Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales has debuted the trailer for Argentinian film “The Lunchroom” (Planta Permanente), winner of the best actress award at Mar del Plata Film Festival, ahead of the Ventana Sur market. It is director Ezequiel Radusky’s second pic following “The Owners,” which played in Critics’ Week at Cannes.
The film is the story of Lila, who for 30 years has been a cleaner in a provincial municipality building. She’s an important figure in the office’s close-knit society because of the unofficial staff cafeteria, which she runs together with her friend Marcela. When Lila gets the opportunity to refurbish the lunchroom and run it officially as the boss, this elevation of her status causes Marcela’s envy and starts a slow decay of the office’s delicate status quo.
“The Lunchroom” was produced by Nicolas Avruj and Diego Lerman at Argentina’s Campo Cine,...
The film is the story of Lila, who for 30 years has been a cleaner in a provincial municipality building. She’s an important figure in the office’s close-knit society because of the unofficial staff cafeteria, which she runs together with her friend Marcela. When Lila gets the opportunity to refurbish the lunchroom and run it officially as the boss, this elevation of her status causes Marcela’s envy and starts a slow decay of the office’s delicate status quo.
“The Lunchroom” was produced by Nicolas Avruj and Diego Lerman at Argentina’s Campo Cine,...
- 12/2/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Jan Naszewski’s sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has signed a world sales deal for the Mar del Plata Film Festival competition title “The Lunchroom” (Planta Permanente), directed by Ezequiel Radusky, which it is selling at Afm. It’s Radusky’s second film after “The Owners,” which played in Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
The film centers on Lila, who is a cleaner in a municipal building and runs an unofficial staff cafeteria with her friend Marcela. When Lila gets the chance to run it officially as the boss, this elevation provokes Marcela’s envy, and unsettles the delicate balance in the life of the office block.
Nicolas Avruj, who produces alongside Diego Lerman for Campo Cine in Argentina, said: “A job where you cannot be fired can be paradise, but it can also be hell. ‘The Lunchroom’ is a funny dark film where we have the chance to rejoice with...
The film centers on Lila, who is a cleaner in a municipal building and runs an unofficial staff cafeteria with her friend Marcela. When Lila gets the chance to run it officially as the boss, this elevation provokes Marcela’s envy, and unsettles the delicate balance in the life of the office block.
Nicolas Avruj, who produces alongside Diego Lerman for Campo Cine in Argentina, said: “A job where you cannot be fired can be paradise, but it can also be hell. ‘The Lunchroom’ is a funny dark film where we have the chance to rejoice with...
- 11/8/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
An exponential surge in the quantity and quality of films is continuing to come out of Latin America. (Hence my urge to write two books on the subject, the next to come out this fall.)
Mexico's output of 140 films, the highest in its glorious if erratic film history, has been accompanied by an explosion of the number of top ranking directors (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón,Guillermo del Toro), DOPs (Emmanuel Lubezki), actors (Eugenio Derbez, Gael García Bernal), producers, below the line, etc; major blockbusters (“Instructions Not Included”, “The Noble Family”), and festivals in every state of The United States of Mexico from Chiapas, Morelia, Cuernavaca, Oaxaca, Baja, Guadalajara, Puerta Vallarta, Acapulco, etc. What a way to see Mexico through its films and film festivals! USA's partnership in the cross-border cultural achievements of Mexico unites our two countries in culture, a great alliance which benefits us perhaps more than it does them...but that is another article.
Argentina continues, in spite of its erratic politics and economy, to keep its production steady as it always has and continues export the largest number of arthouse cinema of Latin America, Daniel Burman’s "The Tenth Man" being its latest, with Kino Lorber picking it up for U.S. and Canada. Argentina's Latam market, Ventana Sur, in partnership with the Cannes Marché, is the strongest and best market of Latin America for Latino films.
Colombia's systematic, steady work at creating a film culture is paying off in a tremendous outflow of award winning arthouse, indigenous (Ciro Guerra's "Embrace of the Serpent" whose Isa Films Boutique sold to Oscilloscope for U.S., Interior 13 Cine for Mexico, Alfa Films for Argentina, Diaphana Films for France, Mfa Filmdistribution for Germany, Magyarhangya for Hungary, Peccadillo Pictures for U.K.,trigon-film for Switzerland, Natlys for Denmark, Diaphana for France, Alambique for Portugal) , Afro-diaspora ("La Playa DC" whose Isa Cineplex sold it for U.S. to Artmattan Productions, Canada to K Films Amerique, Colombia to Cineplex, France to Jour2fete; and "La Sirga" which Cineplex licensed to Film Movement for U.S., for Colombia to Cineplex, France to Zootrope Films ) and genre films.
Tiny Uruguay has strong films by doubly strong producers like Mariana Secco whose strength at carving out a niche equals the work of Wonder Woman. Guatamala, Paraguay, Peru and Cuba are showing the world their undeniable accomplishments as well.
Central America, long denied its own voice -- first because United States and United Fruit created banana republics out of them, then by the trade in drugs and now by exporting gang members to their parents' countries – all of which has resulted in creating nations of violence and poverty -- is now experiencing the thrill of creating sustainable film economies.
Will Costa Rica prevail? To its advantage, it has not been a part of the violent cycle of drugs and gangs) and its stability and economy are able to sustain growth if the government creates cinema laws to help it along. The film writer María Lourdes Cortés from Costa Rica is the most articulate advocate of Central American Cinema and has established Cinergia, Central America's only homemade film promotion, training, dissemination and funding organ. The astoundingly prolific young producer, Marcela Esquivel, whose "Red Princesses" brought Costa Rica to the world's attention as two frontrunners in Costa Rica's race is another promient voice from Costa Rica. Esquivel's Cuban-Costa Rican coproduction “August”/ "Agosto" (Isa: FiGa) was nurtured by Cannes's Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde and was recently in Ficg’s Coproduction Market along with her project “The Ballroom”/ “El Baile y el salon” about to start production.
Or will Panama prevail? Its Canal has just doubled in size and is a center for international trade to such a degree that China itself is challenging it by tearing up the rain forest of Nicaragua in order to build its own canal.
Panama, with its eye on taking a lead as the internet hub for Latin America, Panama whose Canal creates a Cuba-u.S.-China triangle for trade, Panama whose close history with U.S., its same time zone location with U.S., its direct flights to U.S., its central position for Israeli businesses fleeing the instability of the Mid East, Panama may well come out ahead of Costa Rica. Yes, well there are also the "Panama Papers" whose discovery has come since I first wrote this article. But I don't think this latest revelation of the wealthiest and greediest 1% will put a stop to Panama's growth. These are the two horses I am putting my money on.
I am now at the 5th Panama Film Festival, long headed by the much acclaimed Pituka Ortega-Heilbron and headed on the programming and industry fronts by the Toronto Ff vet Diana Sanchez. Covering it in all its diversity to see if it furthers the odds against the Costa Rica International Film Festival has not been disappointing. Also here is the longtime Costa Rica advisor, 20-year Sundance Film Festival industry vet, Nicole Guillemet. Criff is now, reportedly finally being stabilized by the installation of a permanent producer also attending Iff Panama.
Panama is also premiering six of its own films. Comprised of three documentaries and three fiction films, this year’s Panamanian pictures portray the constant struggle of minorities, problematic life in the city, the search for one’s identity, and unresolved past events, exploring numerous socio-cultural issues living in the isthmus of Panama. Comedy will not be missed.
“Salsipuedes”, co-directed by Ricardo Aguilar and Manolito Rodríguez is about Andrés Pimienta, a young neighborhood boy from Panama who is sent to the United States to remain as far away as possible from his troubled homeland and his father Boby, a boxing ex-champion now serving time in prison. Andrés returns to Panama ten years later to attend his grandfather’s burial, where he meets again with Boby-- a reunion that transforms Andres’ destiny.
“Time to Love, A Backstage Tale”/ "Es la hora de enamorarse", a documentary directed by Guido Bilbao, is the true story of a group of young actors with Down Syndrome who courageously mount the classic Panamanian play La Cucarachita Mandinga, without any previous experience on stage. Many thought it unlikely that they would manage to memorize lines, learn choreography or capture the attention of the public. The artistic process is unveiled as Bilbao shows the intimate world of these young aspiring actors, along with their fears, hopes, and daily struggles.
“Drifting Away”/ "A la deriva", a documentary film directed by Miguel I. González is an expose of the healthcare system in Panama in 2006 when it mistakenly created and distributed over 200,000 jars of a common flu remedy, made of a substance named diethylene glycol used in the automotive industry. This caused the mass poisoning of patients, mostly resulting in permanent illness or even death. This notorious case involved companies in China, Spain and Panama. Highlighted are the lives of Iris, Milagros, and Briseida, three women who were severely affected by the poison, both physically and emotionally telling stories of their inner conflicts, as well as their patience, desperation, solitude, and their yearning to be healthy again.
“The Route”/ "La ruta" is Pituka Ortega-Heilbron’s new documentary.
Every morning from Monday to Saturday Severino González, a construction worker, wakes up at 3:30 A.M. to take the bus to work. For most Panamanians, buses are their only option to get to work and sustain a city that grows so recklessly. Yet these buses are like time bombs, its passengers well-aware of its danger but ignorant of its countdown. Every month people die or get hurt, and Severino knows this, but he has no other choice as he will show us through his everyday bus route and his life. This is the portrait of a nation that claims it is becoming a first world country but lacks the basic resources to live up to it.
“The Check”/ "El cheque" is Arturo Montenegro’s first feature film. It is a Panamanian comedy taking place in the midst of the chaos that haunts the Vinda household. A wild and vigilant vegetarian spirit with massive eyes carrying the name of Dominga changes their lives in unimaginable ways. In her stay with the Vindas, Dominga’s fuss and madness becomes the joy and fervor of the family, except with the household’s spoiled dog, Claudia, who’s the only one aware of Dominga’s secret. Everything seems to work fine until a check raises a debate about identity, happiness, trust and the great beyond.
“Kenke”, directed by Enrique Pérez Him, concerns a professional and successful young man, Josué who accepts the family challenge to help his cousin Kenny get away from marijuana. Unbeknownst to the rest of his family, he too shares this vice. Together Josué and Kenny face a society ruled by double standards and other addictions.
Even if only one of these films is directed by a woman, and that woman is the festival’s own director, it is still noticeable that in all this exciting activity of festivals and countries growing culturally, that women are in the majority taking the lead in innovating and establishing these cultural outposts in counties that have been brought to their knees formerly by the macho impositions of capitalism in its ugliest forms of colonialism and imperialism.
As a side remark here, we are witnessing similar activitiy in Mena's (Middle East and North Africa) Gulf State of Qatar with the Doha Film Institute’s CEO Fatma Al Remaihi and in the Emirate State of Dubai with its long standing Dubai Film Festival led by Managing Director, Shivani Pandya.
Culture, always the first to go when the men get going using armaments to build wealth, is now finding that with the potential strength of 51% of the world’s population behind it, it just might get the upper hand for the first time in "civilized" society. Also we are witnessing the Lgbt community's creative might also being exercised on the side of culture. This always original, innovative segment of world society helps enormously in crossing the lines drawn in the sand by the white male establishment.
So we will put our eye upon Panama, the next possible contender for The Latin American Prize for Excellence in Cinematic Experience.
Mexico's output of 140 films, the highest in its glorious if erratic film history, has been accompanied by an explosion of the number of top ranking directors (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón,Guillermo del Toro), DOPs (Emmanuel Lubezki), actors (Eugenio Derbez, Gael García Bernal), producers, below the line, etc; major blockbusters (“Instructions Not Included”, “The Noble Family”), and festivals in every state of The United States of Mexico from Chiapas, Morelia, Cuernavaca, Oaxaca, Baja, Guadalajara, Puerta Vallarta, Acapulco, etc. What a way to see Mexico through its films and film festivals! USA's partnership in the cross-border cultural achievements of Mexico unites our two countries in culture, a great alliance which benefits us perhaps more than it does them...but that is another article.
Argentina continues, in spite of its erratic politics and economy, to keep its production steady as it always has and continues export the largest number of arthouse cinema of Latin America, Daniel Burman’s "The Tenth Man" being its latest, with Kino Lorber picking it up for U.S. and Canada. Argentina's Latam market, Ventana Sur, in partnership with the Cannes Marché, is the strongest and best market of Latin America for Latino films.
Colombia's systematic, steady work at creating a film culture is paying off in a tremendous outflow of award winning arthouse, indigenous (Ciro Guerra's "Embrace of the Serpent" whose Isa Films Boutique sold to Oscilloscope for U.S., Interior 13 Cine for Mexico, Alfa Films for Argentina, Diaphana Films for France, Mfa Filmdistribution for Germany, Magyarhangya for Hungary, Peccadillo Pictures for U.K.,trigon-film for Switzerland, Natlys for Denmark, Diaphana for France, Alambique for Portugal) , Afro-diaspora ("La Playa DC" whose Isa Cineplex sold it for U.S. to Artmattan Productions, Canada to K Films Amerique, Colombia to Cineplex, France to Jour2fete; and "La Sirga" which Cineplex licensed to Film Movement for U.S., for Colombia to Cineplex, France to Zootrope Films ) and genre films.
Tiny Uruguay has strong films by doubly strong producers like Mariana Secco whose strength at carving out a niche equals the work of Wonder Woman. Guatamala, Paraguay, Peru and Cuba are showing the world their undeniable accomplishments as well.
Central America, long denied its own voice -- first because United States and United Fruit created banana republics out of them, then by the trade in drugs and now by exporting gang members to their parents' countries – all of which has resulted in creating nations of violence and poverty -- is now experiencing the thrill of creating sustainable film economies.
Will Costa Rica prevail? To its advantage, it has not been a part of the violent cycle of drugs and gangs) and its stability and economy are able to sustain growth if the government creates cinema laws to help it along. The film writer María Lourdes Cortés from Costa Rica is the most articulate advocate of Central American Cinema and has established Cinergia, Central America's only homemade film promotion, training, dissemination and funding organ. The astoundingly prolific young producer, Marcela Esquivel, whose "Red Princesses" brought Costa Rica to the world's attention as two frontrunners in Costa Rica's race is another promient voice from Costa Rica. Esquivel's Cuban-Costa Rican coproduction “August”/ "Agosto" (Isa: FiGa) was nurtured by Cannes's Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde and was recently in Ficg’s Coproduction Market along with her project “The Ballroom”/ “El Baile y el salon” about to start production.
Or will Panama prevail? Its Canal has just doubled in size and is a center for international trade to such a degree that China itself is challenging it by tearing up the rain forest of Nicaragua in order to build its own canal.
Panama, with its eye on taking a lead as the internet hub for Latin America, Panama whose Canal creates a Cuba-u.S.-China triangle for trade, Panama whose close history with U.S., its same time zone location with U.S., its direct flights to U.S., its central position for Israeli businesses fleeing the instability of the Mid East, Panama may well come out ahead of Costa Rica. Yes, well there are also the "Panama Papers" whose discovery has come since I first wrote this article. But I don't think this latest revelation of the wealthiest and greediest 1% will put a stop to Panama's growth. These are the two horses I am putting my money on.
I am now at the 5th Panama Film Festival, long headed by the much acclaimed Pituka Ortega-Heilbron and headed on the programming and industry fronts by the Toronto Ff vet Diana Sanchez. Covering it in all its diversity to see if it furthers the odds against the Costa Rica International Film Festival has not been disappointing. Also here is the longtime Costa Rica advisor, 20-year Sundance Film Festival industry vet, Nicole Guillemet. Criff is now, reportedly finally being stabilized by the installation of a permanent producer also attending Iff Panama.
Panama is also premiering six of its own films. Comprised of three documentaries and three fiction films, this year’s Panamanian pictures portray the constant struggle of minorities, problematic life in the city, the search for one’s identity, and unresolved past events, exploring numerous socio-cultural issues living in the isthmus of Panama. Comedy will not be missed.
“Salsipuedes”, co-directed by Ricardo Aguilar and Manolito Rodríguez is about Andrés Pimienta, a young neighborhood boy from Panama who is sent to the United States to remain as far away as possible from his troubled homeland and his father Boby, a boxing ex-champion now serving time in prison. Andrés returns to Panama ten years later to attend his grandfather’s burial, where he meets again with Boby-- a reunion that transforms Andres’ destiny.
“Time to Love, A Backstage Tale”/ "Es la hora de enamorarse", a documentary directed by Guido Bilbao, is the true story of a group of young actors with Down Syndrome who courageously mount the classic Panamanian play La Cucarachita Mandinga, without any previous experience on stage. Many thought it unlikely that they would manage to memorize lines, learn choreography or capture the attention of the public. The artistic process is unveiled as Bilbao shows the intimate world of these young aspiring actors, along with their fears, hopes, and daily struggles.
“Drifting Away”/ "A la deriva", a documentary film directed by Miguel I. González is an expose of the healthcare system in Panama in 2006 when it mistakenly created and distributed over 200,000 jars of a common flu remedy, made of a substance named diethylene glycol used in the automotive industry. This caused the mass poisoning of patients, mostly resulting in permanent illness or even death. This notorious case involved companies in China, Spain and Panama. Highlighted are the lives of Iris, Milagros, and Briseida, three women who were severely affected by the poison, both physically and emotionally telling stories of their inner conflicts, as well as their patience, desperation, solitude, and their yearning to be healthy again.
“The Route”/ "La ruta" is Pituka Ortega-Heilbron’s new documentary.
Every morning from Monday to Saturday Severino González, a construction worker, wakes up at 3:30 A.M. to take the bus to work. For most Panamanians, buses are their only option to get to work and sustain a city that grows so recklessly. Yet these buses are like time bombs, its passengers well-aware of its danger but ignorant of its countdown. Every month people die or get hurt, and Severino knows this, but he has no other choice as he will show us through his everyday bus route and his life. This is the portrait of a nation that claims it is becoming a first world country but lacks the basic resources to live up to it.
“The Check”/ "El cheque" is Arturo Montenegro’s first feature film. It is a Panamanian comedy taking place in the midst of the chaos that haunts the Vinda household. A wild and vigilant vegetarian spirit with massive eyes carrying the name of Dominga changes their lives in unimaginable ways. In her stay with the Vindas, Dominga’s fuss and madness becomes the joy and fervor of the family, except with the household’s spoiled dog, Claudia, who’s the only one aware of Dominga’s secret. Everything seems to work fine until a check raises a debate about identity, happiness, trust and the great beyond.
“Kenke”, directed by Enrique Pérez Him, concerns a professional and successful young man, Josué who accepts the family challenge to help his cousin Kenny get away from marijuana. Unbeknownst to the rest of his family, he too shares this vice. Together Josué and Kenny face a society ruled by double standards and other addictions.
Even if only one of these films is directed by a woman, and that woman is the festival’s own director, it is still noticeable that in all this exciting activity of festivals and countries growing culturally, that women are in the majority taking the lead in innovating and establishing these cultural outposts in counties that have been brought to their knees formerly by the macho impositions of capitalism in its ugliest forms of colonialism and imperialism.
As a side remark here, we are witnessing similar activitiy in Mena's (Middle East and North Africa) Gulf State of Qatar with the Doha Film Institute’s CEO Fatma Al Remaihi and in the Emirate State of Dubai with its long standing Dubai Film Festival led by Managing Director, Shivani Pandya.
Culture, always the first to go when the men get going using armaments to build wealth, is now finding that with the potential strength of 51% of the world’s population behind it, it just might get the upper hand for the first time in "civilized" society. Also we are witnessing the Lgbt community's creative might also being exercised on the side of culture. This always original, innovative segment of world society helps enormously in crossing the lines drawn in the sand by the white male establishment.
So we will put our eye upon Panama, the next possible contender for The Latin American Prize for Excellence in Cinematic Experience.
- 3/26/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
On December 17, El Dia de St. Lazaro, something extraordinary happened! Equivalent to the “Fall of the Wall”, President Barak Obama simultaneously with Raul Castro of Cuba announced that diplomatic relations between our two countries was being restored; the last of the Cuban Five imprisoned for 15 years in the U.S. for spying (on Cuban terrorists based in Miami) would be returned to Cuba in exchange for Alan Gross (imprisoned for 5 years for bringing Cuba forbidden internet technology), and an unnamed CIA agent incarcerated for 20 years, along with other Cuban political prisoners; And that this would be the first step in finally normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S.A.
Read More: Sydney Levine's First Impression at the 2014 Havana Film Festival
As my friends and I were driving from Trinidad to visit a sugar plantation which was the basis for the Cuban wealth of the 19th century, we got a message that in one hour Raul Castro would make the formal announcement and President Obama’s address would also be broadcast.
As we entered the former plantation home, now a restaurant, we heard the singing and jubilation coming from the bar and immediately joined in as the only Americans to share the joy; the Scotch (not rum) was flowing and the dancing and singing continued until the address came on the television.
I realized that in my 15 years of coming to Cuba, this was the moment I had been waiting for. We watched Raul Castro explain, and we watched President Obama explain, and as I watched the faces of the beautiful Cuban people as they listened, some with tears and others with smiles, all with great intensity, I understood the meaning of “rapprochement”. We turned toward each other in pure happiness and felt ourselves united after 55 years of separation.
This is The Place and I am here.
We knew when the Mercosur Heads of State were gathered under tight security at the Hotel Nacional during the first days of the festival that something was afoot. We heard that not only were they planning a possible counter boycott of U.S. in their upcoming May meeting, shutting out U.S. from attending, but the Hotel Nacional’s guest roster included the name of an American who was negotiating something much bigger.
Some speak of the idealism behind this long-wished-for move of U.S.; others speak of the economic necessity. Looking back at my most incredible year of traveling around Latin America, I understand that with the new expansion of the Panama Canal enabling the huge Chinese container ships to pass through, the most convenient next-stop-port for them is Havana. And from Havana, the most convenient port is not Cartagena or Cali in Colombia but New Orleans! And so we may see the rapprochement bring back the glorious days when music and adventure were equated with the Louisiana-Cuban connection. My hope is that the values held so dear in Cuba spread to U.S. and that we Americans don’t spread our U.S. arrogance when we land on the shores of the country which has managed 55 years with no help from us.
There is still more to this tale of reunion, but I am sworn to secrecy for the moment. But you will read it in papers other than this blog. Thirteen months of secret negotiations took place in Canada with the help of the Pope. At a wonderful dinner at a newly opened up Cuban-Russian restaurant on the Malecon, “Nostrovia”, our friend the restaurant owner, Rolando Almirante, whom we know as a documentary filmmaker and host of a weekly Cuban TV show, introduced us to a Canadian and an American both of whom had been involved with the long negotiations. Together we toasted the event with vodka.
To return to the Hotel Nacional and the festival:
Exceptionally quiet for those political reasons, it was also quiet because but there was none of the active debating over the new Law of Cinema which so excitedly animated the festival here last year. There was a low-key conference about the law of cinema and audiovisual culture held by the Cuban Association of Cinema Press with Fipresci and other invited guests to discuss and express opinions about whether most countries by now have a law of cinema, whether developing countries are planning on establishing a law of cinema, whether a law of cinema is necessary for a country aspiring to a higher level of culture for its population, and in what way would a law contribute to the development of production and to the appreciation of cinema. But you do not see everyone gathering in groups to discuss these ideas as they did last year.
Some of last year’s top filmmakers – producers like Ivonne Cotorruelo and Claudia Calvino are so busy preparing their next coproductions that they have no time for such discussions. Others shrug and resignedly express Cuban forbearance as usual.
I asked my friends what is the status of the law being established here in Cuba where only one law of cinema exists, which is the establishment of Icaic, the government institute that determines everything about film behind closed doors. Their answer was “Nothing”. Nothing has changed since last year. Discussions are continuing, and there will be a law established, but not yet…and so I learned that once the first big step is taken here, the next steps are very slow to follow.
So here is what happened on Day 3, December 7 of the my festival:
Our friend Pascal Tessaud whose short from France “City of Lights” brought him to Los Angeles several years ago, had a screening of his new film “Brooklyn”. Its premiere screening here (It premiered in Cannes’ Acid section earlier this year) was to an odd audience of older people. No doubt they were expecting a film about “Brooklyn” (which used to be the name of a bar in Central Havana) but instead got a film about a young Afro-Swiss rapper-girl named “Brooklyn” who enters the rap scene of Paris, made up of Arabs and Africans.
“Afronorteamericano” films were also spotlighted with Oscar Micheaux’s “Assassination in Harlem” (1935), “Within our Gates” (1920), “Body and Soul” (1926) starring Paul Robeson, “Underworld” (1937), “Swing” (1938), and Spencer William’s “The Blood of Jesus” (1941).
Also showing were North American documentaries “Citizen Koch”, “The Notorious Mr. Bout”, “The Overnighters”, and an homage to filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki (“Capturing the Friedmans” 2003, “Arbitrage” 2012, “The Trials of Henry Kissinger” 2002, “Why We Fight” 2006, Emmy Award winning “Reagan” 2011 and 2012’s “The House I Live In” about the war against drugs which along with “Why We Fight” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance) and a retrospective of Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. Trinidad & Tobago’s annual showcase featured “Creole Soup” from Guadalupe and “Legends of Ska” by American DJ and ska specialist Brad Klein. And of course there was the latest crop of new films from Latin America and the newest films from Cuba, and much, much more.
Today Benecio del Toro, a regular at this festival, won the Coral of Honor for his role as “Che” in Steven Soderbergh’s movies and for his role as the narcotraffiker, Pablo Escobar in the NBC miniseries “Drug Wars: The Camarena Story” and here now, as Escobar in “Escobar: Paradise Lost” directed by the Italian Andrea Di Stefano. For Benecio, Cuba is “a dream come true”.
Day 4, December 8.
There seems to be a trend toward films about children. The prize winning film “Conducta” and Cuba’s submission for Academy Award Nomination as Best Foreign Language Film has already won awards around the world including The Coral for Best Picture and Best Actor here in Havana. This young boy loses every government protection because of his family’s dysfunctions and yet he maintains the spirit of survival and transcendence. Another story from Argentina, Poland and Colombia, France and Germany, “Refugiado” directed by Diego Lerman, also deals with a child who returns home from a birthday party to find his mother unconscious on the floor. The mother then flees seeking a safe place for them and he experiences fear in all the formerly secure places he has known. “Gente de Bien” a Colombia-France coproduction directed by Franco Lolli also explores the world of a young boy, abandoned by his mother and placed in the disheveled home of his impecunious father, who is taken in by a teacher who means well but whose family refuses to accept him. This little kid reaches his limit when his dog dies; but thrown back to his caring if off-kilter father, you get the feeling he too will be all right after all.
A couple of new gay films showed: Cuba’s “Vestido de Novia” was so crowded I could not get near it. Lines around blocks and blocks to get into the 1,000 seat theater were incredible proof of how much Cubans love cinema. Winner of last year’s prize for a work-in-progress, “Vestido de Novia” (“Wedding Dress) will soon be on the festival circuit. Two years ago, at Guadalajara’s coproduction market “Cuatro Lunas” by Sergio Tovar Velarde was being pitched. A sort of primer on gayness, four stories tell the tale of 1) discovery of one’s gayness, 2) first gay love, 3) first gay betrayal of love and 4) love at a mature stage of life. Producer Fernando … hung out with us a bit as we all come from L.A. and have friends in common.
What – aside from the new rapprochement between Cuba and U.S.A. – is “good for the Jews”? A wonderful film from Uruguay, Spain and Germany, “Mr. Kaplan” directed by Alvaro Brechner and produced by my most helpful friend Mariana Secco, and my German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner (Isa: Memento) brought a new understanding for the good and the bad in our recent history. Almost a comedy and almost a tragedy, the film’s resolution served to transform our propensity to see and judge in black and white.
Read More: Sydney Levine's First Impression at the 2014 Havana Film Festival
As my friends and I were driving from Trinidad to visit a sugar plantation which was the basis for the Cuban wealth of the 19th century, we got a message that in one hour Raul Castro would make the formal announcement and President Obama’s address would also be broadcast.
As we entered the former plantation home, now a restaurant, we heard the singing and jubilation coming from the bar and immediately joined in as the only Americans to share the joy; the Scotch (not rum) was flowing and the dancing and singing continued until the address came on the television.
I realized that in my 15 years of coming to Cuba, this was the moment I had been waiting for. We watched Raul Castro explain, and we watched President Obama explain, and as I watched the faces of the beautiful Cuban people as they listened, some with tears and others with smiles, all with great intensity, I understood the meaning of “rapprochement”. We turned toward each other in pure happiness and felt ourselves united after 55 years of separation.
This is The Place and I am here.
We knew when the Mercosur Heads of State were gathered under tight security at the Hotel Nacional during the first days of the festival that something was afoot. We heard that not only were they planning a possible counter boycott of U.S. in their upcoming May meeting, shutting out U.S. from attending, but the Hotel Nacional’s guest roster included the name of an American who was negotiating something much bigger.
Some speak of the idealism behind this long-wished-for move of U.S.; others speak of the economic necessity. Looking back at my most incredible year of traveling around Latin America, I understand that with the new expansion of the Panama Canal enabling the huge Chinese container ships to pass through, the most convenient next-stop-port for them is Havana. And from Havana, the most convenient port is not Cartagena or Cali in Colombia but New Orleans! And so we may see the rapprochement bring back the glorious days when music and adventure were equated with the Louisiana-Cuban connection. My hope is that the values held so dear in Cuba spread to U.S. and that we Americans don’t spread our U.S. arrogance when we land on the shores of the country which has managed 55 years with no help from us.
There is still more to this tale of reunion, but I am sworn to secrecy for the moment. But you will read it in papers other than this blog. Thirteen months of secret negotiations took place in Canada with the help of the Pope. At a wonderful dinner at a newly opened up Cuban-Russian restaurant on the Malecon, “Nostrovia”, our friend the restaurant owner, Rolando Almirante, whom we know as a documentary filmmaker and host of a weekly Cuban TV show, introduced us to a Canadian and an American both of whom had been involved with the long negotiations. Together we toasted the event with vodka.
To return to the Hotel Nacional and the festival:
Exceptionally quiet for those political reasons, it was also quiet because but there was none of the active debating over the new Law of Cinema which so excitedly animated the festival here last year. There was a low-key conference about the law of cinema and audiovisual culture held by the Cuban Association of Cinema Press with Fipresci and other invited guests to discuss and express opinions about whether most countries by now have a law of cinema, whether developing countries are planning on establishing a law of cinema, whether a law of cinema is necessary for a country aspiring to a higher level of culture for its population, and in what way would a law contribute to the development of production and to the appreciation of cinema. But you do not see everyone gathering in groups to discuss these ideas as they did last year.
Some of last year’s top filmmakers – producers like Ivonne Cotorruelo and Claudia Calvino are so busy preparing their next coproductions that they have no time for such discussions. Others shrug and resignedly express Cuban forbearance as usual.
I asked my friends what is the status of the law being established here in Cuba where only one law of cinema exists, which is the establishment of Icaic, the government institute that determines everything about film behind closed doors. Their answer was “Nothing”. Nothing has changed since last year. Discussions are continuing, and there will be a law established, but not yet…and so I learned that once the first big step is taken here, the next steps are very slow to follow.
So here is what happened on Day 3, December 7 of the my festival:
Our friend Pascal Tessaud whose short from France “City of Lights” brought him to Los Angeles several years ago, had a screening of his new film “Brooklyn”. Its premiere screening here (It premiered in Cannes’ Acid section earlier this year) was to an odd audience of older people. No doubt they were expecting a film about “Brooklyn” (which used to be the name of a bar in Central Havana) but instead got a film about a young Afro-Swiss rapper-girl named “Brooklyn” who enters the rap scene of Paris, made up of Arabs and Africans.
“Afronorteamericano” films were also spotlighted with Oscar Micheaux’s “Assassination in Harlem” (1935), “Within our Gates” (1920), “Body and Soul” (1926) starring Paul Robeson, “Underworld” (1937), “Swing” (1938), and Spencer William’s “The Blood of Jesus” (1941).
Also showing were North American documentaries “Citizen Koch”, “The Notorious Mr. Bout”, “The Overnighters”, and an homage to filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki (“Capturing the Friedmans” 2003, “Arbitrage” 2012, “The Trials of Henry Kissinger” 2002, “Why We Fight” 2006, Emmy Award winning “Reagan” 2011 and 2012’s “The House I Live In” about the war against drugs which along with “Why We Fight” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance) and a retrospective of Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. Trinidad & Tobago’s annual showcase featured “Creole Soup” from Guadalupe and “Legends of Ska” by American DJ and ska specialist Brad Klein. And of course there was the latest crop of new films from Latin America and the newest films from Cuba, and much, much more.
Today Benecio del Toro, a regular at this festival, won the Coral of Honor for his role as “Che” in Steven Soderbergh’s movies and for his role as the narcotraffiker, Pablo Escobar in the NBC miniseries “Drug Wars: The Camarena Story” and here now, as Escobar in “Escobar: Paradise Lost” directed by the Italian Andrea Di Stefano. For Benecio, Cuba is “a dream come true”.
Day 4, December 8.
There seems to be a trend toward films about children. The prize winning film “Conducta” and Cuba’s submission for Academy Award Nomination as Best Foreign Language Film has already won awards around the world including The Coral for Best Picture and Best Actor here in Havana. This young boy loses every government protection because of his family’s dysfunctions and yet he maintains the spirit of survival and transcendence. Another story from Argentina, Poland and Colombia, France and Germany, “Refugiado” directed by Diego Lerman, also deals with a child who returns home from a birthday party to find his mother unconscious on the floor. The mother then flees seeking a safe place for them and he experiences fear in all the formerly secure places he has known. “Gente de Bien” a Colombia-France coproduction directed by Franco Lolli also explores the world of a young boy, abandoned by his mother and placed in the disheveled home of his impecunious father, who is taken in by a teacher who means well but whose family refuses to accept him. This little kid reaches his limit when his dog dies; but thrown back to his caring if off-kilter father, you get the feeling he too will be all right after all.
A couple of new gay films showed: Cuba’s “Vestido de Novia” was so crowded I could not get near it. Lines around blocks and blocks to get into the 1,000 seat theater were incredible proof of how much Cubans love cinema. Winner of last year’s prize for a work-in-progress, “Vestido de Novia” (“Wedding Dress) will soon be on the festival circuit. Two years ago, at Guadalajara’s coproduction market “Cuatro Lunas” by Sergio Tovar Velarde was being pitched. A sort of primer on gayness, four stories tell the tale of 1) discovery of one’s gayness, 2) first gay love, 3) first gay betrayal of love and 4) love at a mature stage of life. Producer Fernando … hung out with us a bit as we all come from L.A. and have friends in common.
What – aside from the new rapprochement between Cuba and U.S.A. – is “good for the Jews”? A wonderful film from Uruguay, Spain and Germany, “Mr. Kaplan” directed by Alvaro Brechner and produced by my most helpful friend Mariana Secco, and my German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner (Isa: Memento) brought a new understanding for the good and the bad in our recent history. Almost a comedy and almost a tragedy, the film’s resolution served to transform our propensity to see and judge in black and white.
- 12/27/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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