Shining a light on all the people, places, and things shaping the narrative today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY6sYlAYvGM I’d like to share a snippet of a performance from a woman who helped shape Cuban music. Her name is Celeste Mendoza, and I find that the majority of my American friends do not know her name. In terms of the Cuban pantheon of female greats, if Celia Cruz was the Queen of Salsa,…
(Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie-Turner-Smith, Dir Melina Matsoukas, Writer Lena Waithe) The film Queen and Slim is the creation of Director Melina Matsoukas, born of a Cuban mother who was raised on the island, and migrated to New York at 10 yrs old. If you’ve seen Beyonce’s music video “Formation”, a solidarity love letter to New Orleans,…
Inspired by the "Cuba Is" exhibit at The Annenberg Photo Space in Los Angeles, I whipped up a symphony of tracks that inspire me on the island today, with a sprinkle of legendary ancestors whose shoulders we all rest on. If you visit the Skylight studio at "Cuba Is", you'll enter the Resolviendo exhibit, which…
If you're a fan of Major Lazer, here's a doc you'll appreciate. If you have no idea who Major Lazer is, yet have a deep curiosity for Cuban youth culture, then this doc will equally intrigue you. In full disclosure, I worked on this film as one of the Producers, with the excellent team of…
I had the pleasure of meeting Director Alison Klayman, who arrived at the Havana Film Festival to screen her documentary, The Hundred Years Show starring Carmen Herrera. The truth is, I was secretly a fan of Alison from watching her first documentary, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry, a ballsy account of art activism at its…
One of the most often asked questions from clients going to Cuba is "What do I bring?". The intention for goodwill is there, but it can be confusing knowing what could make the biggest impact. Cuba is unlike any other place on the planet, so here’s a quick guide for making yourself useful. Some of the…
