Synopsis:

The DEFA Film Library at UMass is very pleased to announce its release of The Cuban Masterworks Collection for the educational market. Now finally available in North America are five masterworks from revolutionary Cuba. Beautifully restored with new English subtitles and directed by three legendary filmmakers –Tomás Gutiérrez, Alea Julio García Espinosa and Humberto Solás –, they reveal a unique perspective, which Americans are unaccustomed to seeing. Each film is a worthy addition to the canon of great world cinema, and rare special features further enhance our understanding of the rich historical and cultural heritage from which they emerged.

All films are in Spanish with new English subtitles.

Boxed set includes five feature films on separate DVDs:

The Adventures of Quin Quin (Original Title: Las aventuras de Juan Quin Quin) Cuba, Dir. Julio García Espinosa, 1967, 104 min., black & white Juan Quin Quin, a farmer, survives in pre-revolutionary Cuba by his wits – as an altar boy, circus performer, bullfighter, coffee planter and revolutionary. An anarchic comedy and homage to classic film genres and styles.

Amada (Original Title: Amada) Cuba, Dir. Humberto Solás, 1982, 105 min., color Havana, 1914.

The daughter of a recently deceased wealthy slave trader feels bound to her philandering husband, despite her passion for her cousin, an idealistic journalist. Featuring Cuban screen legend Eslinda Núñez.

Cecilia (Original Title: Cecilia) Cuba/Spain, Dir. Humberto Solás, 1981, 127 min., color

In 1830s Cuba, a rich slave owner’s son falls for a proud and beautiful mulatto girl (Daisy Granados). But his brutal father tries to force him to marry a woman of his own class. Nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival.

A Successful Man (Original Title: Un hombre de éxito) Cuba/Spain, Dir. Humberto Solás, 1986, 103 min., color

A chronicle of three decades – beginning in the 1930s and ending with the Cuban revolution – represented through the lives of two brothers separated by ideology and ambition. Winner of the Grand Prize at the Havana Film Festival.

The Twelve Chairs (Original title: Las doce sillas) Cuba, Dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1962, 90 min., black & white

On her deathbed, a wealthy woman reveals she hid her jewels in one of twelve identical chairs, newly confiscated by revolutionary authorities. By the director of Death of a Bureaucrat and the Oscar nominated Strawberry and Chocolate.