El Benny
Jorge Luis Sánchez:
El Benny (Cuba, 2006)
132 min - DVD - Spanish. English subtitles.
Production: Coral Capital Entertainment
Cuba's Oscar entry "El Benny", the first full feature motion picture based on the life of Benny Moré, the greatest Cuban musician of all time, who died far too young yet profoundly changed the course of Latin music forever.
More famous during his lifetime in Venezuela and Mexico than in his own home country of Cuba, he was asked in 1957, not long before he died, to play at the Oscars in Los Angeles.
Never having formally studied music, he arranged big band orchestras and combos from the music he heard in his head and felt in his soul without being able to read or write music. A true musical genius, Benny was a man of supreme charisma and passion, but his attraction to the night, the women and the partying excesses led to his untimely death. His legacy is still felt today in most contemporary Latin music. This movie, a co-production between Coral Capital Entertainment and the Cuban film institute ICAIC, finally brings to the big screen, in Cinemascope and Dolby 5.1, this passionate story of music, love, genius, violence, and tragedy set in Havana during the 40s and 50s.
Jorge Luis Sánchez
Jorge Luis Sánchez is a Cuban film director. He was a founder of the Nacional Federation of Cine Clubs of Cuba. He started to work in ICAIC in 1981 as camera assistant, and later as assistant director. His first feature El Benny was presented at the Locarno International Film Festival in August 2006, where its star Renny Arozarena won the Boccalino prize for best performance for protagonist in all sections of festival. The film is Cuba's candidate for the Academy Awards.
