The first feature film by Kaveh Nabatian, which tells the story of an Afro-Cuban ballet dancer who seduces a tourist in search of a better life. Shot in Montreal and Cuba, the film features Yonah Acosta GonzalezEvelyn Castroda O’Farrill and Aki Yaghoubi. It will open in Quebec theatres on September 10.

Sin La Habana premiered at the Festival du nouveau cinéma, where it won the “Prix de la diffusion Québecor” awarded to an outstanding film of the national competition. It was then selected in several national and international festivals including the Miami Film Festival and the Ashland Independent Film Festival where it received the Gerald Hirschfeld Cinematography Award.

SYNOPSIS

Leonardo and Sara, a young Afro-Cuban couple, are desperate to leave the island. They decide that the best way to emigrate is for Leonardo to seduce a foreign woman, get legal status in another country, and then send for Sara. The woman they choose is Nasim, an Iranian-Canadian divorcée who is running from an oppressive past and yearning to have fun for the first time in her life. When Leonardo convinces Nasim to marry him, he is able to move to Montreal, but his plan derails when real emotions get in the way.

TRAILER: vimeo.com/463955099

About filmmaker Kaveh Nabatian

Kaveh Nabatian is an Iranian-Canadian who has directed fiction films, music videos, and documentaries all over the world: from Nunavut, Haiti, India, and Cuba to his home in Montreal. Kaveh also composes and plays trumpet in the Juno Award-winning band Bell Orchestre. Recent projects include orchestrating an omnibus experimental feature, The Seven Last Words; a documentary about Leonard Cohen, A Crack in Everything; and collaborations with Arcade Fire, Kahlil Joseph, and Half Moon Run. His award-winning films, which combine evocative imagery and sound with deeply human stories, deal with people on the margins of society. Sin La Habana is his first fiction feature.

SIN LA HABANA

Based on an original story by Pablo D. Herrera Veitia

Feature Fiction. Quebec/Canada, Cuba. 94 minutes. 2020.

Original English, Farsi and Spanish version with French or English subtitles

Directed by Kaveh Nabatian | Written by Kaveh Nabatian | Cinematography: Juan Pablo Ramírez AMC | Sound Design: Sylvain Bellemare | Sound Mix: Hans Laitres | Editing: Sophie Leblond | Art Direction: Valérie-Jeanne Mathieu | Original Music: Kaveh Nabatian | Costumes: Patricia McNeil | Choreographer: Julio Hong | Producers: Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette, Ménaïc Raoul | Production: Voyelles Films | Distribution: Maison 4:3

Websitemaison4tiers.com/produit/sin-la-habana

Facebook: facebook.com/SinLaHabana

Instagram: instagram.com/sinlahabana.film