Booking fees
£1.50 booking fee per online/phone transaction.
No fee when tickets are booked in person.
Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events the highest booking fee will apply. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events. Members do not pay booking fees.
Film Programme
Habana Solo
2000, Cuba, dir. Juan Carlos Alom, 25mins
A sensory portrait of central Havana capturing the city’s atmosphere and daily rhythm. Through wandering observations, the film constructs an urban symphony that reflects both transformation and continuity within the cityscape.
La ballena es buena (The Whale Is Good)
1991, Cuba, dir. Manuel Marzel, 14mins
A Sunday afternoon in the neighbourhood: apparently nothing happens. In this stillness humorous observations unfold, in which the trivial becomes poetic, turning the absence of events into the film’s central narrative material.
Diario (Diary)
2009, Cuba, dir. Juan Carlos Alom, 15mins
Inspired by José Martí’s diary written during his journey from Cap-Haïtien to Dos Ríos, the film merges historical memory and personal impression to evoke both the journey and the figure of Cuba’s national hero through a contemporary, fragmentary lens.
A Norman McLaren (To Norman McLaren)
1991, Cuba, Manuel Marzel, 12mins
Inspired by Norman McLaren’s techniques of direct animation on film stock, this short film constructs a collage from randomly obtained fragments subjected to multiple visual interventions. The result is an abstract, playful narrative infused with humour and suggestion, close to a Dadaist spirit, accompanied by music from Villalobos–Gismonti and Eva y los Pecadores.
Enigmas versiformes (Versiform Enigmas)
2019, Cuba, dir. Juan Carlos Alom, 8mins
Through numbers, symbols and street gambling practices, this film observes how numerology and superstition permeate everyday Cuban life. A visual essay seeking meaning in the seemingly banal, revealing the hidden poetics of urban experience.
Evidentemente comieron chocolate suizo (Evidently They Ate Swiss Chocolate)
1991, Cuba, dir. Manuel Marzel, 13mins
The director rescues the final reel of a supposedly lost crime film, though its original soundtrack is beyond recovery. The result is a deliberate play with cinematic language that humorously questions narrative conventions and representational codes. An irreverent homage to and parody of bloody thrillers, Godard and even Madonna’s pop imagery.
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Cinemas
Location
Barbican Cinema 1 is located within the main Barbican building on Level -2. Head to Level G and walk towards the Lakeside Terrace where you’ll find stairs and lifts to take you down to the venue floor.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
