Miguel Barnet

Documentarian Jose Sanchez-Montes turns his attention towards the late Cuban musician Ignacio Villa, known throughout the world as Bola de Nieve (Snowball), with this 2003 biographical documentary entitled simply Bola de Nieve. A master pianist, Bola de Nieve was a mainstay through the middle portion of the 20th century, with his music almost omnipresent in South America cinema throughout those formative decades. With Bola de Nieve's famous statement "I'm a sad person, but my songs sound happy" in mind, Sanchez-Montes also looks at the influence of the musician's African heritage and homosexuality upon Bola de Nieve's unique musical style.

As the author of one of the most influential novels in Latin American literature, Paradiso (1966), the Cuban José Lezama Lima is considered a major figure in his country. In this documentary, the director and writer Ernesto Fundora, carries out a study on the author's life through the testimonies of a long list of writers, artists and personalities close to him. The result is a film that explores his work, but also pays a heartfelt tribute to his immeasurable figure.