Soy Cuba

To bring to an end Margaret Salmon’s exhibition at Witte de With, and to conclude the international range of side programs, we present the classic masterpiece of Soviet cinema Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba).

Directed with innovative techniques and beautiful cinematography by Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov in 1964, it could be seen as a document of Communist propaganda. However, it is also a sweeping epic that touches upon the lives of several protagonists, from a beautiful prostitute to an impoverished cane farmer, a student revolutionary to a farmer who joins the guerrillas as they storm Havana in triumph. With its focus on archetypes and in the way that they are framed and rendered beautiful by the camera, the film has been highly influential on the work of Margaret Salmon.