Music is at the heart of director Sergio Navarretta’s “The Cuban,” set for a limited theatrical release July 31.
In the movie, pre-med student Mina, played by Ana Golja (“Degrassi”), is tasked with caring for Luis, portrayed by Louis Gossett Jr., who is struggling with Alzheimer’s and has retreated into himself.
As she feeds him, she tells him of her dreams of being a musician and hums tunes from her childhood in Afghanistan.
Luis sparks to the songs, and begins to come out of his shell.Navarretta points to “The Mambo Kings” as an inspiration for his film, saying he was so moved by the music in that 1992 movie, about a pair of brothers who flee Havana for New York in the ’50s, that he wanted to make a picture with music as its focal point.
His choice to create that sound was Grammy Award-nominated Cuban jazz artist Hilario Durán.
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