SYNOPSIS
Filled with the unique colors and rhythms of Cuba, Krudas explores the lives and work of an interracial lesbian couple from Cuba who leads a hip hop duo called Krudas and a street performance group of actors, stilt walkers and jugglers, Tropazancos.
Krudas begun their hip hop group in 1999, and are currently the most popular female group from the Cuban alternative music scene. They address issues such as female liberation, lesbian rights, female solidarity, and racism. Most of their work is deeply impregnated with feminism and their African roots.
Krudas conceive language itself as the root of female exclusion. Their songs represent an effort to upset semantics and syntax. They summon men to dialog, refusing any sort of hierarchical relationship. Krudas emphasize on the use of the first person—we usually hear the repetition of the first person “yo” (I), sometimes followed by their own names to further personalize their discourse. Krudas’ first person extends beyond mere autobiographical narrative; their “I” is an attempt to formulate a double subjectivity, what philosopher Luce Irigaray calls “I-she” (“Je-elle”) and “I-he” (“Je-il”).
In addition to leading the hip hop duo and the street performance group Tropazancos, Krudas have also organized a network of female hip hop artists, Omega, to unite females in the hip hop and alternative music scene. Omega’s goal is to join forces in order to generate larger projects, including all-female collective performances, recordings, and workshops.
An article about Krudas and Cuban female rappers from Znet here
VIDEO
CREDITS
Title: Krudas
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 29 minutes
Country: Cuba
Language: Spanish with English/French subtitles
Year: 2006
Format: MiniDV
Appearing: Odaymara Cuesta (Pasita), Olivia Prendes (Pelusa), Tropazancos stilt walkers and performers Yruzam Sanchez Graña, Sayly Sanchez, Yarima Perez, Yanet Estevez, Lety Bell, Alberto Sanchez, Leonel Rojas, Lazaro Bonachea, Yran Farias, Andres Aguilera.
Director: Imwinkelried
Producer: Yusimi Rodriguez
Photography: Imwinkelried
Sound: Melior Mouamma
Editors: Imwinkelried, Gwenn Lloyd Jones
Music: Krudas
AWARDS
Best Short Documentary (Jury’s Award)
Best Short Documentary (Public’s Award)
At Cineffable’s Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival, 27- 30 October 2006
www.cineffable.fr
FESTIVAL SCREENINGS
- Frameline Film Festival
2009, June
San Francisco, USA
www.frameline.org/festival
- Bloomington, Indiana’s PRIDE Film Festival
2009, January
Bloomington, USA
www.pridefilmfestival.org/
- Antidoto
2008, October
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
www.itaucultural.org.br
- Cine Cufa
2008, September 9-21
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
www.cinecufa.com.br
- Michigan Womyn’s Film Festival
2008, August 5-10
Michigan State, USA
www.michfest.com
- NewFest 2008: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, &
Transgender Film Festival
2008, June 5-15
New York, USA
www.newfest.org
- Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
2007, November 8-18
www.reelingfilmfestival.org
Chicago, USA
- FICCU: Festival Internacional de Cine Cubano (Filmmaker invited to present)
2007, October 18-28
Munich, Germany
- Festival du Film Engage (Filmmaker invited to present)
2007, 16-17 May
Clermont-Ferrand, France
- Lost & Found, Of Losses and Strategies of Cultural Self-Empowerment
Held at Shedhalle
2007, May 12-July 15
http://shedhalle.ch/eng/presse/index.shtml
Zurich, Switzerland
- Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival (Filmmaker invited to present)
2007, 10-20 May
www.ucansupurge.org
Ankara, Turkey
- Pink Apple Schwullesbisches Film Festival (Filmmaker invited to present)
2007, 2-9 May
pinkapple.ch
Zurich, Switzerland
- British Film Institute’s London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
2007, 21 March - 4 April
www.llgff.org.uk
London, UK
- 11th Annual International Women’s Film Festival
Organized by the Institute for Research and Education on Women & Gender at the University at Buffalo
2007, March 1
genderbuffalo.org
Buffalo, United States
- Docusur, Festival Internacional de Documentales del Sur
2006, 22-29 October
http://docusur.es
Tenrife, Spain
- Cineffable’s Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival (Filmmaker invited to present)
27- 30 October 2006
www.cineffable.fr
Paris, France
- Irish Film Institute’s Dublin Lesbian & Gay Festival 2006
www.irishfilm.ie
2006, 3-7 August
Dublin, Ireland
- Digital Barcelona Film Festival (DIBA)
www.dibafestival.com
2006, 23-27 May
Barcelona, Spain
- Rhythm of the Line (ROTL)
2006, 13-17 April
www.rotl.de
Berlin, Germany
OTHER SCREENINGS
- Rice University, Houston, 2007-04, United States. (Filmmaker invited to present)
- University of Toronto, 2006-10, Toronto, Canada
- Rhizome Collective, 2006-10, Austin, United States
- Women’s Bookstore, 2006-2, Toronto, Canada
- Weber State University , XVI Congreso Anual de la Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispánica, 2006-10, Ogden, Utah.
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