Film Festival at sight
From June 1 to 11, 14 films and 5 documentaries from Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and several countries of the continent will be released in Havana as part of the 2nd European Film Festival in Cuba.
Cinema at sight is the event’s slogan organized by the European Union in Cuba, the ICAIC and the Office of the City Historian, among other institutions, which will have 23 y 12 Cinema, Palacio del Segundo Cabo and the Infanta Multi-cinema as its headquarters.
“The paths of many European filmmakers have always converge In Cuba: the Aragonese Luis Buñuel always wanted to film his version of The Harassment, by Alejo Carpentier, in the streets of Havana where his father made his fortune. If Chris Marker translated his impressions of the founding times of the Revolution –and of the ICAIC born with it– in Cuba sí, Agnès Varda synthesized them through thousands of photographs in Saludos cubanos, and Godard’s vision did not transcend the project, while the Dutchman Joris Ivens recorded the convulsive moments he witnessed in Carnet de voyage and Cuba, armed people.
“Czech Vladimir Cech filmed here For whom Havana dances, while the German Kurt Maetzig found the locations for his Prelude 11 and another Gallic artist, Armand Gatti, offered his delirious The other Cristobal and the Georgian Mikhail Kalatózov with that declaration of love that is I am Cuba, with the extraordinary images by the photographer Urusevski “, says critic Luciano Castillo about the European Film Festival that comes to Cuba for the second time.
The festival was inaugurated this Thursday with the German film Fukushima, my love, by Doris Dörrie. The award-winning film at the Berlin Film Festival and at the Bavarian Film Awards tells the story of the friendship between the young German Marie and Satomi –an ancient geisha– when the first travels to Japan with the aim of helping the survivors of the Fukushima catastrophe.
The following films will be on the billboard as well, and their schedules can be seen here:
Os Gatos Não Têm Vertigens (Cats have no vertigo) / António Pedro-Vasconcelos / Portugal, 2014: Rosa is a 73-year-old woman who adores her husband and life partner. When this one dies, she distracts her solitude talking with the ghost of the deceased. One day, his loneliness disappears when he discovers Jó sleeping on the roof of his house. Jó is 18 years old and his father, alcoholic and conflictive, has just expelled him from home. Rosa decides to shelter him and between the two will be born an intimacy that will disturb the whole world, except the two of them.
A Captain Unafraid / Charles O’Brien / Documentary / Ireland-USA-Cuba, 2016: John “Dynamite” O’Brien (1837-1917), born in New York from Irish parents, who became an arms and dynamite dealer, rendering invaluable help to several revolutions of the 19th century in Latin America, especially to the patriots of the War of Independence in Cuba, for whom he brought more than a dozen ships of arms and fighters, for all of which was named Pilot in Chief of the Port of Havana at the beginning of our republic. Based on the book A Captain Unafraid: The Strange Adventures of Dynamite Johnny O’Brien.
Der Vampir auf der Couch (Therapy for a Vampire) / David Rühm / Austria, 2014: This comedy is located in Vienna in the early 30’s of last century. One afternoon, Sigmund Freud has a new patient on his couch, a mysterious earl who can no longer endure the “eternally long” relationship with his wife. Unaware that the count and his wife are vampires, Freud introduces his mysterious patient to a young painter, Viktor, whose girlfriend, Lucy, attracts the count’s attention.
Samuel in the clouds / Pieter Van Eecke / Documentary / Belgium-Netherlands-Bolivia, 2016: In Bolivia, glacier melting reaches a historic level. Behind his window, Samuel, a former elevator attendant, contemplates the vast landscape unfolding from one of the highest peaks in the world. His family has lived and worked in these snow-capped mountains for generations, but today the scarcity of snow affects the way of life of mountain dwellers. As scientists evaluate the consequences of climate change, Samuel honors the ancestral mountain spirits. Awarded at the Chicago Film Festival.
De surprise (The surprise) / Mike van Diem / Holland-Belgium-Germany-Ireland, 2015: A young and eccentric millionaire wants to die and signs a contract to achieve that goal. But while selecting his future casket, he meets an attractive woman who has the same intention. Things are going to get complicated, because the couple falls in love and wants to break the contract… Seven nominations for the awards of the Nederlands Film Festival; actress Georgina Verbaan and production design received Golden Calf awards. First feature film by director Mike van Diem since winning the Oscar in 1997 with his film Karakter.
L’ Accabadora (The finisher) / Enrico Pau / Italia-Irlanda, 2015: Sardinia, during the bombings of the Second World War. Annetta is a middle-aged woman who lives in the village of Cagliari. She is the person in charge in that locality to give the last goodbye to the dying. This film participated in the festival of Montreal. Premiere in Cuba.
Kobry a uzovky (The brothers Cobra) / Jan Prusinovský / Czech Republic, 2015: Two brothers are unable to lead a life that satisfies them. Viper is unemployed and without a girlfriend, and does not know how to escape the shadow of his drug addict brother. Karlovy Vary International Festival, 2015: Kryštof Hádek (best actor); Awards The Czech Lion, 2015: best film, director, main actor (Matěj Hádek), secondary actress (Lucie Žáčková), supporting actor (Kryštof Hádek), photography, best film poster and film lovers prize.
La herida (Wounded) / Fernando Franco / Spain, 2013: Ana is 26 years old. She have serious problems in relating outside of her job. She does not know it, but she suffers from what psychiatrists call borderline syndrome or Personality Limit Disorder, a constant handicap to achieve her maximum desire: being happy. Special Prize of the Jury and Concha de Plata to the best actress (Marian Álvarez), San Sebastian International Film Festival; Silver Astor Award to the best actress (Marian Alvarez), Mar del Plata International Film Festival; Goya Awards for the best director and the best female lead.
A szerdai gyerek (The Wednesday child) / Lili Horváth / Hungary-Germany, 2016: Both Maja and Krisz are 19 years old and form a couple living on the outskirts of Budapest. They live up to the day, performing diverse works not always legal. They were raised together in an orphanage and have a four-year-old son still living in the institution. Krisz does not even want to know about her son. Maja, on the other hand, struggles desperately to obtain custody of the child, although as a mother she is an irresponsible teenager. He does not want the life of his son to be a repetition of what he has had to live with. Six prizes at festivals in Karlovy Vary, Mons, Rouen a l’est, Trieste, Calcutta and Cottbus.
Acqua e Zucchero – Carlo Di Palma: i colori della vita (Water & Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colors of Life) / Fariborz Kamkari / Documentary / Italy, 2016: Outstanding documentary about one of the most important cinematographers of Italian and universal cinema, Carlo Di Palma (1925-2004), who worked with directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Ettore Scola and Woody Allen.
Ex Machina / Alex Garland / UK, 2015: Nathan, a multi-million dollar computer programmer, selects Caleb, a young employee of his company, to spend a week with him in a remote place in the mountains with the aim of participating in a test in which her latest creation is involved: Ava, a robot-woman endowed with artificial intelligence. Nominated for Oscars, BAFTA, Golden Globes and European Film Awards.
Je suis un soldat (I am a soldier) / Laurent Larivière / France-Belgium, 2015: Sandrine is a thirty years old woman who will be forced to return to her mother’s house in Roubaix. Unemployed, she agrees to work for her uncle in a kennel that will prove to be the hub of an illegal chain of dog traffic. Soon she will gain authority and respect in that world of men, making herself a money that will rob her his freedom. But sometimes good soldiers fail to obey … He participated in the section A Certain Look at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ogród rozkoszy ziemskich (The Garden of Earthly Delights) / Lech Majewski / Poland-UK-Italy, 2004: Venice. Claudia, an attractive art historian specializing in the painting of El Bosco, has a serious health problem. Chris, his partner, a man obsessed with filming his relationship in video, is a naval engineer who is preparing a doctorate on gondola construction. A film written, photographed and directed by Lech Majewski from his novel Metaphysics.
Alentejo Alentejo / Sérgio Tréfaut / Portugal, 2014: Documentary about the “cante alentejano”, intangible heritage of mankind since 2014. It is a journey to a unique mode of musical expression and the passion of its performers, dedicated to all singers of Alentejo. Prize as best Portuguese film in the Festival IndieLisboa 2014.
Stockholm Stories / Karin Fahlen / Sweden, 2014: This film is a contemporary and surprising account of five very different people whose lives intersect during a rainy November days: Johan, Douglas, Anna, Jessica and Thomas.
Swing / Csaba Fazekas / Hungary, 2014: Three women of different generations are forced to join a group and are tutored in this endeavor by an old diva and a transvestite. They become a success, but…
Mikro eglima (Small Crime) / Christos Georgiou / Greece-Cyprus-Germany, 2008: Leonidas, a young policeman, is sent to a small island in the Aegean. Dreaming of solving serious crimes in the big city, all she does is to pursue the traffic violators without success and to enjoy with the locals of the TV program of Angeliki, a daily ritual, since the beautiful Angeliki is the most famous girl of the island. But Leonidas’ life changes when the corpse of Zechariah is found at the foot of a hill. The police chief believes that Zacarias was drunk and accidentally fell, but Leonidas begins to investigate. That same night Angeliki arrives.
Bikes vs. Cars / Fredrik Gertten / Documentary / Sweden, 2015: A bicycle is a surprising tool for climate change. Activists and cities around the world are moving towards a new system. But the adverse conditions of the cities and the violence of the traffic cause daily deaths among the cyclists. And now they demand safe routes.
Last days … on billboard
The latest film by Fernando Pérez Últimos en La Habana (Last days in Havana) –presented at the last International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana– begins its national premiere this week. Starting Thursday, June 1, the film will be shown at Yara Cinema in two consecutive rounds beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Starring Patricio Wood, who embodies the story of Miguel, who at 45 years dreams of leaving for the United States, and Jorge Martinez, another man with the same age who dreams of living, prostrate and immobile by AIDS, Last days… won the Golden Biznaga for Best Ibero-American Film at the Malaga Film Festival in 2017 and also the Best Supporting Actress award for the performance of Gabriela Ramos.
“It is a fiction movie, with well-known actors like Jorge Martínez and Patricio Wood, trying to maintain an impression of reality, because it is an absolutely realistic film. Its language does not privilege too much the symbols, the metaphors…. Although there are times where it also opens up so spectators can participate in individual, subjective associations. It is a very unassuming film. The subject of the film is prejudices and the relativity of the moral values at all levels”, Fernando Perez said to OnCuba.
A train, the sea, the rain…. Are they in Últimos días en La Habana?
There’s the city, there are no trains but there are ships, which I added at the last moment. And, inevitably, the rain and the sea.
Then, it’s the same Fernando Pérez….
Yes, although there are some sequences that are going to say: “Is this a film by Fernando?”
Jamaica in the House
The exhibition Dreaming with hands, from the heart of the Caribbean, by the Jamaican artist Jasmine Thomas-Girvan is shown in the Latin American Gallery of the Casa de las Americas, since May 22; thirteen sculptural pieces and installations inspired by the poetics of nature, collective memory, folklore and the indigenous and Afro culture.
“The expressive force in the work of Jasmine Thomas-Girvan is not due to the majesty of the pieces. The artist does not pretend to be magnanimous, she does not look for greatness in those figures-metaphors that, combined with metals, stones and woods, define their sculptural and goldsmith art. Jasmine Thomas-Girvan seeks, perhaps, the miniscule. She sits down there and then, only then, sets out on the path to meditation, towards the return to ourselves. The expressive force in the work of Jasmine Thomas-Girvan Is then its peculiarity, in the poetic game, in the detail as a resource”, says journalist Lorena Sánchez in La Ventana, the website of the House of the Americas.
Havana in Origins
The Cuban painter Luis E. Camejo premieres his exhibition La Habana Elegante today at 7 p.m. in the Gallery Origins of the Great Theater of Havana.
Too much Pipol
Artists such as William Acosta, Rubén Alpízar, Roberto Fabelo, Aimée García, Eduardo Rubén García, Lisandra I. García, Alejandro Gómez, Roldán Lauzán, Harold López, Osy Milián, Karlos Pérez, Niels Reyes, Richard Somonte, Reinerio Tamayo and the duo The-Merger take part in the collective exposition Pipol since last May 26.
The exhibition, composed by a group of portraits where each artist makes his representation of the human figure, is exhibited in the ARTIS 718 Gallery located at 7th St., corner at 18 St., Miramar, Playa.
Carmen with castanets
A version of Carmen, the famous ballet inspired by the novel by the French writer Próspero Merimée, will be held from June 2 to 4 at the Great Theater of Havana Alicia Alonso by the Spanish Ballet of Cuba. The central roles will be in charge of leading figures of the Company directed by Eduardo Veitía, who will share the scene with members of the National Lyric Theater in these two functions, “Carmen x2 “.
Sorrows know how to swim
A unique feature of the Cuban classic Sorrows know how to swim, by Abelardo Estorino, is presented today at 4 p.m. in the Manuel Galich Hall of the Casa de las Americas by La Maleta Theater, directed by Justo Salas.
The piece, written especially for Adria Santana and premiered at the 1989 Monologue Festival where she received several awards, combines quotations and memories of other plays and traces an effective theatrical play that are, at the same time, the challenges of the actress personage interpreted by Dhapné Porrata .
Havana to piano
The 5th Meeting of Young Pianists takes place in the Historic Center of Havana from May 31 to June 7. 14 interpreters from Bulgaria, China, Cuba, France, Israel, Israel, the Slovak Republic, Russia and Ukraine will perform in concert for 10 days including the special participation of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba and the Symphonic Orchestra of the University of Arts (ISA).
According to Dr. Eusebio Leal in the foreword of the program, “one of the conferences will be devoted to the presentation of the phonogram entitled Russia before the Cuban rhythm that includes the concert by Alexandre Moutouzkine dedicated, as an anthology, to the contemporary pianistic Cuban repertoire during a memorable performance that took place in the Basilica Minor of St. Francis of Assisi”.
Lizzy Project in the Corner
The group Sweet Lizzy Project will perform this Friday at 11 pm at the Corner Café in Vedado.
Mauricio by double entry
Cuban singer-songwriter Mauricio Figueiral performs this weekend at Pepito’s Bar in Nuevo Vedado on Friday, June 2 at 10:30 p.m., and he will offer a concert on Saturday 3 at 7 pm at the National Museum of Fine Arts.
The bulb in decimas
In the House of the Green Light Bulb, the young artists Alex Diaz and Roly Avalos, who will also read some poems from his book Mundo Pañuelo, will perform along with repentismo and poetry from 8:30 p.m.
Ocean South invites to controversy 
2nd season at FAC
The Cuban Art Factory (FAC) reopened yesterday with many proposals for this 2nd season of the space in the usual hours from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., from Thursday to Sunday.
The Exhibition ON / OFF will be this weekend at 10:30 p.m. in the Nave 3, along with a selection of the video-art collection of the Maison européenne de la photographie (MEP) – Gallic centers dedicated to photography – related Cuban works under the curatorship of Sara Alonso Gómez; while there will be a session of DJ Producers by Ivan Lejardi in the Santiago Feliú Hall (Nave 1), on Friday 2 at 9 p.m. and on Saturday 3 at 9:30 p.m.
In addition, the young drummer Marcos Morales and his Quartet will perform at an Open Jazz Jam at 12 a.m. in the Santiago Feliú Hall (Nave 1) and the musician Ernesto Blanco at 11 p.m. at the Concert Hall (Nave 4). In addition, the singer Luna Manzanares will perform a recital in the Concert Hall (Nave 4) on Saturday, June 3 at 11 pm.
Authors
OnCuba Staff,
OnCuba editorial staff
