El Benny is a Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n film released in 2006, directed and co-written by Jorge Luis Sánchez

Jorge Luis Sánchez

Jorge Luis Sánchez is a Cuban film director. He was a founder of the Federación Nacional de Cine Clubes de Cuba - the Nacional Federation of Cine Clubs of Cuba....

, his first feature length film. It is a fictional story based on the life of the famous Cuban musician Benny Moré

Benny Moré

Benny Moré , or Beny, was a Cuban singer. He is often thought of as the greatest Cuban popular singer of all time. He was gifted with an innate musicality and fluid tenor voice which he colored and phrased with great expressivity...

. It includes new versions of his songs performed by musicians including Chucho Valdés

Chucho Valdés

Chucho Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists...

, Juan Formell

Los Van Van

Los Van Van is a Cuban band led by bassist Juan Formell, it is one of the most recognized post-revolution Cuban bands, while Juan Formell has arguably become the most important figure in contemporary Cuban music....

, Haila and Orishas

Orishas (band)

Orishas was a Cuban hip hop group The group was first called "Amenaza", "threat" or "menace" in Spanish, and appealed to the Cuban youth who were hungry for African-American culture consisting of hip hop and rap. Orishas delved into a realm of music that created a black identity to which some...

.

The film premiered in Cuba in July 2006, and was presented at the Locarno International Film Festival

Locarno International Film Festival

The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...

 in August 2006, where its star, Renny Arozarena

Renny Arozarena

Renny Arozarena is a Cuban actor, born in Havana in 1971.He started acting as a child, making his professional debut on the stage in leading roles in Andoba, Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja, Romeo et Juliette, Othello, among others. He is now director of a theatre group...

, won the Boccalino prize for best performance for protagonist in all sections of festival. The film was Cuba's candidate for the Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

. The film won the "First Work" (Opera Prima) award at the New Latin American Cinema festival in Havana in December 2006. It received its official U.S. premiere at the "Palm Springs

Palm Springs, California

Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...

 International Film Festival" on 6 January 2007, and its east coast premiere at the Miami International Film Festival in March 2007.

The director, Sánchez, is distantly related to Benny Moré.

Cast

• Renny Arozarena
  Renny Arozarena
  Renny Arozarena is a Cuban actor, born in Havana in 1971.He started acting as a child, making his professional debut on the stage in leading roles in Andoba, Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja, Romeo et Juliette, Othello, among others. He is now director of a theatre group...
  
  : Benny Moré
• Juan Manuel Villy Carbonell: Benny Moré (singing voice)
• Enrique Molina: Olimpio
• Carlos Ever Fonseca: Angeluis
• Mario Guerra: Monchy
• Limara Meneses: Aida
• Isabel Santos: Maggie
• Salvador Wood: Grandfather
• Laura de la Uz: Irene
• Kike Quiñones: Pedrito
• Carlos Massola: León Arévalo
• Félix Pérez: Genaro (Benny's grandfather)

• Cheryl Zaldívar: Sofía
• Husmell Díaz: Arnulfo
• Serafín García Aguiar: Gutiérrez
• Marcela Morales: Natalia
• Rakel Adriana: Doñita
• Bárbara Hernández: Lydia (nurse)
• Jorge Ferdecaz: Olegario
• Ulyk Anello: Duany
• Mayra Mazorra: Benny's Mother

Crew

• Director: Jorge Luis Sánchez
  Jorge Luis Sánchez
  Jorge Luis Sánchez is a Cuban film director. He was a founder of the Federación Nacional de Cine Clubes de Cuba - the Nacional Federation of Cine Clubs of Cuba....
  
  
• Script: Abrahán Rodríguez and Jorge Luis Sánchez
• Executive Producers: Camilo Vives, Simone Haggiag, Alexandre de Lesseps
• Producer: Iohamil Navarro
• Production Manager: Olga María Fernández
• Director of Photography: José Manuel Riera
• Editor: Manuel Iglesias
• Score: Juan Manuel Ceruto
• Production, Direction, Reorchestration and Arrangements of Benny Moré's Music: Juan Manuel Ceruto
• Score: Juan Formell, Juan Manuel Ceruto and Eduardo Ramos
• Production Design: Erick Grass
• Costume Design: Nanette García
• Choreography: Isidro Rolando
• Sound Editing and Postproduction: Osmani Olivare
• Production Sound: Ricardo Istueta
• Director's Assistant: Juan Carlos Tellez
• Make Up: Magali Pompa

External links

• Official site
• Page on the ICAIC website (In Spanish)