[NYTr] New Latin American Film Festival in Havana Dec 5-14

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Granma International - Dec 6, 2007
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/diciembre/juev6/Gabriel%20Garc%EDa%20M%E1rquez.html

García Márquez in Havana:

"I’m not a guest, but one of the founders"

ONE of the founders of the Festival of New Latin American Cinema,
Colombian Gabriel García Márquez arrived Wednesday in Havana to take
part in the 29th edition of the event.

Gabriel García Márquez"I am not a guest invited to the Festival, but
rather one if its founders," García Márquez, 1982 winner of the Nobel
Literature Prize, said in a statement to Prensa Latina shortly after
arriving at the capital city’s José Martí Airport.

García Márquez, an impassioned film aficionado, has written a number of
scripts and joins a constellation of cinema figures scheduled to attend
the Havana event, such as actors Javier Bardem, Gael García Bernal and
Diego Luna

The festival that will continue through December 14 was inaugurated
Tuesday with a concert by Argentine Fito Páez, who performed a dozen of
his most well-known songs, one a duo with Cuban singer Santiago Feliú.

During the opening gala Jennifer Weiss, one of the producers of the
film Redacted, directed by Brian de Palma, read a message from the U.S.
director lamenting his country’s refusal to grant him a visa to attend
the premier of the film in Cuba. [See below]

Translated by Granma International


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Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Estela Bravo to Premiere Film in Cuba 

Havana, Dec 6 (Prensa Latina) US documentary maker Estela Bravo is to present for a first time Thursday in this festival a documentary on the search for kidnapped children during the 1976-1983 Argentinean military dictatorship. 

The film, entitled  "Qui,n soy yo?"  is a continuation of the
Argentine film "Missing Children," shot in 1984. Bravo told Prensa
Latina that the movie presents four of 500 children delivered to
friends of soldiers who tortured and murdered their parents, who have
been found by the grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

"These are traumatic processes, difficult to be assimilated, being
brought up by those who killed their relatives," she said. 

The documentary maker stated that this was one of the most complex
projects for the stories of their protagonists. The latter of 88 people
found so far is called Belen, 29, who was brought up with an adoptive
family and appears in the film.

"Qui,n soy yo?"  is one of the 27 documentaries in competition for a 
Coral award in the festival, to be run until December 14.

hr/iff/may/ag/mf

                             ***

Granma International Dec 5, 2007 via Jane Franklin  [No URL provided]

 
[The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott calls "Redacted" a
"hodgepodge" and writes:  "Mr. De Palma’s premise, implicit in his
choice of title and stated in many interviews and public
pronouncements, is that the truth about Iraq has been edited and
obscured, kept away from the American public."  The Times noted that it
was opening November 16 in "selected cities."  Variety's review says
the movie's bullet misses the mark.  I wonder if this movie is being
"obscured, kept away from the American public," who are being persuaded
that it's not worth seeing anyway.  Meanwhile, Cubans are getting to
see it at the Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana, but de
Palma is not being allowed to go there for the showing. 

Jane Franklin
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbfranklins ]

GRANMA International - Dec 5, 2007

29th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema

Brian de Palma not authorized to travel to Havana

Festival event opens with the screening of "Redacted" 
and a concert by  Argentine Fito Páez

BY MIREYA CASTAÑEDA
Granma International staff writer

BRIAN de Palma, one of the key figures in contemporary U.S. cinema was 
unable to arrive in person in Havana, because, as he said in a message read 
out during the opening gala of the Festival of New Latin American Cinema, 
"The State Department couldn’t find a visa for me."

Nevertheless, his most recent film "Redacted," an extraordinary report
about the tragedy of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and how it has been
presented, or redacted, by the so-called mainstream press, was shown
during the inauguration of the annual film event in the capital city’s
Karl Marx theater.

The theater was filled to capacity with some 5,000 people, silenced by the 
intense emotion and shock provoked by the film which won De Palma a best 
director’s award at the 2007 Venice Film Festival.

The film was introduced by its two producers, Jennifer Weiss and Simona 
Urld, who said that it was an honor to show the film at the Havana festival 
and for the first time in Latin America. They then read out De Palma’s 
message in which he reaffirmed his great love for the Cuban people and how 
much he wanted to have been present: "I identify with the culture so much. 
It seems that the State Department couldn’t find a visa for me. Toast me 
with a café con leche!"

The inaugural evening opened with a brief concert by Argentine Fito Paéz on 
piano, accompanied by a guitarist on two or three songs and joined by Cuban 
trovador Santiago Feliú on one occasion.

Singing along with his ballads was a predominately young audience but one 
that also included those who remembered his first visit to Cuba for the 
Varadero Festival of Song in the late 1970’s.

Fito brought a high note of joy to the Festival during which his 
non-competing film¿De quién es el portaligas? will be shown. He opened his 
concert with ‘Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón’ to, as he said, "this always 
beloved city".

As is customary, Alfredo Guevara, president of the Festival, welcomed the 
continent’s filmmakers. In his message, Guevara recalled the 40th 
anniversary of the Viña del Mar event, "an expression of insurgency and 
searching" that later gave rise to the New Latin American Cinema and 
commented that "Latin America today is sowing new dawns and the younger 
generations are bringing encouraging messages."

The Festival’s December 14 closing event has been announced and will
feature the screening of the British documentary Earth, directed by
Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, filmed in more than 200
locations in 26 countries.

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