Slideshow
EL SUPER
Co-presented by Cinema Tropical
U.S., 1979
Directed by Leon Ichaso and Orlando Jiménez Leal
Approx. 90 min. 16mm print courtesy New York Public Library.
“For the last 10 of his 42 years, Roberto, a former bus driver in Havana, has been living in New York exile with his wife, Aurelia, and their 17-year-old daughter, Aurelita. Roberto not only suffers the life of an outsider, he embraces it as well as the isolation, the humiliation and the homesickness that go with it. Because he refuses to learn English, the best he can do by way of employment is a job as superintendent in a large tenement on the Upper West Side.” – The New York Times
New York-based Cinema Tropical is the leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the United States. Founded in 2001 with the mission of distributing, programming, and promoting what has become the largest boom of Latin American cinema in decades, CT brought U.S. audiences some of the first screenings of films such as AMORES PERROS and Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN. Through a diversity of programs and initiatives, CT is thriving as a dynamic and groundbreaking 501(c)(3) non-profit media arts organization experimenting in the creation of better and more effective strategies for the distribution, exhibition, and support of foreign cinema and its communities in this country. In 2021 and 2011, coinciding with Cinema Tropical’s 20th and 10th anniversaries, respectively, The Museum of Modern Art paid tribute to the organization with two retrospective series.
With support from The Robert E. Appel Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Language Films.
Reviews
“EL SUPER is today one of the classics of national cinematography. This work opened a path for the consolidation of the Cuban cinema of the diaspora and bequeathed a significant artistic document to think about the phenomenon of exile unleashed by the revolutionary triumph. Forty-five years after its premiere, this film continues to be a relevant production both for the sharpness of its story and for the aesthetic audacity of its production.”
– Angel Perez, Rialta
Read the full review.