Cuba, 1984, 95 min, 2K DCP, Dir. Néstor Almendros and Orlando Jiménez Leal, Not Rated, Spanish with English subtitles


Improper Conduct

Encore Sunday, 3/31

“Something very rare in films - an intelligent attack on Fidel Castro’s Cuban revolution. Improper Conduct is the first legitimately provocative anti-Castro film I’ve seen.” – Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Thirty five years ago, Oscar-winning cinematographer Néstor Almendros (Days of Heaven) and El Super co-director Orlando Jiménez Leal joined forces to document the systemic violation of human rights and the persecution of homosexuals in Castro’s Cuba. The film, produced by Barbet Schroeder (Barfly, Reversal of Fortune, Single White Female), was an international eye-opener, picked up major awards from Strasbourg to San Francisco (it had its world premiere at the first Miami Film Festival) and featured testimonies from luminaries like Reinaldo Arenas, Heberto Padilla, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Juan Goytisolo and Susan Sontag, who have since passed away. Now, surviving co-director Jimenez Leal has restored and re-edited the landmark film with Eliecer Jiménez Almeida, making it as timely and urgent as it was in its day.

Noted film historian Alejandro Ríos will introduce the film and co-director Orlando Jiménez Leal. They will engage the audience in a post-screening conversation.


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