Art Exhibit & Film Screening: Frenemies

Tuesday, March 29, 6:30pm

$5 General Admission

Art Exhibit and In-person screening with virtual panel discussion with three Florida Senate candidates.

Buy Tickets for In-Person Screening HERE

Buy Tickets for Virtual Screening HERE

Unique visions of Cuba presented by two Sarasota artists

The work of two Sarasota-based artists, award-winning filmmaker Mirella Martinelli and photographer and author Allan Mestel, will be presented by WSLR Fogartyville on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

At 6:30pm Allan Mestel will launch his new photobook 48 Hours in Havana and at 7pm there will be a special screening of Martinelli’s new full-length documentary film Frenemies: Cuba and the U.S. Embargo  followed by a panel discussion.

An exhibition of Mestel’s images will be also on display.

FRENEMIES

Set to the pulsating beats of Afro-Caribbean music, FRENEMIES examines the fraught relationship between the island nation of Cuba and the US. Blending 1950s archival footage with contemporary shots of Cuba’s economic decay and vibrant culture, the film paints a vivid portrait of a nation fighting for survival against one of the world’s longest-running embargos.

The film aims to bring dialogue to this polarized issue of whether to keep or lift the U.S. embargo against Cuba. The March screening at Fogartyville (in-person and virtual) will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker and three Florida candidates for the U.S. Senate who support lifting the embargo: Al Fox, Will Sanchez and Josh Weil. The panel discussion will be moderated by Johannes Werner and followed by a Q & A with the FRENEMIES director.  

FRENEMIES took home the Audience Award at both its premiere at the Dunedin International Film Festival and at the Oregon International Film Festival. The documentary also won the Social Impact Award at the Latino & Native American Film Festival (CT), and the Impact Award for Global Politics at The Most Important Films (NV). It was a finalist for an Impact Pillar Award at the Whistleblower Summit & Film Festival and received the Award of Excellence at the Docs Without Borders Film Festival. Besides a crowd-funding campaign, the documentary was funded by the Arts & Culture Alliance of Sarasota County, the Puffin Foundation, Moving Images and Long Distance Productions.

48 HOURS IN HAVANA

In 2018 documentary photographer Allan Mestel travelled to Cuba and spent 48 hours in the streets and alleys of Old Havana capturing images of the city and it’s unique and vibrant street life. An award-winning street photographer, Allan’s intimate portraits and candid captures illustrate both the magnificent beauty and tragic decay of this historic city, and pay homage to the Cuban people who continue to live joyfully despite the hardship and deprivation of sixty years of embargo.

The film will be followed by a virtual panel discussion with award winning filmmaker Mirella Martinelli and three Florida candidates for the U.S. Senate who support lifting the embargo: Al Fox, Will Sanchez and Josh Weil. The panel discussion will be moderated by Johannes Werner and followed by a Q & A with the FRENEMIES director.  

The film will also be available virtually from Saturday March 26 at 7pm to March 29 at 7pm. To register for the virtual screening, click HERE.  You will be sent a link prior to March 26th to view the film.