The Guardian 15 February, 2006
Cuban film director in Australia
Cuban Director Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti will present two of his films, Viva Cuba
and Nada in person at the Latin American Film Festival in Sydney and Melbourne in
February.
Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti began his career in film as a writer, actor and director for a children's
television series in Cuba. While working for the program, he received a degree in Theatre and
Dramatic Arts from La Havana Arts Superior Institute.
His work won him a CARACOL award from the Cuban national union of writers and artists. In 1985,
he was awarded a special artistic award from the Cuban Cultural Ministry. He was a film editing
professor at Buenos Aires University and a film-directing professor at the Design and Commercial
Panamerican School, also located in Buenos Aires. Cremata and his work have won many awards
worldwide including the John Simon Guggenheim Grant in 1996.
Viva Cuba 2005
Malú and Jorgito are friends who fight every now and then. It's part of the territory when you're ten
and trying to make your mark on the world. Only their families don't see it that way. Malú's mother
is a devout Catholic with strict ideas of whom she should associate with. Jorgito's family are die-
hard Castro fans, card-carrying communists with a deep sense of party loyalty.
With the imminent threat of having to leave Cuba with her Mother, Malú escapes with Jorgito in
search of Malú's father. An adventure ensues across the Cuban landscape. Rooted in two
charming central performances, Viva Cuba is a quirky coming-of-age road movie that will
appeal to both children and adults.
Viva Cuba has been nominated for an Academy Award.
Nada+ (Nothing More) 2001
Red tape muddles up the lives of people worldwide, but in Cuba it may reach more ludicrous
extremes than in many other countries. Nada, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti's first feature
film takes a comical look at Cuban bureaucracy presenting us with a story of the fictional
shenanigans that go on in a Havana post office. Carla (Thaïs Valdés) is a bored young postal clerk
who dreams of leaving the country to join her parents in Miami.
In the meantime, she steals and rewrites letters in order to brighten the lives of their addressees,
however briefly. When her illegal subversion of the postal system is discovered by the office
manager, the farce begins; a tornado of outrageously cartoonish characters and Keystone Kops
style chase sequences.
For festival screening and event details visit:
Sydney: http://www.sydneylatinofilmfestival.org
Melbourne: http://www.acmi.net.au/latin_american_festival.jsp
Two great Cuban films: Filmmaker Presentation
Sydney (Campbelltown):
Campbelltown Arts Centre, Art Gallery Rd, Cnr Camden & Appin Rd
Friday 17 February 7:00pm
Viva Cuba — Filmmaker Presentation
Sunday 19 February 7:00pm
Nada — Filmmaker Q&A
Sydney (Surry Hills):
Tom Mann Theatre, 136 Chalmers St
Friday 24 February 7:00pm
Viva Cuba — Filmmaker Presentation
Sunday 26th February 7:00pm
Nada — Filmmaker Q&A
Melbourne (Federation Square):
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image,
Thursday 23 February
7pm Viva Cuba — Filmmaker Presentation
(followed by Fiesta)
9pm Nada