Asho gets the credit for this one, once again. This coming Wednesday, the classic film I Am Cuba will be screening in Central Park, starting at 7. Before the film, there will be music from The Pedrito Martinez Project, and an opening set by DJ Asho himself. Check out more info on everything below…

Join us at Central Park SummerStage in association with the African Film Festival, for a showcase of Habana|Harlem™ musical talent on Wednesday, August 5th at 7pm featuring The Pedrito Martinez Project, with an opening set by DJ Asho. Afterwards there will be a screening of I Am Cuba, the unforgettable, iconic film that reconstructs the life of the island during the Batista era.

Before the screening, The Pedrito Martínez Project performs music off the percussionist’s debut solo album Slave to Africa. Cubano Pedrito Martínez is perhaps best known as one of the driving forces behind New York Caribbean collective Yerba Buena, he has also performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lazaro Ros, and others. His new work fuses Afrobeat rhythms with Caribbean music, and features Pedrito as composer, lyricist, lead percussionist, and vocalist.

I Am Cuba, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, is a Russian-produced film started just one week after the Cuban Missile Crisis. Essentially a celebration of Communist kitsch, the film explores the hedonism glorified during the Batista era, contrasting it alongside the harsh poverty of much of the island. Beautifully shot with wide-angle lenses and different filters, and the only film to ever be jointly presented by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, I Am Cuba is considered essential international cinema.

For more info on the event, and on Habana|Harlem™, click here.