Country: Cuba 2009
Plots keywords: Drama | Cuban Revolution | 19 Century
Language: Español – English subtitles
Director and Writer: Fernado Pérez Vadés
Production Co: Co-producción Cuba-España; Televisión Española (TVE) / Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC) / Lusa Films S.L. / Wanda Films
Runtime: 120 min.
Cast: Daniel Romero Bildaín, Rolando Brito, Broselianda Hernández, Enrique Lázaro Piedra, Manuel Porto, Julio César Ramírez, Damián Rodríguez, Francisco López Ruiz, Eugenio Torroella
Awards: 2010 Premios Ariel: Mejor película iberoamericana (ex aequo)
José Martí: El Ojo del Canario
José Martí, entre los 9 y los 17: los únicos años en que conoció de cerca a su patria y en los que aprendió a amarla y entenderla, para hacer la magna obra que le tomó el resto de su vida. No es una biografía: es un itinerario espiritual inspirado en la infancia y adolescencia del héroe nacional cubano José Martí.
”José Martí fue un hombre de una sensibilidad muy especial que marcó la historia de Cuba, pero también fue un ser humano común, corriente, como cualquiera de nosotros. Creo que eso es lo que hace grande a los grandes hombres. Mi película se sumerge en la complejidad cotidiana que formó el carácter de Martí durante su infancia y adolescencia. La mirada será más personal que histórica, más subjetiva que biográfica. Cada cubano tiene su Martí. En este filme, yo trataré de expresar el mío.” -Fernando Pérez, Director
José Martí: The Eye of The Canary
Little is known of the childhood and youth of the great 19th-century Cuban liberator, José Martí. This robust biopic imagines his early years. The son of a magistrate, the precocious Martí — “Pepe” to family and friends — takes an early interest in justice. Gradually he enters the nascent independence movement and, not yet 18, is arrested for sedition. Respectful, yet not worshipful, this is a portrait of the revolutionary as a young man, and a stirring historical drama besides.
José Martí: The Eye of the Canary was awarded the Ariel for Best Latin American Film at the Mexican Academy Awards in 2011.
Fernando Pérez has published articles on cinema and taught courses on film appreciation and cinema history at various Cuban universities. His filmography contains over a dozen titles including Havana Suite (2003), Life is to Whistle (1998) and Madagascar (1995). He was chosen as the most outstanding Cuban film director of the 1990s by the Cuban Film Press Association.
Ismael Torres is an artist, Singer and songwriter from Rosario, Argentina. He is 32 years old and already has 3 albums, 3 EPs and 1 DVD.
He began his professional career at the age of 16, accompanying with his voice and his guitar artists of the so-called “Trova Rosarina”. At age 18 he released his first solo album “Ciudad Manantial (spring city)”. Today with more than 14 years of experience he has toured multiple cities around the country and the world. He has shared stage and songs with Argentine artists such as León Gieco, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Lito Nebbia, Javier Malosetti, and from other countries: Jaime Ross, Ruben Rada (Uruguay), Ismael Serrano, Pedro Guerra (Spain), Leonel Soto, David Aguilar , Miguel Inzunza (Mexico), Roly Berrío, Augusto Blanca, Vicente Feliú, Amaury Pérez (Cuba) among others.
In 2015, Ismael released his third album titled “Vivo en Cuba (live in Cuba)”
recorded live in the city of Havana and published worldwide by the Mexican label Casete. With this album he toured the stages of Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, USA, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
In 2016, a tour of Mexico and the USA included concerts such as the “Festi
val Quimera 2016”, the ”Aula Magna Theater of the Civil College“ in Monterrey, the ”RockWood Music Hall“ in New York and the ”Blackerby Recital Hall“ in Austin among many others.
In 2017, the consolidation of Ismael as a Latin American singer-songwriter expanded the horizons of an important tour called “Una sola América 2017 (Only one America 2017)” touring numerous cities in Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Panama and Guatemala with more than 60 concerts. The closing of the year was marked with the artistic collective “Rosario 50 years of Rock in Castellano” in a memorable concert at the prestigious “Trovafest” festival in the city of Querétaro (Mexico) with more than 5,000 people, a festival that also hosted artists like Ismael Serrano, Armando Manzanero, Pedro Guerra, Amaury Perez, among others.
We can hear Luis A. Spinetta, Fito Paez, Charly Garcia, Sting, John Mayer, and Djavan as his main influences among others.
The essence of Ismael, though, is that he presents his art and talent via the stories in which he immerses us, through the beauty reflected in his music, and by inviting us to join his collective optimism. In his shows, he presents himself with a unique style and warmth.
This character is present whether he is alone on stage with his guitar, or with a powerful band of musicians without losing his essence.