Tumi Productions’ Mambo Man is a film that truly encompasses Cuban culture and heritage. Based on an incredible true story, Mo Fini and Edesio Alejandro’s love letter to Cuba is a warming and heart-wrenching story of a man struggling to provide for his family, and the risks it is sometimes necessary to take in order to keep afloat in a world that threatens to take everything away in a heartbeat. This fantastic tale is dripping with Cuban flair, packed with musical contributions from some of Cuba’s most celebrated stars, and featuring beautiful cinematography which serves to elevate the country’s famous architecture and scenery while remaining grounded in the harsh nature of a working-class reality. Feature Film of the Year 2023: Mambo Man Set in 2017, Mambo Man tells the story of JC (Héctor Noas), whose position as a local music producer, promoter, farmer, and lowlevel hustler does just enough to be able to support his wife and family and keep his small circle of associates on-side. With his regional “Godfather” status on the line and livelihood threatened due to his circumstances, JC is often forced to take necessary risks that push him, and subsequently his marriage, to the absolute limit. When an absence of rain threatens his crops, JC must balance his organising of music concerts with day-to-day activities to keep the farm running the best it possibly can, all while entertaining a group of British tourists, who are in Cuba to enjoy the musical offerings and soak up the culture. This character study features betrayal and hardship along the way, but audiences cannot help but root for the protagonist, who at his core is a considerate and good-natured man, whose necessarily tough exterior is the result of having to remain strong for his family and associates. It is an unexpected phone call which sets the events of the film in motion, with an opportunity coming to fruition that could potentially provide JC and his family with a way out and the key to a better life. What follows is a frantic search to try and raise $50,000, and in turn, gamble everything that he and his family owns in order to amass one final plan to escape hardship and enjoy the sort of comfortable life a father figure strives to provide for those around him. This dramatic tale is interspersed with a stellar soundtrack of musicians, featuring such renowned artists as the Grammy awardwinning Eliades Ochoa (Buena Vista Social Club), Candido Fabre, Maria Ocha, David Alvarez and Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and the Afro-Cuban All Stars, to name just a few. It is the live concert settings the film depicts which serve to highlight the importance of music in bringing local communities together, with these scenes providing a break in the action to revel in the heritage and culture that underpin the narrative. Along with the music, the cinematography provided by Luis Alberto González Garcia exquisitely balances the harsh grittiness of a farmer trying to make ends meet, a role which JC has been playing for so long, with the wider bustle of Cuba in an almost travelogue approach to shooting the culturally rich city of Havana and the picturesque countryside, which seems to present endless freedom for opportunity and growth. The bright colours of Cuba’s famous architecture style pop in shots of streets and buildings, and the vibrancy of the markets, clubs, and cafes, all serve as a deliberate contrast to the world JC lives in and provide insight to the riches that await him, if only he can escape his troubles and the harsh realities of being a farmer. This insinuates an overarching feeling of hope, a sense that everything will turn out alright in the end, with music acting as the ultimate escape mechanism. The film is also acutely aware of the wider landscape, and it is clear its two Cuban directors are attempting to make inference to the wide-ranging impact of Western culture and the American dollar reaching the country, more than fifty years on from Castro’s revolution. Born into communism, JC, like so many male protagonists in character study pictures, is set in his ways, considering himself a big fish in a small pond. With the world changing around him, Mambo Man can be read as a reaction to the shifts of contemporary culture, as well as the wealth of new opportunities arising in Cuba as it begins to relax some of its policies and opens its arms to the rest of the world. Ultimately, Mambo Man is the sort of film that can only be made by auteurs, people who fully understand the power of cinema, music, and culture in the crafting of a true story into a touching, delicate, and personal tale of love, hope, beauty, and misery. Contact: Mo Fini Company: Tumi Music and Tumi Productions Web Address: http://mambomanfilm.com/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY1MjM3