The book highlights “the progress Cuban women have made towards gender equality since the 1950s and examines whether that progress can be sustained into the future.” It accomplishes its goal in five, concise, non-judgmental and well-documented chapters, enriched by personal profiles of some remarkably perceptive Cuban women.

One of Latin America’s most acclaimed writers, Eduardo Galeano is out with the new book, “Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History.” Galeano’s classic “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent” made headlines when Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez gave President Obama a copy at the Summit of the Americas in 2009.

The following is the monthly calendar for May 2013 of film showings at the Cinemateca de Cuba which includes the Charles Chaplin theater and the Charlot videoteca, both located on 23rd St. between 10th and 12th in Havana’s Vedado District.

The best-selling Chilean novelist Isabel Allende is out with a new book, “Maya’s Notebook: A Novel.” It tells the story of a teenager named Maya Vidal and her struggles with drug addiction, grief and history. Although fiction, the story is rooted in real-life tragedy.

For Sale (Se Vende), a newly-released Cuban film directed by established actor/director Jorge Perugorría, has an interesting logline: “When death becomes a pretext to talk about life”. An absurd comedy, a painful depiction of contemporary Cuba, painted with strokes of sarcasm and humor.

Alfredo Guevara, founder of the Havana Film Festival, and an old friend of Fidel Castro, died today in Havana from a heart attack at age 88. Guevara was also the founder of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) created two months after the revolution triumphed in January 1959.

The documentary “Elena” takes its name from a building (1927) on Centro Habana’s Vapor St. Seldom repaired, always inadequately, the Elena Building was deteriorating until it was declared uninhabitable and its residents were taken away to a shelter in the Mantilla neighborhood.

The XII Festival of Young Filmmakers is currently underway in the Cuban capital, but hurry, it ends on Sunday April 7. The Chaplin, Sala Charlot, 23rd and 12st and ICAIC theaters are projecting the Cuban works in competition as well as international works that include a sampling from the Festival of Short Films from Clermont-Ferrand, France. (17 photos)

This month the feature is the highly awaited annual French Film Festival. Besides the Charles Chaplin Theater, the festival takes place at several other cinemas from April 13 – May 1, and we also bring you their programming. The films are shown in their original language with Spanish subtitles.

Cuban actor and director Jorge Perugorría will receive the Gloria Achievement Award on April 19th during the 29th edition of the Chicago Latino Film Festival, reported EFE.