yuli

Spanish Version

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Q&A with the director Icíar Bollaín: 6/10 h. 18 (UK time zone) Book a place

SYNOPSIS

Yuli is the nickname given to Carlos Acosta by his father Pedro. From a young age, Yuli fled any kind of discipline and education; the streets of a run-down neighborhood in Havana was where he learned most of his schooling. But Pedro knows his son has natural talent and forces him to attend Cuba’s National Dance School. Against his will and despite his initial indiscipline, Yuli ends up being captivated by the world of dance, and from childhood he will begin to forge his own legend, as one of the best dancers of his generation, often breaking tabus and becoming the first black artist to dance Romeo in the Royal Ballet in London, where he forged a legendary career as a principal dancer for 17 years.

Original Title: Yuli

English Title: Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story

Duration: 104 min / color /

Country: Spain – UK – Germany

Year: 2018

MAIN CAST

Carlos Acosta: Carlos Acosta (contemporary)

Santiago Alfonso: Pedro (Carlos’s Father)

Keyvin Martínez: Carlos Acosta (young man)

Edilson Manuel Olbera Núñez: Carlos Acosta (boy) Laura De La Uz: Chery

Yerlín Pérez: María

Mario Sergio Elías: Mario

Andrea Doimeadíos: Berta

César Domínguez: Opito

Yailene Sierra: Teacher 1

Héctor Noas: Guide

Carlos Enrique Almirante: Enrique

MAIN CREW

Director: Icíar Bollaín

Scriptwriter: Paul Laverty

Director of Photography: Alex Catalán

Composer: Alberto Iglesias

Editor: Nacho Ruiz Capillas

Production Designer: Laia Colet

Choreography: María Rovira

Producers: Andrea Calderwood, Juan Gordon

Production Companies: Morena Films, Potboiler Productions

Co-Producers: Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Claudia Calviño, Pau Calpe

Co-Production Companies: Match Factory Productions, Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, Galápagos Media, Hijo de Ogún A.I.E., Yuli

Productions Limited Associate Producers: Merry Colomer, Rachel Dargavel

Executive Producers: Pilar Benito, Gail Egan, Joe Oppenheimer, Mark Bell, Carlos Acosta, Debs Paterson

With Support from: ICAA, EURIMAGES, MBB, FFA

THE DIRECTOR SAYS ABOUT THE FILM...

"Yuli tells the history of Cuba from the perspective of Carlos’ family, beginning with his grandmother, born to a slave on the Acosta plantation (hence his name) through the rupture of the family’s separation, when Carlos' grandmother and aunt emigrate to Miami in the 1980s, an experience familiar to many Cuban families, but one that Carlos’ mother never recovered from. The dancer’s return home at the age of 20, after his first stay in London, coincides with the Special Period and the 1994 Rafter Crisis, when Russian aid ends following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the island lives through one of the worst moments of its recent history.

Carlos’ story is unique too, since only in Cuba could a mixed-race boy like him, from a humble neighbourhood, and son of a black truck driver, attend for free a first-class ballet school like the Cuban National School of Dance. I’ve been visiting Cuba several times since the early 1990s and have always admired its people and its ability to survive against all odds and get ahead with their lives. In the middle of no small contradictions and constant economic hardship, there is an amazing artistic Cuba, with dancers, musicians, plastic artists, writers and filmakers working at very top level, both in Cuba and abroad which the film pays tribute through Carlos and the extraordinary dancers, all Cuban, of his company."

DIRECTOR

Icíar Bollaín’s debut HI, ARE YOU ALONE? was one of the most watched movies of 1996 in Spain. Flowers From Another World, her second film, was awarded at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival (Best Film in the International Critics’ Week). TAKE MY EYES (2003), which she wrote and directed, won 7 Goyas (Spanish Academy Awards), including Best Film. 2010’s EVEN THE RAIN obtained 13 nominations at the Goya Awards, won the Berlinale’s Panorama Award and was nominated for the EFA Award for Best European Film and was Spain’s 2011 submission to the Academy Awards. THE OLIVE TREE (2016) was also Spain’s submission to the Oscars.

SCREENWRITER

Paul Laverty has written 14 scripts directed by Ken Loach. I, DANIEL BLAKE, and THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY have both won the Palme d’Or in Cannes. Their collaborations also include MY NAME IS JOE (best actor for Peter Mullan, Cannes) and THE ANGELS SHARE (Jury prize, Cannes) SWEET SIXTEEN. (Best screenplay, Cannes) and IT’S A FREE WORLD (best screenplay, Venice.) In addition to YULI, Laverty has written two other screenplays directed by Icíar Bollaín; EVEN THE RAIN (Panorama audience award at the Berlin Festival) and THE OLIVE TREE, both of which were Spain’s submissions to the Academy Awards.

cast

YULI is Edilson Manuel Olbera’s first film, shot when he was only ten years old. Like the character he plays, Edilson has an impressive natural talent that stands out at a glance. Edilson stood out in the casting for his sensitivity, character and sense of humour. And although he did not know how to dance, he learned quickly and became «the kid Carlos Acosta» with the first shot.

CAST

YULI marks Keyvin Martinez’s debut as an actor. He is an internationally recognized Cuban dancer, a 2013 graduate of the National Ballet School of Cuba. He also worked with RAKATAN and the ACOSTA DANZA company as a contemporary dancer, touring several countries with those companies.

CAST

Santiago Alfonso is a Cuban actor, dancer, artistic director, teacher and choreographer who began dancing in 1956 and eventually received the prestigious National Dance Award of Cuba in 2006 in recognition for his career achievements. He has acted and directed in productions worldwide and he has also participated as jury of important events such as the Cuban TV program Bailando en Cuba.

DISCUSSANT INTRODUCING THE Q&A SESSION

BELÉN VIDAL

Belén Vidal is Reader in Film Studies at King’s College London. She researches and teaches the historical film genres in contemporary European cinemas (particularly the biopic) and Spanish film history. She has widely published on contemporary Spanish cinema topics in journals including Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, Hispanic Research Journal and New Cinemas. She is the co-editor of The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture (2014) and the author of the books Figuring the Past. Period Film and the Mannerist Aesthetic (2012) and Heritage Film. Nation, Genre and Representation (2012).

CONTACT US: dmissero@brookes.ac.uk

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