It is official: the 35th New Latin American Film Festival kicked off and with it the fever of seeing movie after movie eating a pizza or some peanuts cone to stall the roar of guts in the marathon film sessions, which if tasting bitter, is our cinema…
With a minute of silence in respect for a film character, Nelson Mandela , a gala began, which presented its refreshing cards with the electronic music by Djoy of Cuba, characterized as the Macabre Clown, with his version of “Desde la aldea” (From the village), the track that musically identifies the Festival.
Without red carpet but with the usual cinema fauna, Karl Marx theatre hosted a different inauguration because for the first time Alfredo Guevara would not be in it with his jacket over the shoulder to open the Festival .
In his place was Ivan Giroud, who, dominating the nerves, defended the Festival , which more than a platform for showcasing new filmic proposals, has been a strategic stage and precursor of the present now enjoyed by the cinema produced in Latin America, which mainly owes its existence and dissemination to this contest.
Before Giroud’s words, the Contemporary Dance company took the stage performing “Compass”, energetic and exciting choreography, though perhaps too long for the occasion, and as many pieces, always leaves in neophyte viewer the uncertainty of never knowing for sure when to applaud, despite having enjoyed it.
A documentary by Luis Ernesto Doñas toured the history of the Festival, a sort of roll call that drew applause as illustrious characters appeared, some of them dead this year as Guevara himself and Cuban filmmaker Daniel Diaz Torres, a last year winner with Ana’s Film.
Incidentally, Laura de la Uz, last year Coral winner in female performance for this film, confessed to OnCuba she still has not assimilated Daniel’s death, to whom she thanked the confidence to return her to the movie with such a strong role, which, although she did not say it, was perhaps decisive for this film to be among the 10 candidates to the Goya for Best Ibero-American Film this year.
But undoubtedly the most emotional moment of the night was the tribute to Juan Padrón, perhaps because it brought out the child inside each attendee. This is the only explanation for all to laugh and chant some essential parliaments of Cuban animation cinema like “you are lying filthy rat” or “n-n-nurse” …
Padroncito, visibly moved, received a Honorary Coral, which now he joins to two Film and Humor national awards. Although his biggest surprise, and the one of everyone in the Karl Marx, was that the prize was handed by Silvio Rodríguez, author of the ballad of the character Elpidio Valdés, a hero to several Cuban generations.
“I was excited, because when I started publishing in Mella magazine, Silvio was working there and today he said to me that my first cartoon was set up by him,” Padrón told OnCuba. There he also made allusion to his colleague Tulio Raggi, who died two days ago, remembering him as “a great collaborator, excellent strip cartoonist from whom I learned a lot.”
The film chosen to open the Festival was Chile’s Gloria, though many left early perhaps to secure seat on the welcome cocktail at the pool of Nacional Hotel, headquarters of the event that has just started, at least officially, because its organizers say its preparation begins when the previous one ends…
