketched by seven world-class moviemakers that have become regulars at Cannes: Benicio Del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Elia Suleiman, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noé, Juan Carlos Tabío, and Laurent Cantet.

The film will premiered in France on May 30^th and in 35 other countries thereafter.  

The 10° Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre (“10^th International Poor Cinema Festival”) is taking place in the Cuban city of Gibara from April 17 to 22. Some 113 short and feature-length fiction, documentary, and experimental films are part of the official competition. Año bisiesto [“Leap Year”], by the Australian-Mexican director Michael Rowe and winner of the 2010 Golden Camera award at Cannes 2010 opened the festival.

The Festival de Cine Pobre is an initiative of Cuban director Humberto Solás (1941-2008). Its goal is to promote high-quality alternative cinema. 

To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, New York’s Center for Cuban Studies hosts an exhibition featuring a wide array of political, cultural, and movie posters authored by Cuban graphic designers from the 1960s up until today.

 More information on the exhibit 

Cuban singer-songwriter Carlos Varela will tour Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay next May to present his new album No es el fin. The dates and venues are as follows:

 09/05- Neuquén – Teatro Casino Magic

10/05- Rosario - Sala Lavarden

11/05- Buenos Aires – Teatro Sha

13/05- Santiago de Chile- Teatro Nescafé de las Artes

18/05- Buenos Aires – Teatro Sha

Jazz pianist Roberto Fonseca is touring Europe this spring to present his new album, Yo, which incorporates new musical influences, particularly African beats.  

Concert dates and venues are as follows:

 23/03 - Gateshead (UK), The Sage

24/03 - Manchester, RNCM

26/03 - London (UK), The Barbican

28/03 - York (UK), Theatre Royal

2903 - Brighton (UK), The Dome

30/03- Bristol (UK), St. George

01/04- Birmingham (UK), Town Hall

15/04- Paris (France), Duc des Lombards

16/04- Paris (France), Duc des Lombards

17/04- Paris (France), Duc des Lombards

20/04- Geneva (Suisse), Le bâtiment des forces motrices

21/04- Karlsruhe (Germany), Tollhaus

24/04- Darmstadt (Germany), Centralstation

25/04- Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Festival Printemps Musical de Luxembourg

27/04- Zurich (Suisse), Kaufleuten

Sacrificio en la encrucijada [“Sacrifice at the crossroads”] is a retrospective on the work of Cuban artist Alexis Leyva Machado, better known as “Kcho”. In the exhibition will be exposed a series of large-scale installations. The artist’s notebooks with his sketches and drawings will also be available to the public for consultation. Sacrificio en la encrucijada runs through April 11^th at Havana’s Gran Teatro García Lorca.