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[Home movie: Mario Perez Video Collection, 2001, Memories of Cuba #2]

Mario Perez

Synopsis A home movie by Mario Perez about his trip to Cuba in 2001 with his husband David. It shows footage of him in the homes of various relatives, often telling stories about his childhood, his family and what it was like to live in Cuba. This video was recorded with the intention of showing it to family members and friends that were no longer in Cuba, so he continuously explains the places he is at and exhorts the people he is visiting to send their regards. It also has footage of Mario exploring the city of Havana and some brief documentation of the municipality of Marianao. Collection description This film (Perez_0010) is part of the Mario Perez Video Collection . The Mario Perez Video Collection consists of 20 8mm videotapes and 28 mini-DV tapes. The tapes capture Mario and his friends in the gay community from about 1996 to about 2009. They are very personal and show Mario and his friends hanging out on Christopher Street, on the piers, at the Chelsea Gym and in the gay bar called Sneakers, which was on West Street at the corner of Christopher Street. The collection includes video on the following subject matter: Christopher Street and environs – gay bars, bookstores, and street life in the late 1990s including footage of bars with an ethnically and gender diverse clientele that no longer exist. These provide a view of gay life that has disappeared from Greenwich Village. 2. The Closing of the Chelsea Gym – the Chelsea Gym was an important part of New York City Gay Culture. Gym culture was a crucial corrective to the abuse and bullying that many gay men received in Phys. Ed. at school when they were children. It was a place that gay men could be themselves and assert their own particular brand of masculinity. 3. Funerals – the funerals/memorial services for 1 or 2 men who died of AIDS 4. Return to Cuba – an exile returns to Cuba 2001 – 2009. Footage of friends, relatives, and street hustlers. A rare documentation of ordinary life in Cuba. 5. September 11, 2001 – footage shot outside of St. Vincent’s Hospital after the attacks on the World Trade Center 6. Vacations in Texas, California, and Montreal Mario’s collection also contains a number of reels of Super-8 film that are not part of this grant. Mario first started filming on Super-8 in the 1980s. He was working as a nude dancer at the Show Palace on 42nd Street. Customers would give Mario and the other dancers Super-8 film. The customers would then give the dancers copies of the films. Mario is hesitant about having the Super-8 digitized because it contains footage of men who have died or who could not be located in order to obtain permission. This collection was conserved and digitally captured through the 2023 Al Larvick National Grant awarded to Mario Perez by the Al Larvick Conservation Fund in partnership with its lab partner Media Burn Archive. For more information about this collection, visit: https://www.allarvickfund.org/mario-perez-video-collection The mission of the Al Larvick Conservation Fund is to preserve historical and cultural heritage through conservation, education, and the public accessibility of American analog home movie, amateur cinema, and community recording collections. For more information, visit allarvickfund.org. *Please respect the Creative Commons licensing assigned to this collection. Featured People List : David Prestigiacomo: Mario’s husband. Orquídea Pérez: Mario’s sister, mother of Lisandra and wife of Pepe. Aniceto (Ani) Pérez: Mario’s brother, father of Yusleidy and Anetsy, husband of Odalys. Miguel Angel Pérez: Mario’s brother, father of Rosamarí and husband of Onelia. Esteban Valladares: Mario’s half brother. Specifications: Collection Title: Mario Perez Video Collection Original format : Video8 and MiniDV, color, sound Digital format: Uncompressed Quicktime .MOV at original aspect ratio Collection size : 20 Video8 tapes, 28 MiniDV tapes Circa: 1 996-2009 Lab Sponsor: Media Burn Archive Label from Original Can/Box: Recuerdos de Cuba 3-2001 #2

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