Join the Cuban Heritage Collection in the Kislak Center at the University of Miami for a screening and discussion of the film “En la Caliente: Tales of a Reggaeton Warrior” with director Fabien Pisani and Cuban journalist Carlos Manuel Álvarez.
Despite being hugely popular in Cuba, reggaeton is barely heard on official media and is banned from public spaces. This intense and passionate film immerses us in the youth cultural phenomenon that reggaeton represented since its emergence in the mid-90s in Santiago de Cuba, under the undeniable leadership of Kandyman. In the midst of the economic crisis (the “Special Period”), Kandyman set the streets on fire with a rhythm that circulated clandestinely via USB drives and CD-Rs. Where the authorities saw vulgarity and indecency, thousands of young people found artistic, physical, and liberating expression.
The film will be presented in Spanish with English subtitles. The discussion, moderated by Michael J. Bustamante, will be presented in Spanish.