The 8th edition of the Hispanic Film Festival of the New York Stony Brook University will be dedicated to contemporary Cuban cinema. The event will take place next April 10, 11, 12 and 28 with the presentation of the films El acompañante (Pavel Giroud, 2015), La pared de las palabras (Fernando Pérez, 2014), Conducta (Ernesto Daranas, 2014) and Esteban (Jonal Cosculluela, 2016). The festival will have the collaboration of the Bach Media film producer, also based in the Big Apple. Jesús Hernández, its founder, will give a lecture on the independent film production process in Cuba through his experience as producer of La pared de las palabras, the first completely independent film made by renowned filmmaker Fernando Pérez. For Gisele Blain, coordinator of the Festival, “the social commitment present in Cuban cinema is a window to get to know the island’s different realities.” Born in Costa Rica but of Cuban parents, Gisele, who spoke with OnCuba about the Festival, also belongs to the Department of Hispanic-American Literature of this university. The Festival’s slogan is suggestive (“from utopia to dystopia”). Why was it chosen? When the word utopia is adapted to the Cuban context it acquires a particular connotation. It describes...