Screening of documentaries featuring Afro-Cuban art and culture scheduled at MSSU

(From University of Missouri Extension)

University of Missouri Extension is partnering with Missouri Southern State University and Joplin’s Bookhouse Cinema to present free screenings on Sept. 1 of four documentaries by Juanamaria Cordones-Cook, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and curators’ distinguished professor in the MU Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

The screenings are part of the Caribbean Semester, the latest instance of MSSU’s annual tradition of internationally themed semesters. In addition to films, the semester will feature art exhibits, speakers, book discussions and musical performances.

Maria Rodriguez-Alcalá, an MU Extension county engagement specialist in community development and a member of the Caribbean Semester planning committee, had previously worked with Cordones-Cook. 

She knew her documentaries exploring Afro-Cuban art and culture would fit perfectly with the semester’s theme, presenting a great opportunity to advance the University of Missouri’s commitment to engagement in communities throughout the state.

Cordones-Cook’s films have been screened at universities around the world, including Harvard and La Sorbonne, as well as at museums, libraries and film festivals. The documentary “Battle: Change From Within,” co-produced with MU Extension, was nominated for the 2014 Mid-America Emmy Award for best documentary. But few Missourians outside the Columbia and St. Louis areas have had the opportunity to see her documentaries, Rodriguez-Alcalá said.

“For more than 20 years, Juanamaria Cordones-Cook has built strong relationships and connections with renowned Afro-Cuban writers and artists,” she said. “The high quality and diversity of their work attracts scholars and journalists from around the world, but no one has the reputation and access to them that Juanamaria has. Her documentaries are living testimony of how African culture and religion are part of Cuba’s unique identity, something that makes many Cubans proud and so many foreigners curious to learn about.”

The four featured documentaries profile an aristocrat turned revolutionary turned cultural advocate; a renowned Cuban artist whose work is informed by his Santeria religion; a self-described “maroon” (descendant of enslaved Africans) who explores issues of race and poverty in a variety of artistic mediums; and a writer and scholar whom Cordones-Cook describes as a Cuban “griot,” a reference to the traveling troubadour/historians of West Africa. Cordones-Cook will participate in discussions via Zoom to answer questions.

Two of the films will be screened in Phelps Theater on the MSSU campus. The two evening showings will be hosted by the Bookhouse Cinema, an independent movie theater and pub in Joplin’s historic and diverse East Town neighborhood. Traditional Cuban cuisine and beverages will be available for purchase before the 7 p.m. screenings.

Rodriguez-Alcalá says COVID-19 measures will be in effect at both venues. To allow ample space between audience members, the Bookhouse Cinema is holding simultaneous screenings that will be repeated. Masks or other face coverings are strongly suggested.

For more information about the Caribbean Semester, visit the MSSU Themed Semester webpage at mssu.edu/academics/international-studies/themed-semester.