Cinema Tropical reminds us that several Caribbean films are now available as they have been made available for streaming through various platforms. Directed by Hugo Pérez, Omara: Cuba’s Legendary Diva (2025), is available for streaming free through PBS.
OMARA: CUBA’S LEGENDARY DIVA (Hugo Pérez, USA, 2025, 56 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
Description: For eight decades, Afro-Cuban music icon, Omara Portuondo, has been an unstoppable force: a single mother surviving racism, misogyny, revolution, and now ageism. Transcending borders and the controversy for her affiliation, alignment, and association with the Castro regime, Omara has used her music to connect with fans around the world and celebrate the soul of her beloved Cuba. As a woman of color, Omara expresses her life experiences in a way that has inspired generations of musicians and women.
Hugo Pérez is a filmmaker and writer whose work often focuses on his Cuban heritage. He is a recipient of the 2009 Estela Award for Documentary Filmmaking as well as the prestigious 2008 Rockefeller Foundation/Tribeca Film Institute Emerging Artist Fellowship in support of his feature screenplay Immaculate Conception. Pérez’ short film Betty La Flaca was the winner of the 2006 HBO/NYILFF Short Film Award and is being broadcast on the HBO networks through Fall 2008. [. . .] Pérez has studied writing with Gabriel García Márquez, collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist William Kennedy, and served as a guest artist for acclaimed theater director and artist Robert Wilson. His writing has been featured in the New York Times Magazine and Salon, and his films have been screened at venues such as MoMA and the Smithsonian.
For more on the director, see https://www.behance.net/M30A_Films and https://creativesantafe.org/people/hugo-perez/
For streaming, see PBS at https://www.pbs.org/video/omara-cubas-legendary-diva-zbnby4/ and https://www.pbshawaii.org/voces-omara-cubas-legendary-diva/
Cinema Tropical reminds us that several Caribbean films are now available as they have been made available for streaming through various platforms. Directed by Hugo Pérez, Omara: Cuba’s Legendary Diva (2025), is available for streaming free through PBS. OMARA: CUBA’S LEGENDARY DIVA (Hugo Pérez, USA, 2025, 56 min. In Spanish with English subtitles) Description: For