Cuba: An African Odyssey is a brilliantly-executed documentary on Cuban involvement in African from  the 60s to the early 90s. It is divided into two parts: the first part deals mainly with the Congo in the early 60s, from the assassination of Patrice Lumumba to the arrival of Che Guevara and the Cubans in an effort to save the Congolese revolution begun by Lumumba. The second part focuses on Cuba’s military and diplomatic involvement in Angola in the 70s and 80s. The director Jihan El-Tahri includes interviews with many of the power players involved, including Fidel Castro and Pik Botha .It includes fabulous archival footage, in particular of Congo at the time Lumumba’s assassination.  El Tahiri also discusses Cuba’s involvement in the anti-colonial liberation struggles in Algeria and Guinea-Bissau.

James Thindwa of the American Federation of Teachers will lead the post-film conversation. 

This screening is part of the African Jubilee Film Festival which runs until December 5.

Learn more about the film festival.

This event is co-sponsored by portoluz, The DuSable Museum of African American History, the African American Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies departments at UIC, and The Public Square. portoluz is producer of the African Jubilee Film Festival.

Free and open to the public. For more information, call 312.413.2457.

If you need a sign interpreter or require other arrangements to fully participate, please call 312.422.5580. For parking locations near the facility, please visit ChicagoParkingMap.com.