Cuban ballet superstar Carlos Acosta is the subject of Icíar Bollaín’s biopic YULI – an adaptation of Acosta’s memoir that follows the young boy, a scrappy juvenile, to the young man as iconic dancer. 10-year-old newcomer Edlison Manuel Olbera Núñez plays young Carlos, tearing energetically around Havana until his dad, Pedro (Santiago Alfonso) forces him to go to ballet school. Prodigiously talented and progressing quickly, Carlos fights off loneliness and doubt – but ultimately is accepted by London’s Royal Ballet, becoming their very first black Romeo. With the man himself cameoing as the older Carlos, Bollaín’s film becomes an energetic and bold study of art, sacrifice, and identity.

Some Spanish language, English subtitles