Third Screen Cuba festival unveils programme and ticket sales for 15-28 March

Screen Cuba, billed as "Films to Change the World," has published the programme for its third edition and opened ticket sales for key London venues as it prepares a run of Cuban cinema across the UK from 15 to 28 March 2026. Organisers presented the festival as a coalition including Music Fund for Cuba, the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, the Cuban Embassy in London and ICAIC in Havana and said tickets are on sale now for all ICA and Garden Cinema screenings.

Garden Cinema will host a string of headline events at 39-41 Parker Street WC2B 5PQ beginning with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s The Twelve Chairs (Doce Sillas) on Sunday 15 March at 14:00. The Garden listings show two screenings of Alea’s Up to a Point on Wednesday 18 March at 18:00 and 18:30 with the 18:00 member session marked "SOLD OUT– Members: login to join waiting list." Saturday 21 March features Capablanca at 14:00 in Screen 3, introduced by visiting Cuban actors Mirtha Ibarra and Eslinda Núñez, followed by Juan Carlos Tabío’s House for Swap at about 16:20 or 16:30 with a Q&A led by the same special guests. Garden Cinema screens El Benny on Wednesday 25 March at 20:00 and Life is Dance on Friday 27 March at 18:30.

At the ICA on The Mall SW1Y 5AH, the programme includes Humberto Solás’ Lucía on Sunday 22 March at 14:00 and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s restored 1976 Last Supper on Tuesday 24 March at 18:30. ICA notes list curated pairings such as Guantanamera with Elpidio Valdés v. the Military Train on Tuesday 18 March at 18:30 and Memories of Underdevelopment with For the First Time on Tuesday 25 March at 18:30. Screencuba UK also stresses that all films are in Spanish with English Subtitles.

Restoration and archive work form a central strand of this edition: Cuba50 and ICA programme notes state that Lucía (1968) and Last Supper (1976) are being shown as restored prints direct from the Havana archives, and that two 1970s cartoons by Juan Padrón were restored last year by Screen Cuba. Organisers say the festival supports ICAIC projects such as restoration and digitalisation of classic films, framing the selection through a decolonising lens and what Cuba50 calls "celebrat[ing] resistance and love."

Beyond central London addresses, Screen Cuba lists partner screenings across the UK. The Barbican will show the short 20 Years with Chico y Rita on Thursday 19 March at 18:30 at Beech Street EC1Y 8AA. Birkbeck University Cinema at 43 Gordon Square WC1H 0PY offers a free-entry programme on Friday 20 March with details to follow. Regional partner dates extend past the London run: Oxford’s Ultimate Picture Palace screens The Last Supper on Saturday 21 March with tickets on sale now, Pontypridd’s Yma Cinema hosts A Night with the Rolling Stones on Saturday 28 March, while Nottingham Broadway and partner venues list shows into late March and April.

A Festival Gala Reception, priced at £25, is available in very limited numbers and "includes a welcome drink, the official Festival poster created by two young Cuban designers, greetings from Festival patrons as well as other special guests, live Cuban music plus screening of the film Up to a Point." The gala screening begins around 18:00 to 18:30 with allocated start times and raises funds for the Festival and the Cuban Film Institute.

Screencuba UK remains the primary programme publisher and lists booking links for each venue; note that Garden Cinema’s venue page shows its own festival range ending 27 March while the festival-wide dates are reported as 15–28 March, and several partner screenings are scheduled after 28 March. With restored Havana archive prints, named Cuban guests Mirtha Ibarra and Eslinda Núñez, and ticketed screenings now live for ICA and the Garden Cinema, Screen Cuba’s third edition promises rare prints and conversations across London and beyond.