EL MÉGANO (1955) dir. Julio García Espinosa, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Julio García Espinosa’s impactful short documentary, made in collaboration with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (Titón) and José Massip, is a denunciation of the inhumane living and working conditions of the coal industry in the Ciénaga de Zapata, on the southern coast of Cuba in the mid-twentieth century. Originally banned by the Batista regime after its premiere at the University of Havana, it is now considered an integral precursor to the films of revolutionary Cuban cinema. In Spanish w/ English subtitles.