MIFFecito Kicks-Off with Eye-Opening “Behavior” Set in Contemporary Cuba

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Armando Valdes Freire in Behavior

Armando Valdes Freire in Behavior

Kicking off MIFFecito is director Ernesto Daranas’ second feature film, Behavior (Conducta), an insightful and unvarnished glimpse into contemporary Cuba that has taken the Cuban box office by storm, scoring numerous awards and spurring discussion and debate regarding Cuba’s educational system. Named Best Latin American Film at the 2014 Malaga Film Festival, it captures Cuba’s social reality in all its complexity, and gives a voice to the inherent frustrations and anxieties while still offering some hope for the future.

The story centers on Chala (Armando Valdes Freire), a Havana boy on the cusp of adolescence, who is sent to reform school and becomes the subject of a moral tug-of-war between the different generational ideologies in today’s Cuba. His one solid moral compass is the wise Carmela (veteran Cuban star Alina Rodriguez), his elderly sixth grade teacher. Critics have anointed Behavior as “the one”—the film the Cuban people have been waiting for since Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s Oscar-nominated Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresa y Chocolate).

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Ball & Chain in the 1930s and today.

Ball & Chain in the 1930s and today

The Florida premiere of Behavior—with director Ernesto Daranas and actor Héctor Noas in attendancescreens on Thursday, October 16 at MDC’s Tower Theater and will be followed by MIFFecito’s Opening Night Party at Ball & Chain bar & lounge—across the street. Join us for a glorious throwback to Miami’s heyday of jazz and gamblers at this historic music club dating back to 1935. You are invited to feast on a delicious selection of traditional Cuban tapas and enjoy libations from Bombay Sapphire Gin and Stella Artois. Tickets go on sale for Miami Film Society members on September 11 and for the general public on September 18. View MIFFecito’s full line up.  — Tatyana Chiocchetti[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Jaie Laplante

Jaie Laplante is the Miami Film Festival's executive director and director of programming. Learn more about Jaie on Programmers.