It began quietly enough. I met with Maria Julia Antuna Acosta, the coordinator of international relations of Eictv, the international film school in Havana which is the most acclaimed international film school of the world founded by Gabriel Garcia Marquez with this Nobel Prize money on land donated by Castro. Eictv is a three year film school hosting students from all over the world where they are creating the possibility of creating companies of former students working together to create real Iberoamerican cinema. The “real” University for cinema is University of the Arts, the subject of the 2012 documentary “Unfinished Spaces”. It is a four year university with a faculty of cinema (along with a faculty of dance, of pictorial arts, architecture and plastic arts).
Day One
I spent the day into the evening with Luisa Crespo, my good friend and a board member of L.A.’s Latino Queer Festival and formerly of Laliff. We are celebrating her new freedom as she has just retired as Director of the Senate of the University of California at Irvine. She has not been back to Cuba since 1975 when, as a student, she came with the Vinceremos Brigade to help build the newly liberated nation. We think it is a momentous occasion for that and for other reasons we will explain later.
I was surprised at the quietness in the Hotel Nacional where the festival headquarters are. The usual cars and cabs parked in the driveway are gone and certain passages in the hotel are blocked off. And the streets in front of the Nacional where our apartment is are very quiet as well, and all the surrounding streets are filled with police. We were flattered to think it was all for the film festival, but it was not.
12:30 after changing money and picking up our festival newspaper, the only way to know which films are playing today and tomorrow, we proceeded to see the Argentinian film about the mix and mixing of cultures taking place in an outdoor market in Buenos Aires. “ La Salada” directed by Juan Martín Hsu is a coproduction of Argentina and Spain. It is a mosaic of experiences for new immigrants in Argentina. Three tales of people from different races who struggle with loneliness and alienation during "La feria de La Salada" weave together to form a very moving and effective dramedy.
In 2013, the sixth year of the Havana Film Festival’s Works in Progress, the Post Production Award, Nuestra América Primera Copia an international competition for films from Latin America and from Cuba went to four films: one from Argentina, “La Salada” which went on to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and then San Sebastian International Film Festival 2014; one from Chile, “Yo Soy Lorena”, also screening in the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and here in Havana; and two from Cuba – independent film, “Venezia” (“Venice”) which was also in the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and one Icaic film, “Vestido de Novia” (“Wedding Dress”) both screening here as well.
At 3:00, after a soggy pizza in the café Frescas y Chocolate across from the Charlie Chaplin Theater, we went to see “ Los Hongos”, directed by Óscar Ruiz Navia, a Colombia-Argentina-France-Germany coproduction being sold internationally by FiGa Films. This Colombian art house film was produced by Diana Bustamente’sBurning Blue (she is now director of Carthagena Film Festival) and Contravia Films. It was workshopped at the Cannes Cinefondation, funded by World Cinema Fund in Berlin. (30,000 €), Hubert Bals Fund, Ibermedia and seemingly every other European fund that could contribute was beautifully shot in Cali, Colombia and starred two skateboarding, bike-riding graffiti artists whose parents and grandparents you would want in your life. The film premiered in Toronto this year.
“Los Hongos” is beautiful to watch, engaging, funny and also eye-opening to the street culture which is actively engaged in Cali and in the affairs of the world. However, it skirted the edge of “too much of a good thing”, that is, you could almost see the European marks of inspiration shaping the almost gritty world of both poor, Christianized Afro-Colombians and bourgeous but bohemian, educated and left leaning whites living in Cali. The father of the white boy, an art-school student gone rogue, was hyper-political, famous locally as a Neapolitan type singer.
Gustavo Ruiz, who played the father was in Havana and introduced the film. He is an elegant man who deservedly is proud of his work in this film. He attended as many films as possible and while we were watching “El Cerrajero” (“The Lock Charmer”) directed by Natalia Smirnoff, we reintroduced ourselves and set up a time for an interview.
Unfortunately we were unable to get into the next film at the Charlie Chaplin Theater, “Vestido de Novia”, a film which won last year’s Work in Progress Award of Nuevas Miradas of Eictv. The huge lines around two blocks of people anxious to enter the 1,000 seat theater attest to the Cuban’s love of cinema.
Later that night, with our newfound friend, Kyle Walcott of Tobago, a 21 year old film student at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad + Tobago whose short film, “Glass Bottom Boat”, screened as part of trinidad + tobago film festival's annual showcase of Caribbean films here, we had dinner in Castropol, one of the new restaurants along the Malecon overlooking the Caribbean. Afterward we went to dance at Café Cantante and Casa de la Musica. However, because the next day (Sunday) was Day of the Martyrs, dedicated to Antonio Maceo and other heroes who died fighting for freedom in Cuba, all entertainment stopped at midnight, which allowed me to get to bed at a decent hour and actually get eight hours of sleep.
Day Two
This morning we handled the stressful logistics of scheduling our time for the upcoming day and people-hunting at the Nacional, no easy task as few who are not Cuban have cel tels that work here. I introduced Kyle to Anne Cross who comes from Scotland every year to find Cuban films to bring to the U.K. for her Cuban film festival. Anne is the mother of Kyle’s colleague, Nicola Cross, a Trinidadian who works with the t+tff and teaches at the University of West Indies.
We three went off to see the Infanta Theater where Kyle’s “Glass Bottom Boat” will screen. Typical of Havana, there on the street, my friend Rolando Almirante (one of Havana’s foremost documentary filmmakers) called to me. With him was Catherine Murphy of “Maestras” the doc about the teachers who went after the Cuban Revolution to the countryside to teach literacy. They are both on the jury awarding a prize to films concerning violence against women or its solutions. She invited us to go later that night to La Fabrica, a new art space opened by singer-composer X Alfonso’s parents of the group Sintesis to hear a concert.
Later that afternoon we walked on to Callejon de Hamel, a street that looks like a combination of Watts Towers and Berlin’s Tacheles and where every Sunday they have that special Cuban music called Rumba. There we found that because it was Antonio Maceos’ Day of the Martyrs, there would be no rumba there or at Casa de la Musica later. I bought a small but beautiful lithograph called 100% Cuban by a local artist showing on “Jon de Hamel”. We had a Boringa (rum drink) with two locals, talked and then walked home along the Malecon. At the statue of Antonio Maceo we watched local members of the Freemasons and veterans place a memorial wreath. As we approached the Nacional from behind, we discovered limousines and chauffeurs from all the embassies along with a cadre of police dressed in their best ceremonial uniforms quietly waiting while whatever was happening at the hotel continued...
Luisa and I grabbed a bite at the palador Los Amigos (palador is the name of restaurants which operated only semi-legally in earlier days but which are now totally legal). After dinner we went to the Cuban Communist Youth Center, Pabellion Cuba, to see Natalia Smirnoff’s Lock Charmer (El Cerrajero) (Isa: Memento), a lovely art film from Argentina which premiered at Sundance January 2014 and went on to screen in Cartagena Film Festival in March 2014 with three other Argentine features, Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) (Isa: Urban Distribution International) after its Berlinale premiere and also showing here in Havana, The Color That Fell From Heaven (El Color que cayó del cielo ),and The Third Bank of the River (La tercera orilla) after its Berlin premiere and which is showing here as well.
At 10 pm went to La Fabrica, a great art space in a former factory, next to a great palador inside the huge factory chimney itself. There we saw the producer Rosa Bosch who has moved from Mexico to Cuba and her friends including a young producer whose short “The Malecon” we hope to catch. La Fabrica exhibits art, artist-inspired jewelry and other “objets”, like clothes made of recycled tabs that open cans or computer wires, designer chairs and furniture. It has several patio bars and performing areas with great acoustics. In one area, we caught three short acts. One large (and gorgeous) man in a small black and gold beaded dress, high heels and a cowboy hat sang a hot song as he posed and strutted. He was incredibly charismatic and enthralled me with his grace alternating between gorgeous female and gorgeous male. – a true gender bender.
Next an elegant petit black woman in a small red dress sang with great gusto a R&B spoof, going overboard with emotions and the tremor in her voice, exaggerated as she sang her lament. It was a hilarious well done performance. Great entertainment is instantly understandable even though I could not understand the words being sung. And the feeling that “only in Cuba” would someone create acts like these was also strong. The familiarity but at the same time the foreignness of Cuba and its people is a contradiction we constantly experience here.
Later we listened to the concert given by the youngest daughter of the renowned balladeer, Pablo Milanese. Catherine was taken by surprise because she had told us the songs were from her latest album, but what she actually was singing were songs Catherine’s own (ex) husband had written which were all about Catherine and love and Catherine and divorce. What a magical world Cuba offers.
Day Two ended on that high note. Onward to tomorrow and more surprises.
Day One
I spent the day into the evening with Luisa Crespo, my good friend and a board member of L.A.’s Latino Queer Festival and formerly of Laliff. We are celebrating her new freedom as she has just retired as Director of the Senate of the University of California at Irvine. She has not been back to Cuba since 1975 when, as a student, she came with the Vinceremos Brigade to help build the newly liberated nation. We think it is a momentous occasion for that and for other reasons we will explain later.
I was surprised at the quietness in the Hotel Nacional where the festival headquarters are. The usual cars and cabs parked in the driveway are gone and certain passages in the hotel are blocked off. And the streets in front of the Nacional where our apartment is are very quiet as well, and all the surrounding streets are filled with police. We were flattered to think it was all for the film festival, but it was not.
12:30 after changing money and picking up our festival newspaper, the only way to know which films are playing today and tomorrow, we proceeded to see the Argentinian film about the mix and mixing of cultures taking place in an outdoor market in Buenos Aires. “ La Salada” directed by Juan Martín Hsu is a coproduction of Argentina and Spain. It is a mosaic of experiences for new immigrants in Argentina. Three tales of people from different races who struggle with loneliness and alienation during "La feria de La Salada" weave together to form a very moving and effective dramedy.
In 2013, the sixth year of the Havana Film Festival’s Works in Progress, the Post Production Award, Nuestra América Primera Copia an international competition for films from Latin America and from Cuba went to four films: one from Argentina, “La Salada” which went on to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and then San Sebastian International Film Festival 2014; one from Chile, “Yo Soy Lorena”, also screening in the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and here in Havana; and two from Cuba – independent film, “Venezia” (“Venice”) which was also in the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and one Icaic film, “Vestido de Novia” (“Wedding Dress”) both screening here as well.
At 3:00, after a soggy pizza in the café Frescas y Chocolate across from the Charlie Chaplin Theater, we went to see “ Los Hongos”, directed by Óscar Ruiz Navia, a Colombia-Argentina-France-Germany coproduction being sold internationally by FiGa Films. This Colombian art house film was produced by Diana Bustamente’sBurning Blue (she is now director of Carthagena Film Festival) and Contravia Films. It was workshopped at the Cannes Cinefondation, funded by World Cinema Fund in Berlin. (30,000 €), Hubert Bals Fund, Ibermedia and seemingly every other European fund that could contribute was beautifully shot in Cali, Colombia and starred two skateboarding, bike-riding graffiti artists whose parents and grandparents you would want in your life. The film premiered in Toronto this year.
“Los Hongos” is beautiful to watch, engaging, funny and also eye-opening to the street culture which is actively engaged in Cali and in the affairs of the world. However, it skirted the edge of “too much of a good thing”, that is, you could almost see the European marks of inspiration shaping the almost gritty world of both poor, Christianized Afro-Colombians and bourgeous but bohemian, educated and left leaning whites living in Cali. The father of the white boy, an art-school student gone rogue, was hyper-political, famous locally as a Neapolitan type singer.
Gustavo Ruiz, who played the father was in Havana and introduced the film. He is an elegant man who deservedly is proud of his work in this film. He attended as many films as possible and while we were watching “El Cerrajero” (“The Lock Charmer”) directed by Natalia Smirnoff, we reintroduced ourselves and set up a time for an interview.
Unfortunately we were unable to get into the next film at the Charlie Chaplin Theater, “Vestido de Novia”, a film which won last year’s Work in Progress Award of Nuevas Miradas of Eictv. The huge lines around two blocks of people anxious to enter the 1,000 seat theater attest to the Cuban’s love of cinema.
Later that night, with our newfound friend, Kyle Walcott of Tobago, a 21 year old film student at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad + Tobago whose short film, “Glass Bottom Boat”, screened as part of trinidad + tobago film festival's annual showcase of Caribbean films here, we had dinner in Castropol, one of the new restaurants along the Malecon overlooking the Caribbean. Afterward we went to dance at Café Cantante and Casa de la Musica. However, because the next day (Sunday) was Day of the Martyrs, dedicated to Antonio Maceo and other heroes who died fighting for freedom in Cuba, all entertainment stopped at midnight, which allowed me to get to bed at a decent hour and actually get eight hours of sleep.
Day Two
This morning we handled the stressful logistics of scheduling our time for the upcoming day and people-hunting at the Nacional, no easy task as few who are not Cuban have cel tels that work here. I introduced Kyle to Anne Cross who comes from Scotland every year to find Cuban films to bring to the U.K. for her Cuban film festival. Anne is the mother of Kyle’s colleague, Nicola Cross, a Trinidadian who works with the t+tff and teaches at the University of West Indies.
We three went off to see the Infanta Theater where Kyle’s “Glass Bottom Boat” will screen. Typical of Havana, there on the street, my friend Rolando Almirante (one of Havana’s foremost documentary filmmakers) called to me. With him was Catherine Murphy of “Maestras” the doc about the teachers who went after the Cuban Revolution to the countryside to teach literacy. They are both on the jury awarding a prize to films concerning violence against women or its solutions. She invited us to go later that night to La Fabrica, a new art space opened by singer-composer X Alfonso’s parents of the group Sintesis to hear a concert.
Later that afternoon we walked on to Callejon de Hamel, a street that looks like a combination of Watts Towers and Berlin’s Tacheles and where every Sunday they have that special Cuban music called Rumba. There we found that because it was Antonio Maceos’ Day of the Martyrs, there would be no rumba there or at Casa de la Musica later. I bought a small but beautiful lithograph called 100% Cuban by a local artist showing on “Jon de Hamel”. We had a Boringa (rum drink) with two locals, talked and then walked home along the Malecon. At the statue of Antonio Maceo we watched local members of the Freemasons and veterans place a memorial wreath. As we approached the Nacional from behind, we discovered limousines and chauffeurs from all the embassies along with a cadre of police dressed in their best ceremonial uniforms quietly waiting while whatever was happening at the hotel continued...
Luisa and I grabbed a bite at the palador Los Amigos (palador is the name of restaurants which operated only semi-legally in earlier days but which are now totally legal). After dinner we went to the Cuban Communist Youth Center, Pabellion Cuba, to see Natalia Smirnoff’s Lock Charmer (El Cerrajero) (Isa: Memento), a lovely art film from Argentina which premiered at Sundance January 2014 and went on to screen in Cartagena Film Festival in March 2014 with three other Argentine features, Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) (Isa: Urban Distribution International) after its Berlinale premiere and also showing here in Havana, The Color That Fell From Heaven (El Color que cayó del cielo ),and The Third Bank of the River (La tercera orilla) after its Berlin premiere and which is showing here as well.
At 10 pm went to La Fabrica, a great art space in a former factory, next to a great palador inside the huge factory chimney itself. There we saw the producer Rosa Bosch who has moved from Mexico to Cuba and her friends including a young producer whose short “The Malecon” we hope to catch. La Fabrica exhibits art, artist-inspired jewelry and other “objets”, like clothes made of recycled tabs that open cans or computer wires, designer chairs and furniture. It has several patio bars and performing areas with great acoustics. In one area, we caught three short acts. One large (and gorgeous) man in a small black and gold beaded dress, high heels and a cowboy hat sang a hot song as he posed and strutted. He was incredibly charismatic and enthralled me with his grace alternating between gorgeous female and gorgeous male. – a true gender bender.
Next an elegant petit black woman in a small red dress sang with great gusto a R&B spoof, going overboard with emotions and the tremor in her voice, exaggerated as she sang her lament. It was a hilarious well done performance. Great entertainment is instantly understandable even though I could not understand the words being sung. And the feeling that “only in Cuba” would someone create acts like these was also strong. The familiarity but at the same time the foreignness of Cuba and its people is a contradiction we constantly experience here.
Later we listened to the concert given by the youngest daughter of the renowned balladeer, Pablo Milanese. Catherine was taken by surprise because she had told us the songs were from her latest album, but what she actually was singing were songs Catherine’s own (ex) husband had written which were all about Catherine and love and Catherine and divorce. What a magical world Cuba offers.
Day Two ended on that high note. Onward to tomorrow and more surprises.
- 12/12/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The 54th International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias in Colombia has invited me to attend March 13 - 19, 2014.
One of Ficci's main goals is supporting the development of Colombian cinema. With that in mind, the festival will open with the world premiere of Ciudad Delirio, inviting the audience to get to know Cali, the only city in Latin America that loves all Latin American music, a center of creative development for Colombia's cinema, splendidly and authentically presented through the passion and flavor of salsa. Ficci is once again betting on the kind of cinema that speaks locally and globally, cinema that invites, seduces and embraces all kinds of audiences.
Starring Carolina Ramírez , Cauca Valley dancer and actress renown for her performance in soap operas such as La hija del mariachiand La Pola and Spaniard Julián Villagrán, winner of a Goya for his performance in Grupo 7, Ciudad Delirio also features Colombian actors of such caliber as Vicky Hernández Jorge Herrera , Margarita Ortega and John Alex Castillo. Thanks to a world-class team lead by Spanish dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Blanca Li, who has worked for The Berlin State Ballet, Kylie Minogue, Beyoncé and Daft Punk, and by multiple time Salsa World Champion Viviana Vargas, Cartagena will get to experience the madness of one of the most sensual dances on earth.
Ciudad Delirio was produced by Diego F. Ramírez, head of 64-a Films in Colombia, which has produced such films as Perro come perro,Todos tus muertos, Dr. Alemán, En coma, and180 segundos and Spaniard Elena Manrique, founder of Film Fatal and renown for her production of movies such asEl laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), El orfanato and Transsiberiano, to name just a few.
For seven weeks during the making of Ciudad delirio, 45 locations in Cali, Colombia and Madrid, Spain were overrun by salsa. More than 3,200 extras from Cauca Valley helped to tell this love story that revolves around the show Delirio, a long-standing cultural tradition in Sultana del Valle.
In Ciudad Delirio, Javier, a shy, reserved Spanish doctor, attends a medical conference in Cali, Colombia. There, through a chance meeting, he shares a magical night with Angie, a dancer and choreographer who dreams of being part of the world's most famous salsa show, Delirio, if only she can pass the audition. Javier and Angie begin an impossible romance full of obstacles, surrounded by salsa, and accompanied by a cast of characters that are as authentic as they are hilarious.
The festival's guest of honor will be the prolific British actor Clive Owen, who is known for his diverse roles in films like Closer Children of Men, and The International . The Latin American premier of his latest film, Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties (2013), will be a highlight of the Friday, March 14th event, taking place at 6:00 pm in the Adolfo Mejía Theater, where, after being presented with the India Catalina prize, the actor will be interviewed by Ficci's director, Monika Wagenberg.
Another special honoree will be Mexican director Alejando Gonazlez Iñárritu, who has garnered international acclaim throughout the years with films such as Amores Perros , 21 Grams , Babel, and Biutiful . Established within the film industry as one of Latin America's most important directors of the new century, Iñárritu is currently in-production for Birdman (2014), a film he wrote and directed starring Emma Stone and Edward Norton . Participants of the 54th Ficci will have the opportunity to attend the Tribute honoring this Academy Award-nominated filmmaker on Sunday, March 16th, as well as his Master class the following day during Salón Ficci – the festival's academic program.
In regards to the festival's line-up, it is interesting to note that several of the filmmakers that will take part in the Dramatic Competition are directors who have participated at Ficci with their previous films and have established themselves in the international festival circuit winning prestigious awards. Others will arrive to Cartagena for the first time with their operas primas.
"2014 promises to be a good year for Iberoamerican cinema and we are proud to feature several of the most recent films of the region in our Official Dramatic Competition, in which half of the chosen movies are Latin American Premieres (movies that come directly to Cartagena after their world premieres at Sundance and Berlin Festivals). Eight of the twelve films in the Colombian Official Competition (known before as Colombia al 100%) are World Premieres. This way, we have managed to achieve the goal we set four years ago: becoming the main national and international launching platform of local films", stated Ficci's Director Monika Wagenberg.
Wagenberg also addressed some chances in the festival's rules that will allow for more experience filmmakers to partake in the event.
"One of the big news of Ficci 54 is that this time we have not limited the Official Dramatic Competition to first, second and third time Ibero-American films. Ending this restriction will make possible for those directors from this region who are producing feature films at a fast pace not, to be excluded from the competition" Wagenberg added.
The Official Dramatic Competition will feature the Latin American premieres The Lock Charmer (El Cerrajero) by Natalia Smirnoff (Argentina), Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) by Matías Lucchesi(Argentina), The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) by Daniel Ribeiro(Brazil), Celina Murga's Berlin Official Competition, The Three Sides of the River (La tercera orilla) (Argentina), recent Sundance and Rotterdam winner, To Kill a Man (Matar a un hombre) by Alejandro Fernández Almendras (Chile), Mateo, first film by Maria Gamboa (Colombia), and the world premiere of Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua) by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia).
This section also includes other outstanding films such as Bad Hair (Pelo malo), written and directed by Mariana Rondón (Venezuela) which comes to Ficci after its triumph at the San Sebastián Film Festival; The Mute (El Mudo), directed by brothers Daniel and Diego Vega (Perú), which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival and are coming back to Ficci after competing winning Best Director award in 2010; premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and awarded the Concha de Plata for Best Director in San Sebastián, comes Club Sándwich by Fernando Eimbcke(México), and the 12th film in this section is Root (Raíz) by Matías Rojas Valencia (Chile), the winner of Best Chilean Film winner at the Valdivia Film Festival.
The Official Documentary Competition will showcase the world premieres of El color que cayó del cielo by Sergio Wolf (Argentina) and Heaven or Hell (Infierno o paraíso) de German Piffano(Colombia); as well as the Latin American premiere of The Silence of the Flies (El silencio de las moscas) by Eliezer Arias (Venezuela), Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA), and Apples, Chickens and Chimeras (Manzanas, pollos y quimeras) de Inés París (España). The rest of the program includes Argentine Street Years (Años de calle) by Alejandra Grinschpun, I Feel Much Better Now (E-agora? Lembra me) by Joaquim Pinto(Portugal), Naomi Campbel by icolas Videla and Camila José Donoso (Chile), Cesar's Grill (El Grill de Cesar) by Dario Aguirre, I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) by Justin Webster (Spain), Mexican documentary, Elevator (Elevador) by Adrián Ortizl and the most recent work by talented Brazilian documentary film director Maria Ramos , Hills of Pleasures (Morro dos Prazeres).
Lastly, in the Colombian Official Competition we will present the world premieres of Banished (Desterrada) by Diego Guerra, Manos sucias by Joseph Wladyka, Memorias del calavero and Tierra en la lengua by Rubén Mendoza, Monte adentro by Nicolás Macario Alonso, Parador Húngaro by Aseneth Suarez and Patrick Alexander, Infierno o paraíso by Germán Piffano; as well as the Latin American premieres of Inés, memorias de una vida by Luisa Sossa; Gente de papel, con el alma en la selva by Andrés Felipe Vásquez, Mateo by Maria Gamboa, Marmato by Mark Grieco and the Colombian premiere of Mambo Cool by Chris Gude.
One of Ficci's main goals is supporting the development of Colombian cinema. With that in mind, the festival will open with the world premiere of Ciudad Delirio, inviting the audience to get to know Cali, the only city in Latin America that loves all Latin American music, a center of creative development for Colombia's cinema, splendidly and authentically presented through the passion and flavor of salsa. Ficci is once again betting on the kind of cinema that speaks locally and globally, cinema that invites, seduces and embraces all kinds of audiences.
Starring Carolina Ramírez , Cauca Valley dancer and actress renown for her performance in soap operas such as La hija del mariachiand La Pola and Spaniard Julián Villagrán, winner of a Goya for his performance in Grupo 7, Ciudad Delirio also features Colombian actors of such caliber as Vicky Hernández Jorge Herrera , Margarita Ortega and John Alex Castillo. Thanks to a world-class team lead by Spanish dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Blanca Li, who has worked for The Berlin State Ballet, Kylie Minogue, Beyoncé and Daft Punk, and by multiple time Salsa World Champion Viviana Vargas, Cartagena will get to experience the madness of one of the most sensual dances on earth.
Ciudad Delirio was produced by Diego F. Ramírez, head of 64-a Films in Colombia, which has produced such films as Perro come perro,Todos tus muertos, Dr. Alemán, En coma, and180 segundos and Spaniard Elena Manrique, founder of Film Fatal and renown for her production of movies such asEl laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), El orfanato and Transsiberiano, to name just a few.
For seven weeks during the making of Ciudad delirio, 45 locations in Cali, Colombia and Madrid, Spain were overrun by salsa. More than 3,200 extras from Cauca Valley helped to tell this love story that revolves around the show Delirio, a long-standing cultural tradition in Sultana del Valle.
In Ciudad Delirio, Javier, a shy, reserved Spanish doctor, attends a medical conference in Cali, Colombia. There, through a chance meeting, he shares a magical night with Angie, a dancer and choreographer who dreams of being part of the world's most famous salsa show, Delirio, if only she can pass the audition. Javier and Angie begin an impossible romance full of obstacles, surrounded by salsa, and accompanied by a cast of characters that are as authentic as they are hilarious.
The festival's guest of honor will be the prolific British actor Clive Owen, who is known for his diverse roles in films like Closer Children of Men, and The International . The Latin American premier of his latest film, Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties (2013), will be a highlight of the Friday, March 14th event, taking place at 6:00 pm in the Adolfo Mejía Theater, where, after being presented with the India Catalina prize, the actor will be interviewed by Ficci's director, Monika Wagenberg.
Another special honoree will be Mexican director Alejando Gonazlez Iñárritu, who has garnered international acclaim throughout the years with films such as Amores Perros , 21 Grams , Babel, and Biutiful . Established within the film industry as one of Latin America's most important directors of the new century, Iñárritu is currently in-production for Birdman (2014), a film he wrote and directed starring Emma Stone and Edward Norton . Participants of the 54th Ficci will have the opportunity to attend the Tribute honoring this Academy Award-nominated filmmaker on Sunday, March 16th, as well as his Master class the following day during Salón Ficci – the festival's academic program.
In regards to the festival's line-up, it is interesting to note that several of the filmmakers that will take part in the Dramatic Competition are directors who have participated at Ficci with their previous films and have established themselves in the international festival circuit winning prestigious awards. Others will arrive to Cartagena for the first time with their operas primas.
"2014 promises to be a good year for Iberoamerican cinema and we are proud to feature several of the most recent films of the region in our Official Dramatic Competition, in which half of the chosen movies are Latin American Premieres (movies that come directly to Cartagena after their world premieres at Sundance and Berlin Festivals). Eight of the twelve films in the Colombian Official Competition (known before as Colombia al 100%) are World Premieres. This way, we have managed to achieve the goal we set four years ago: becoming the main national and international launching platform of local films", stated Ficci's Director Monika Wagenberg.
Wagenberg also addressed some chances in the festival's rules that will allow for more experience filmmakers to partake in the event.
"One of the big news of Ficci 54 is that this time we have not limited the Official Dramatic Competition to first, second and third time Ibero-American films. Ending this restriction will make possible for those directors from this region who are producing feature films at a fast pace not, to be excluded from the competition" Wagenberg added.
The Official Dramatic Competition will feature the Latin American premieres The Lock Charmer (El Cerrajero) by Natalia Smirnoff (Argentina), Natural Sciences (Ciencias Naturales) by Matías Lucchesi(Argentina), The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho) by Daniel Ribeiro(Brazil), Celina Murga's Berlin Official Competition, The Three Sides of the River (La tercera orilla) (Argentina), recent Sundance and Rotterdam winner, To Kill a Man (Matar a un hombre) by Alejandro Fernández Almendras (Chile), Mateo, first film by Maria Gamboa (Colombia), and the world premiere of Dust on the Tongue (Tierra en la lengua) by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia).
This section also includes other outstanding films such as Bad Hair (Pelo malo), written and directed by Mariana Rondón (Venezuela) which comes to Ficci after its triumph at the San Sebastián Film Festival; The Mute (El Mudo), directed by brothers Daniel and Diego Vega (Perú), which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival and are coming back to Ficci after competing winning Best Director award in 2010; premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival and awarded the Concha de Plata for Best Director in San Sebastián, comes Club Sándwich by Fernando Eimbcke(México), and the 12th film in this section is Root (Raíz) by Matías Rojas Valencia (Chile), the winner of Best Chilean Film winner at the Valdivia Film Festival.
The Official Documentary Competition will showcase the world premieres of El color que cayó del cielo by Sergio Wolf (Argentina) and Heaven or Hell (Infierno o paraíso) de German Piffano(Colombia); as well as the Latin American premiere of The Silence of the Flies (El silencio de las moscas) by Eliezer Arias (Venezuela), Marmato by Mark Grieco (Colombia, USA), and Apples, Chickens and Chimeras (Manzanas, pollos y quimeras) de Inés París (España). The rest of the program includes Argentine Street Years (Años de calle) by Alejandra Grinschpun, I Feel Much Better Now (E-agora? Lembra me) by Joaquim Pinto(Portugal), Naomi Campbel by icolas Videla and Camila José Donoso (Chile), Cesar's Grill (El Grill de Cesar) by Dario Aguirre, I Will Be Murdered (Seré asesinado) by Justin Webster (Spain), Mexican documentary, Elevator (Elevador) by Adrián Ortizl and the most recent work by talented Brazilian documentary film director Maria Ramos , Hills of Pleasures (Morro dos Prazeres).
Lastly, in the Colombian Official Competition we will present the world premieres of Banished (Desterrada) by Diego Guerra, Manos sucias by Joseph Wladyka, Memorias del calavero and Tierra en la lengua by Rubén Mendoza, Monte adentro by Nicolás Macario Alonso, Parador Húngaro by Aseneth Suarez and Patrick Alexander, Infierno o paraíso by Germán Piffano; as well as the Latin American premieres of Inés, memorias de una vida by Luisa Sossa; Gente de papel, con el alma en la selva by Andrés Felipe Vásquez, Mateo by Maria Gamboa, Marmato by Mark Grieco and the Colombian premiere of Mambo Cool by Chris Gude.
- 2/27/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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