The main movie theaters in Havana will host the New Latin American Film Festival starting this Thursday, which will take place amid doubts due to the frequent blackouts, which already hampered the last edition, and the dengue and chikungunya epidemic.
The massive blackout that left western Cuba, including Havana, the event’s venue, in the dark this Wednesday, rekindled the memory of the problems recorded the previous year.
In addition, the island is suffering from a dengue and chikungunya epidemic with about 40,000 cases registered this year, an unfavorable prognosis for the coming weeks and at least 33 deaths confirmed by these viral diseases.
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Despite the difficult situation, the contest, which is held until December 14th under the slogan “Rolling Cinema”, maintains its program, with a selection of 222 works on display from 42 countries, including, in addition to Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
The festival organizers told EFE that the Argentinian film Belén, directed and starring Dolores Fonzi, will open the festival this year. The film is about the legal case of a young woman criminalized after a miscarriage.
Mexico will be the guest of honor country this year and the renowned Churubusco Studios will receive the Coral of Honor award from the contest for its eightieth anniversary.
Likewise, the event will dedicate its theoretical forum to the centenary of the birth of Cuban filmmaker Alfredo Guevara (1925-2013), who was founding president of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC) and also of the festival.
A section dedicated to the cinema of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is also planned, an alliance to which Cuba recently joined, according to the program broadcast on social media.
The Coral Awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, December 12th.
Film Proposals
Among the cinematic proposals that may attract the public’s attention is the film “The Secret Agent”, directed by the Brazilian Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring his compatriot Wagner Moura.
The aforementioned film was selected to represent Brazil as Best International Film at the 2026 Oscars.
In addition to a wide selection of productions, Brazil will be represented in Havana by the actor Thiago Lacerda, known for his work in soap operas and miniseries such as Terra Nostra, Seven Women and Pages of Life, but also for films such as The Time and the Wind.
Other highlights of the Havana quote are “Neurótica anónima” (Cuba) and the documentary “Lorca in Havana”, which addresses an unknown stage of the Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, during his stay in Cuba in 1930.
This edition will also bring back the Latin American Film Market Fair, with the attendance of producers from countries such as Russia, China, and Indonesia, along with Latin American and island participants.
The Havana Film Festival of New Latin American Cinema opened its doors for the first time on December 3, 1979, conceived as a continuation of the Viña del Mar festivals (1967 and 1969), Mérida (1968 and 1977) and Caracas (1974).
Since then, the contest has convened prestigious Cuban filmmakers and others from around the world around Latin American filmography and for years has been considered one of the benchmarks of the sector in Latin America.
