Brazil and Mexico submissions lead 42nd Havana Film Festival

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil and Mexico lead, with 32 and 18 films respectively, the competitive phase of the 42nd edition of the Havana Film Festival, which next Friday turns on its projectors until December 12.

Of the 163 films to be screened, 102 will compete in the annual Latin American film event, which in this edition was held in two stages due to the Covid-19 pandemic, advised its president, Ivan Giroud.

The first part was held in December 2020, with the exhibition of non-competing films in cinemas with seating capacity limited to 50% due to the pandemic, and the second part was scheduled for March.

But a rebound of the disease postponed the second phase until now, when Cuba seems to have controlled the pandemic with the sustained drop in cases and deaths and 82.1% of its population of 11.2 million people with the full vaccination schedule.

“We were pending to do the whole competition session with jurors present, with the directors of the Latin American films here,” Giroud said. However, the theaters will work “at 50% of capacity due to health measures,” Giroud said.

According to the Festival’s website, 16 films compete for the Coral Award for fiction feature film, the most important competition. Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico participate in four movies of this genre each, while Chile presents two and Venezuela and the Dominican Republic one each.

A total of 15 movie theaters will screen the films of the Festival, the leading annual cultural event in Cuba, with thousands of people attending the theaters.

Although a monetary reform, implemented in January, caused an increase in the entrance ticket from 2 to 5 pesos, in Cuba, it is still very cheap to go to the movies since the cost is 0.21 dollars at the official exchange rate.

The Coral Award ceremony will be held on December 10, and the winning films will be seen in new screenings until December 12.