coda
10th December 2005, 01:31
Cubans Save Vacation for Havana Film Fest
By VANESSA ARRINGTON
HAVANA (AP) - Long lines this time of year usually consist of Christmas shoppers, but in communist Cuba the lines are made up of an entirely different group of zealots: movie buffs.
Those crazy about cinema wait all year for Havana's international film festival, which brings movies from around Latin America and the world to some 20 screens in the capital in December.
The festival serves as a window to the rest of the globe for those living on an island where few get the opportunity to travel and television programming is run by the state.
``This is so important, for us to see all that is being said around the world,'' Mirtha Ibanez, a retired public health worker, said of the festival. ``This is how we see the truth, and different cultures.''
Many Cubans even save up vacation days to watch a half-dozen films per day at the festival, which opened Tuesday and runs through Dec. 16.
``I'm an economist, but I love the movies and took off time to be here,'' said Jose Luis Martinez, standing outside the Payret Theater across the street from Havana's historic Capitol Building. ``I'm going to see as many movies as I can, probably about 40.''
The theater seats aren't that comfortable, and there's no extra butter for the hardly fresh popcorn sold outside. But with tickets selling for just two Cuban pesos per film - about 10 U.S. cents - Cubans go to the movies in droves.
More than 80 feature-length films, including documentaries and animated movies, will compete in the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. Most were produced in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Cuba, but European flicks and independent films from the United States also are shown.
The festival films are not censored, and tackle myriad issues, from war to infidelity to immigration.
``Un Ano Sin Amor,'' or ``A Year Without Love,'' deals with a homosexual man living with AIDS and his search for love before he dies. Stark sexual scenes, including sadomasochism, surprised but didn't seem to repel moviegoers in the packed theater.
``It's something that's not in my world, but it's just another way to live,'' Lourdes Gonzalez, currently unemployed, said of the movie's theme. ``It was quite forceful but still well done.''
Other film protagonists include an Arab and a Jew in the Chilean film ``La Ultima Luna,'' or ``The Last Moon''; a street kid whose life is portrayed in one long night in Argentina's ``Ronda Nocturna,'' or ``Night Patrol''; and a 40-year-old black woman hired to take care of an aging widow with racist tendencies in Brazil's ``El Ajedrez de los Colores,'' or ``Chess of Colors.''
``Normally the films touch upon really powerful, really deep topics,'' said musician Alain Ramirez, who had already seen five in just one day.
The documentaries also are far from timid, addressing such subjects as the war in Iraq, the travails of Latin maids in the United States and the murders and disappearances of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Cubans are as passionate in the theater as out, often shouting reactions to certain scenes or chattering about a character during the film.
``This is a method of diversion for all Cubans,'' said Ramirez, the musician. ``We eagerly anticipate it all year. Once it's here, we meet up with our friends, debate the movies afterward. We're fanatics.''
12/09/05 16:47
By VANESSA ARRINGTON
HAVANA (AP) - Long lines this time of year usually consist of Christmas shoppers, but in communist Cuba the lines are made up of an entirely different group of zealots: movie buffs.
Those crazy about cinema wait all year for Havana's international film festival, which brings movies from around Latin America and the world to some 20 screens in the capital in December.
The festival serves as a window to the rest of the globe for those living on an island where few get the opportunity to travel and television programming is run by the state.
``This is so important, for us to see all that is being said around the world,'' Mirtha Ibanez, a retired public health worker, said of the festival. ``This is how we see the truth, and different cultures.''
Many Cubans even save up vacation days to watch a half-dozen films per day at the festival, which opened Tuesday and runs through Dec. 16.
``I'm an economist, but I love the movies and took off time to be here,'' said Jose Luis Martinez, standing outside the Payret Theater across the street from Havana's historic Capitol Building. ``I'm going to see as many movies as I can, probably about 40.''
The theater seats aren't that comfortable, and there's no extra butter for the hardly fresh popcorn sold outside. But with tickets selling for just two Cuban pesos per film - about 10 U.S. cents - Cubans go to the movies in droves.
More than 80 feature-length films, including documentaries and animated movies, will compete in the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema. Most were produced in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Cuba, but European flicks and independent films from the United States also are shown.
The festival films are not censored, and tackle myriad issues, from war to infidelity to immigration.
``Un Ano Sin Amor,'' or ``A Year Without Love,'' deals with a homosexual man living with AIDS and his search for love before he dies. Stark sexual scenes, including sadomasochism, surprised but didn't seem to repel moviegoers in the packed theater.
``It's something that's not in my world, but it's just another way to live,'' Lourdes Gonzalez, currently unemployed, said of the movie's theme. ``It was quite forceful but still well done.''
Other film protagonists include an Arab and a Jew in the Chilean film ``La Ultima Luna,'' or ``The Last Moon''; a street kid whose life is portrayed in one long night in Argentina's ``Ronda Nocturna,'' or ``Night Patrol''; and a 40-year-old black woman hired to take care of an aging widow with racist tendencies in Brazil's ``El Ajedrez de los Colores,'' or ``Chess of Colors.''
``Normally the films touch upon really powerful, really deep topics,'' said musician Alain Ramirez, who had already seen five in just one day.
The documentaries also are far from timid, addressing such subjects as the war in Iraq, the travails of Latin maids in the United States and the murders and disappearances of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Cubans are as passionate in the theater as out, often shouting reactions to certain scenes or chattering about a character during the film.
``This is a method of diversion for all Cubans,'' said Ramirez, the musician. ``We eagerly anticipate it all year. Once it's here, we meet up with our friends, debate the movies afterward. We're fanatics.''
12/09/05 16:47