Omara 

View IN-PERSON at The Cinematheque: Thursday, Sept 1, 8:45pm

ADDED SCREENING!!! Sunday Sept 4, 4:30 PM at The Cinematheque

At the age of 89, Cuba’s national treasure, Afro-Cuban music icon Omara Portuondo defies age-ist expectations and tours the world. Known for the Buena Vista Social Club and a vibrant solo career, her life and voice have defined her as a trailblazer who has inspired generations.

Indeed there is no one in this world quite like Omara Portuondo and this fine film does her justice in so many ways. Chief among this is allowing Omara Portuondo to tell her truth in her own words. – Raul da Gama, LatinJazzNet

A la edad de 89 años, el tesoro nacional de Cuba, el icono de la música afrocubana Omara Portuondo desafía las expectativas de la edad y recorre el mundo. En el proceso, las canciones que canta transmiten los sentimientos y las experiencias que definieron su vida como pionera que ha inspirado a generaciones de mujeres de color a seguir sus pasos.

Hugo Perez is the director of feature documentaries Omara (2021), Neither Memory Nor Magic (2007), Summer Sun Winter Moon (2009), as well as the producer of Once Upon a Time in Uganda, and Executive Producer of Purgatorio and Adama. He is the recipient of the Estela Award for documentary filmmaking, HBO Short Film Award, TFI Rockefeller Fellowship, and an NEH Chairman’s grant. He has studied storytelling with Gabriel García Márquez, and collaborated with Pulitzer Prize winning novelist William Kennedy. He lives in Brooklyn, and is working on a new documentary about his family roots in Cuba.