Two alumni from the class of 2003 have just released an award-winning feature documentary called Sons Of Cuba.
Laura Giles MBA 2003 and Francine Heywood MBA 2003 started working together on film projects shortly after completing the MBA and have gone on to produce three short films which have played at international film festivals as well as the new feature documentary Sons Of Cuba.
Sons of Cuba is based around the legendary Havana Boxing Academy, a boarding school that takes nine year old boys and turns them into the best boxers in the world. Sons of Cuba follows the stories of three young hopefuls through eight dramatic months of training and education as they prepare for the biggest event of their lives so far: Cuba’s National Boxing Championship for Under-12s. But during the season, crisis strikes: Fidel Castro is taken ill and all of Cuba’s Olympic boxing champions defect to the USA. As the championship draws closer, the Cuba that the boys have been taught to believe in is at an historic crossroads.
So far, the film has won the following awards:
- Best Documentary, Rome International Film Festival
- Best Documentary, Los Angeles Latin American Film Festival
- Youth Jury Award, Sheffield Doc/Fest
- Best Film about Latin America by a non Latin-American, Havana Film Festival
- Best Documentary, Foundation of New Latin American Cinema
- Audience Award, London Latin American Film Festival
The film opens at the ICA on 18th March and will tour regional arthouse cinemas thereafter.
Laura will be profiled as a ‘Producer to watch’ in the forthcoming issue of Moviescope magazine.
For more information about Sons of Cuba go to:
www.sonsofcuba.com.
