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By Raimundo Urrechaga
HAVANA, November 16 (Xinhua) – The Havana Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, with the basic ideas and precepts tailored to the modern times, technologies and needs of the Latin American cinema.
"We came here after four decades, passing through very complex scenes, and the festival managed to survive by adapting to the times and needs of contemporary cinema," Havana Film Festival President Iván Giroud said at a conference today. Tap to show next edition.
Between December 6 and 6, Havana will once again become the capital of Latin American cinema, an event that captures Cubans who make long lines to participate in film presentations.
Founded in 1979 by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and intellectual Alfredo Guevara, the New Latin American Cinema Festival, its official name, is one of the greatest references to the seventh art of the region and each year it becomes a cultural event in the Caribbean nation.
Giroud, who took over the presidency after the death of Guevara in 2013, explained that the festival maintains its fundamental and aesthetic precepts, designed primarily to present Latin American and Caribbean reality through cinema.
This year, however, the organizers chose to rearrange the program to show fewer movies than previous years, due to the limited number of cameras for film and technological limitations.
"We have been more selective to choose the works in the competition and the show, to schedule a movie or documentary several times, and so a larger number of people can appreciate these films," he added.
373 audiovisual works from 40 countries, including half of Latin America and the Caribbean, were programmed for this edition.
"In competition, we have 20 feature films, 22 short and medium films, 18 crude works, 25 documentaries and 26 animated films, among other categories," the Cuban intellectual said.
The most representative countries are Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, the United States and Cuba.
The event will also pay tribute to the most famous director of Cuban cinema, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, with exhibitions, samples of his iconic films and a seminar about his thoughts.
In addition, special presentations of films such as Rome, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, Japanese film "A Family Adventure", winner of Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in France and "Infiltrated at KKKlan, "by American director Spike Lee.
A special moment will be the debut in Cuba of "Yuli" by Spanish director Icíar Bollain, which tells the story of Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta, a dance legend and for more than 10 years a leading figure of the royal ballet in London.
"We will also have international guests, like American Michael Moore, who will present his documentary" Fahrenheit 11/9 ", American actor Matt Dillon and Puerto Rican Benicio del Toro," added Giroud.
At the inaugural gala, where Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel is expected, special awards will be given to the institutions and filming that have supported this event for four decades.
Also presented will be the documentary "El Pepe, one Supreme View", by Serbian director Emir Kusturica, about the life of former Uruguayan President José Mujica.
The festival of the new Latin-American cinema in Havana aims to recognize and broadcast the cinematographic works that contribute, from their importance and their artistic values, to enriching and reaffirming the cultural identity of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Throughout its history, the festival was named with the participation of prominent personalities such as Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez and actors and directors such as Robert Redford, Francis Ford Coppola, Harry Belafonte, Geraldine Chaplin, Victoria Abril and Pedro Almodóvar.
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