The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is very pleased to present I Am Cuba (1964) as the first entry in the FilmSocial series showcasing films on Cuba. It is more important than ever to keep attention on Cuba and the suffering experienced by the Cuban people due to US aggression.

I Am Cuba was the first co-production between the Soviet Union and Cuba led by regular collaborators Mikhail Kalatozov (director) and Sergey Urusevsky (cinematographer) who had previously won the Palme d’Or in 1958 for their film The Cranes Are Flying. The film follows four distinct stories about the Cuban population that chronicles Cuba’s ascent from colonialist degradation and the authoritarian rule of Batista’s regime to a revolution that spreads across the country.

The film was not well received by either Cuban or Soviet audiences when it originally premiered in 1964 and. The film was pulled quickly from theatres and largely forgotten until it was re-discovered and rescued by American filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola 30 years later. Since then it has gotten a new appreciation, especially for its dazzling images.