Films at the Whitney

Known for its acrobatic camera stunts and unique visuals, Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 film I Am Cuba explores prerevolutionary Cuba through four moving vignettes about the country’s people and culture. Kalatozov began filming only a week after the Cuban missile crisis—in fact, more than 1,000 Cuban soldiers were moved to a remote location to shoot one scene. A Cuban-Soviet co-production, with Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos and Mosfilm, I Am Cuba is a unique celebration of Communist iconography. Its U.S. release in 1995 was the first ever joint presentation of a film by directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.