Durades Dialogue & Film | Reembarque/Reshipment with Gloria Rolando and Robert Byrd

Reembarque / Reshipment (2014) by Cuban documentary film maker Gloria Rolando is the story of Haitian immigrants to the province of Oriente in eastern Cuba. In the early 20th century, Haitians crossed the Gulf of Gonaives to work as laborers in the cane fields. When the sugar market crashed, many were forcibly returned to Haiti. The voices of prominent historians join the memories of Haitians and their descendants in Cuba to understand a chapter of this complex economic and social history of the Caribbean. The film tells a story that, despite discrimination suffered by the Haitians, the Creole language, vodou, and other musical and dance traditions remain strongly embedded in the Cuban cultural landscape. DVD, 58 min. Following the screening, Gloria Rolando and Robert Byrd will have a discussion about film-making.

Celebrated Afro-Cuban filmmaker Gloria Rolando’s career spans over 35 years at ICAIC, the Cuban national film institute. She also heads an independent film-making group, Imágenes del Caribe, based in Havana. The primary focus of Rolando’s work is the African diaspora in the Caribbean. Rolando is known for Eyes of the Rainbow, a documentary on Assata Shakur and 1912, Breaking the Silence. Reembarque/Reshipment (2014) is her latest film and this screening will be a Minnesota premiere.

Robert Byrd is program director at the Jerome Foundation. He directs the Foundation’s Film and Video Program, which supports narrative, documentary, experimental and animation filmmakers in Minnesota and New York City. Robert is also a documentary filmmaker whose Emmy and festival award-winning work has been featured in American and European film festivals and television.

The Durades Dialogue honors the actions of arts-advocate Jean Ann Durades, whose tireless curiosity, participation, and belief in the intrinsic value of the cultural communities of Minnesota are legendary. The intent of the Dialogue series is to, annually, bring to the attention of Minnesota audiences significant work by artists, curators, and other creatives of African descent. The Durades Dialogue topics are oriented toward global perspectives on the creative arts that challenge, rework, and reposition Africa within the global conversation.

This presentation is a partnership between the African Art Affinity Group of the Minneapolis Institute of Art with Obsidian Arts Center, the Minnesota Cuba Committee, and the Minnesota International Center.