''El Benny'' is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n film released in 2006, directed and co-written by

Jorge Luis Sánchez Jorge Luis Sánchez (21 January 1960 – 9 January 2025) was a Cuban film director. He was a founder of the ''Federación Nacional de Cine Clubes de Cuba'' (National Federation of Cine Clubs of Cuba). Life and career Sánchez was born on 21 Jan ...

, his first feature-length film. It is a fictional story based on the life of the famous Cuban musician

Benny Moré Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez (24 August 1919 – 19 February 1963), better known as Benny Moré (also spelled Beny Moré), was a Cuban singer, bandleader and songwriter. Due to his fluid tenor voice and his great expressivity, he was ...

. The film includes new versions of his songs, performed by musicians including

Chucho Valdés Dionisio Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho (born October 9, 1941), is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he ...

Juan Formell Juan Climaco Formell Cortina (2 August 1942 – 1 May 2014) was a Cuban bassist, composer, and arranger, best known as the director of Los Van Van. He was a creator of popular danceable music and credited with bringing electronic instrumentation ...

, Haila and Orishas. The film premiered in Cuba in July 2006, and was presented at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

in August 2006, where its star,

Renny Arozarena Renny Arozarena (born 1971, in Havana) is a Cuban actor. He started acting as a child, making his professional debut on the stage in leading roles in ''Andoba'', ''Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja'', ''Romeo et Juliette'', ''Othello'', among other ...

, won the Boccalino prize for best performance for protagonist in all sections of festival. The film was Cuba's candidate for the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

. The film won the "First Work" (''Opera Prima'') award at the New Latin American Cinema festival in Havana in December 2006. It received its official U.S. premiere at the "

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

International Film Festival" on 6 January 2007, and its east coast premiere at the

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

International Film Festival in March 2007. The director, Sánchez, is distantly related to Benny Moré.

Cast

: Benny Moré *Juan Manuel Villy Carbonell: Benny Moré (singing voice) * Enrique Molina: Olimpio *Carlos Ever Fonseca: Angeluis *Mario Guerra: Monchy *Limara Meneses: Aida *Isabel Santos: Maggie *Salvador Wood: Grandfather *Laura de la Uz: Irene *Kike Quiñones: Pedrito *Carlos Massola: León Arévalo *Félix Pérez: Genaro (Benny's grandfather) *Cheryl Zaldívar: Sofía *Husmell Díaz: Arnulfo *Serafín García Aguiar: Gutiérrez *Marcela Morales: Natalia *Rakel Adriana: Doñita *Bárbara Hernández: Lydia (nurse) *Jorge Ferdecaz: Olegario *Ulyk Anello: Duany *Mayra Mazorra: Benny's Mother *Carlos Arévalo: Músico Mexicano

References

External links

Official site
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benny, El 2006 films Cuban musical films 2000s Spanish-language films Films set in the 1950s Spanish-language musical films 2006 musical films

Cast

See also

References

External links