Buena Vista Social Club

In 1996, a group of legendary Cuban musicians were brought together by Ry Cooder to record a CD. This documentary shows some of their songs being recorded in the studio, concert footage from Amsterdam and New York City, and some of the musicians talking about their lives in Cuba and how they got started in music.

VTLIB (Video 2848)

Coverup: Behind the IRan Contra Affair

An account of the first arms sale to Iran and the Reagan/Bush campaign's secret deal to torpedo Jimmy Carter in 1980. Discusses the shadow government of former CIA operatives, drug smugglers, top U.S. military personnel and others, and how their actions have impacted the course of  history. Includes evidence of the history of CIA involvement in drug running from the Vietnam heroin era to the Central American cocaine epidemic. First- hand accounts of the bombing of the press conference in La Penca, Nicaragua, discussing who the assassins were and why American journalists were the real targets. Oliver North's plan to suspend the U.S. constitution and how it became a Reagan/Bush tool to protect an unpopular foreign policy.

VTLIB Video 7398

Time Will Tell (Bob Marley) (1992)

The life story of Nesta Robert Marley, Rastafarian prophet who with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer brought the powerful message of reggae music to the world outside their native Jamaica. Narration consists of selections from Marley's taped interviews. Time Will Tell is a ninety minute cinematic biography which celebrates the life of Bob marley, the Third World's first superstar. Using interviews, concert performances and rehearsal footage- much of it previously unseen - Time Will Tell presents a unique insight into Bob Marley the musician, while showing how his political and spiritual stance has a continuing power and relevace.

VTLIB (Video 1258)

Viva Zapata! (1952)

Vibrant film about Mexican peasant's rise to power and eventual Presidency. Brando is perfect in title role, Quinn equally fine in Oscar-winning performance as his brother. Script by John Steinbeck. Portrays the emergence of the early twentieth-century Mexican revolutionay, Emiliano Zapata. A story of the corruption of power, the deceit of politicians, and the consuming greed that can bring down the best of men.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 177)

Burn!

This story of political greed and social upheaval will take you on a journey deep into the heart of darkness of a 19th century Caribbean island, where men rise up in bitter and bloody rebellion against the wealthy nations seeking to enslave them.Quemada!  Egomaniacal Sir William Walker (Brando) is sent by the British to instigate a slave revolt on a Portuguese-controlled sugar-producing Caribbean island. This political drama is visually striking but muddled, with a strong Brando performance.  I'll give you a hint on this one--you will NOT be able to identify which Caribbean nation it takes place in, the movie goes out of its way to make sure you don't know.  This is done quite intentionally, as the film is depicting a common theme of history among many different Caribbean nations, even though the story itself is a fictional account.
 

VTLIB (Video 7039)

Under Fire (1983)

 Caught up in the emotions of war in Nicaragua in 1979, Russel Price agrees to help the rebels by staging a photo of their dead leader to make him look alive. The results are far-reaching and ultimately devastating. First-rate political thriller about journalists on the line in Managua, Nicaragua, 1979, how their lives intertwine, and how two of them risk their professionalism by becoming involved in the revolutionary conflict. One of those rare films that manages to combine real-life politics and realistic romance with a no-nonsense story.

VU-DRAMA
 

Harder They Come, The (1973)
 

Country-boy Cliff comes to Kingston to make it as a singer; ironically, it isn't until he turns to a life of crime that his record starts to climb the charts. Crude but powerful film almost single-handedly launched reggae music's popularity in America; still a major cult favorite. Terrific song score includes ``You Can Get It If You Really Want,'' ``Many Rivers to Cross,'' title tune.
 
 
 

VU-DRAMA

Havana (1990)

Cuba, December 1958: The professional gambler Jack visits Havana to organize a big Poker game. On the ship he meets Roberta and falls in love with her. Shortly after they arrive in Cuba, her Cubanian husband, the revolutionary Arturo, is shot on the street by the military and Roberta is arrested and tortured. Jack manages to get her free again, however he can't keep her from continuing to support the revolution.
 
 

VU-DRAMA

A Life Of Sin

An impoverished Caribbean girl rises to wealth and prominence as a world-famous madame. But her success does not come cheap. Rejected by the Catholic bishop and betrayed by her trusted friend, she suffers a devastating fall from grace that is as shocking as her rise to power.
 
 
 

VTLIB (Video 819), VU-DRAMA

Night of the Iguana, The (1964)

Lawrence Shannon is a defrocked clergyman working as a tour guide in Mexico. His customers are a group of old schoolteachers, except for Charlotte Goodall, a nymphomaniac teenager always at try to seduce him. Judith Fellows is in charge of the group. Seeing Shannon as a satyre, she tries to fire him. Shannon refuges in a hotel operated by a widow, Maxine Faulks, a friend of him. He will meet there Hannah Jelkes, a middle-aged spinster travelling with his old poet-grandfather. All those women will have a great influence upon his destiny...
 
 

VTLIB(Video 3517), VU-DRAMA

Romero (1989)
 

Absorbing biography of El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero, chronicling his transformation from passive cleric to eloquent defender of his church and people. Thoughtfully directed with a good script by John Sacret Young and a quietly powerful performance by Julia. The initial feature film financed by officials of the United States Roman Catholic Church.
 
 

VTLIB(Video 1492), VU-DRAMA, BB-DRAMA

Salvador (1986)
 

Uneven but compelling drama based on real experiences of journalist Richard Boyle in strife-ridden El Salvador in 1980-81. Effective propaganda, often potent drama; it takes time to grab hold because lead characters Woods and Belushi are such incredible sleazeballs. Woods's dynamic performance makes up for a lot; his first visit to confession in thirty-two years is a memorably funny scene. Screenplay by Boyle himself and director Stone.
 
 

VU-FOR, BB-FOR

Mariachi, El (1992)

El Mariachi just wants to play his guitar and carry on the family tradition. Unfortunately, the town he tries to find work in has another visitor...a killer who carries his guns in a guitar case. The drug lord and his henchmen mistake El Mariachi for the killer, Azul, and chase him around town trying to kill him and get his guitar case.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 7461), BB-FOR

I Am Cuba aka Soy Cuba/Ya Kuba (1964)
 

Luz Maria Collazo, Jean Bouise. Sweeping, eye-popping ode to Cuba and the Castro revolution. Vignettes idealize hardworking but exploited peasants and Castro's staunch, freedom-loving revolutionaries, depicting Americans as decadent, sexist swine. And the images are consistently dazzling; the film demands to be seen and savored by any lover of pure cinema. Scripted by Yevgeny Yevtushenko and Enrique Pineda Barnet; released in the U. S. in 1995
 
 
 

VTLIB(is on order), BB-FOR

El Norte (1983)

Sweeping, emotional saga of a brother and sister who leave their violence-torn village in Guatemala to find a better life in The North--El Norte. Getting to America is half the story; making a life there is the other half. Writer-director Nava presents a heightened sense of reality that removes this from the realm of documentary; a compassionate, heart-rending, unforgettable film. Cowritten and produced by Anna Thomas, for American Playhouse.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 7401)

Our house in Havana

Documentary following a 68 year-old Cuban exile who returns to her homeland for the first time in almost 40 years. By the time she returns to the United States, her view of U.S.-Cuban relations has changed radically

 VTLIB (Video 5027 )

Maya: the blood of kings

Documentary. While Europe was in the midst of the Dark Ages, the Maya of Central America were developing a culture responsible for a complicated writing system, mathematic and astrological calculations and archeological marvels. Explore ruins in the jungles of Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to understand a  people both sophisticated and bloodthirsty and a society that collapsed with mysterious speed.
 

VTLIB (Video 4385)

God and politics. The kingdom divided

Documentary. This program tells the story of two different visions of Christianity and how each is finding a pulpit and battleground in Central America
 

VTLIB (Video 6359)

The Greening of Cuba

Documentary. This video profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture, based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported agricultural inputs. In their quest for self-sufficiency, Cubans combine time-tested traditional methods with cutting-edge biotechnology.
 

VTLIB (Video 7091), BB-DRAMA, VU-DRAMA

The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Utterly compelling, novelistic saga of iconoclastic inventor and idealist (Ford, in a knockout performance) who moves his family to remote village in Central America where he creates an incredible utopia ...and proceeds to play God. Not for all tastes, since Ford's character is unsympathetic (though he was even worse in Paul Theroux's novel!). Beautifully crafted, with fine screenplay by Paul Schrader. A serious and emotionally gripping film.
 
 

VTLIB (Video 4851)

Like Water for Chocolate

Striking and sensuous film (from a novel by Laura Esquivel, the director's then-wife), set in the early part of the 20th century: a  young woman's life is shaped first by her stern and unyielding mother, and more important, by the overwhelming power of    cooking. Sumptuous fable--not without humor--with a good cast and a top-notch performance from lead actress Cavazos.       Piquant, sometimes mystical, and enjoyably unpredictable. Original running time was 144m.