Rolling Stones’ Cuban adventure heads up BBC arts strand’s new series

The BBC’s Creative Director Alan Yentob is working with the Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, the film director Julien Temple and the ballet dancer Carlos Acosta on a series of films about Cuba.

Weeks after the Caribbean nation re-opened relationswith the United States, Mr Yentob told The Independent thatTemple was currently with Jagger in the Cuban capital Havana working on a programme for his BBC arts series Imagine. Previous shows have featured London and Rio de Janeiro.

Mr Yentob said he hoped to capture the story of a potential Rolling Stones concert in Havana, which could provide the finale for the band’s South American tour next spring.

Rock music was frowned upon in Cuba for many years for ideological reasons, but it has gained popularity over the past decade as the island has opened up.

“We have started filming and this is going to be a project which will have a theatrical life [cinema release],” he said. Mr Yentob, who is old friends with Jagger, had previouslyworked with Temple on “Requiem for Detroit”, a BBC2 documentary which explored the history of the struggling American city.

Mr Yentob is making a separate film with Acosta as the dancer realises a long-held ambition to establish a ballet companydrawn primarilyfrom his native Cuba. “This is his last season at the Royal Opera House and he’s setting up his own company. It’s also his story about his life in Cuba and his family,” Mr Yentob said.

Jagger was this week filmed dancing at Cuban nightclubs and visiting areas of Old