Bye Bye Havana

Bye Bye Havana is a 2005 fast-paced stream of consciousness documentary that presents a vibrant portrayal of Cuban life.[1] The film juxtaposes commercialism with vintage anti-communist propaganda and the elementary difficulties that everyday Cubans face.[2] Directed by J. Michael Seyfert the film was shot and edited in Cuba over the course of 2 years. For its enduring images, Carlos Alberto Montaner of Foreign Policy calls Seyfert's film "A colorful and sobering picture of the Cuba that Fidel has left behind".[3]

Bye Bye Havana
Film Poster & First Edition DVD Sleeve
Directed byJ. Michael Seyfert
Written byJ. Michael Seyfert
StarringRoger Bunn
CinematographyJ. Michael Seyfert
Edited byAndros Barroso
Manuel Iglesias
Distributed byJourneyman Pictures
Release date
  • 2005 (2005)
Running time
58 minutes
CountryCuba
LanguageSpanish, English

Official Selections

Bye Bye Havana premiered in the United States on October 16, 2005 at 20th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival [4] and screened at numerous festivals around the world including on April 22, 2006 Cine Las Americas International Film Festival[5] in Austin and 5th Annual Tiburon International Film Festival.[6] On Dec 6th and 8th 2006 the film screened at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival[7] in Estonia. On February 21, 2007 Bye Bye Havana was broadcast four times on Free Speech TV and Dish Satellite Channel 9415 and 150 community access cable stations reaching a potential audience of over 25 million people. The film was broadcast on Mongolia State TV and continues to figure prominently among post-revolutionary documentaries. [8]

Awards

Best Post Production[9] 2006 Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival.

Soundtrack

Bye Bye Havana's soundtrack featuring hip hop and afro-rock musician X Alfonso and Free Hole Negro, a hip hop underground band, jazz pianist Roberto Carcasses and Cuban rapper and spoken-word artist Telmary. The film's theme song was composed and performed by the singer Francis Del Rio.

Non-Cuban contributions were made by Roger Bunn, British rock musician who narrated[10] the film and contributed three tracks from his posthumously released album Piece of Mind featuring the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. American songwriter T Bone Burnett's song Humans From Earth was recorded in Bristol by British indie pop band The Flatmates produced by Paul Cooke,[11] drummer and founding member of the British smooth jazz band SADE. Cooke also co-produced a trance dub with London DJ Herbus K. Dubington of Lagrimas Negras a 1929 bolero-son by the Cuban composer and singer Miguel Matamoros. The Cuban classic was used as a theme throughout the film in various interpretations including an acoustic guitarist and a nameless Cuban street violinist.

Reviews
  • NewsMax "4 Cuba Documentaries Worth Seeking Out"[12]
  • The Culture Trip "The Best Documentaries to Watch About Cuba"[13]
  • inCUBAdora "Cuba Underground Guide"[14]
  • DVD Talk Film Review[15]
  • Academia.edu "El cine en español en los Estados Unidos"[16]
  • Ramonet vs. Montaner: el gran debate sobre Cuba[17]

References
  1. WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog. 2006. OCLC 794308989. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  2. "Bye Bye Havana". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  3. "Ramonet vs. Montaner: el gran debate sobre Cuba en Noticias24.com". www.noticias24.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  4. "Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Annual independent and foreign cinema event in Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Florida, USA. Host to Cinema Paradiso". 2005-10-13. Archived from the original on 2005-10-13. Retrieved 2017-02-13.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. "Cine Las Americas". Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  6. "Tiburon International Film Festival". www.tiburonfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  7. "10th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival".
  8. Salvador Jiménez Murguía (2020). "A Cuban Cinema Companion". Rowman & Littlefield.
  9. "DocuFest Atlanta would like to give thanks to the incredible filmmakers who have screened their incredible films with us". 2009-02-28. Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2017-02-13.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. "Roger Bunn". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  11. Make Tea not War (Vol 2) - Paul Cooke. Listen @cdbaby, retrieved 2017-02-13
  12. "4 Cuba Documentaries Worth Seeking Out". Newsmax. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  13. "The Best Documentaries to Watch About Cuba". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  14. "FreeCinema: ·Bye Bye Havana·". inCUBAdora. 2013-09-01. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  15. "Bye Bye Havana". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
  16. Badajoz, Joaquin. "El cine en español en los Estados Unidos". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. "Ramonet vs. Montaner: el gran debate sobre Cuba en Noticias24.com". www.noticias24.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-13.
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