By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Nov 28 2000 (IPS)

A series of movies made by Spanish-speaking directors from the United States will compete for audiences at the International Festival of New Latin American Film, to be held in the Cuban capital Dec. 5 – 15.

Under the division title ‘Generation Ñ: Latino Film in the United States,’ 11 works are to be shown in one of the better theatres among the festival’s 20 sites, and during the evening hours, when the audiences tend to be larger.

The showing includes ‘La ciudad’ (The City), by David Riker, whose vision of the daily lives of Latin American immigrants in New York will give local film buffs something to think about, as there are few households in Cuba that do not have a relative living in the United States.

Riker was a finalist for best director at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, and in Cuba he has been honoured for the best film by a non-Latin American about a Latin American theme.

Running parallel to the series, on Dec. 13 and 14, the seminar ‘Spanish Speakers in the USA: Film, Culture and Perspectives’ will allow a practical and academic exchange about the task filmmakers of Latin American origin face in the United States.

It is a question of the new Latin American film industry building bridges with the US Spanish-speaking community, explained Alfredo Guevara, the festival’s president.

Also in that direction, the festival is setting up an Internet site in order to communicate with the world, Guevara announced in statements about this year’s film event.

During the 10-day festival, 36 feature-length films and videos, as well as 56 medium and short films, including 26 videos, are expected to compete for the Coral Prizes, awarded for the best fictional works.

As in previous years, Argentina is among the countries presenting the most feature-length films, with eight this year, followed by Mexico with six, and Brazil with five.

Some of the directors who are already accustomed to the applause of Cuban moviegoers are Argentina’s Eliseo Subiela, who is presenting ‘Las aventuras de dios’ (Adventures of God), and Mexico’s Arturo Ripstein, with his ‘Así es la vida’ (Such Is Life).

Favourites for this year’s prizes include Peru’s Francisco Lombardi (‘Tinta roja’/Red Ink), Brazilians Ruy Guerra (‘Estorvo’) and Tata Amaral (‘A traves da janela’/Through the Window), Mexican María Novarro (‘Sin dejar Huella’/Without a Trace), and Argentina’s Alberto Lecchi (‘Nueces para el amor’/Walnuts For Love), Marcelo Piñeyro (‘Plata quemada’/Burnt Money) and Alejandro Agresti (‘Una noche con Sabrina Love’/A Night With Sabrina Love).

Though with scant representation – just two films – Chile is a strong contender for several of the festival awards with ‘Coronación,’ a film based on the José Donoso novel, directed by Sergio Caiozzi, recipient of numerous awards at previous festivals.

Ten years ago, Caiozzi took one of the Coral Prizes with ‘La luna en el espejo’ (Moon In The Mirror), which was also a winner at the Venice and Trieste film festivals.

Cuba will compete with two feature-length films: ‘Hacerse el sueco’ (Play Dumb), by Daniel Díaz Torres, and ‘Lista de espera’ (Waiting List), by Juan Carlos Tabío.

Guevara said it is “nearly impossible” that Cuban filmmaker Orlando Rojas would finish ‘Las noches de Constantinopla’ (Constantinople Nights) before the festival, though the event’s president holds out hope that Humberto Solás, also of Cuba, will be able to show a video version of his movie ‘Miel para Oshún’ (Honey For Oshún).

Five Cuban titles are to compete in the video division: ‘Adiós a Hollywood’ by Eduardo Gil, ‘El mensajero’ (The Messenger), by Balkis Vega, ‘Itaca’ (Ithaca) by Tomás Piard, ‘Operación Pareja’ (Operation Couple) by Katina Batet and ‘Pipepa’ by Jorge Alonso.

The festival also includes a division for feature-length works that express the visions of Latin America held by filmmakers from other regions.

The four films in that category are ‘Invocación’ by Spain’s Héctor Faver, ‘The Blue Dinner,’ by US director Jan Egleson, ‘Pata negra’ (Black Foot) by Luis Oliveros (a Spanish-Cuban co-production) and ‘La virgen de los sicarios’ (The Virgin Of The Hired Guns) by Barbet Schroeder (a French-Colombian- Spanish co-production).

The Havana festival, considered Cuba’s most important annual cultural event, will show films from Spain, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and US movies made independently from the major studios, as well as others by students of Latin America’s various film schools.

The event’s programme also entails tributes to filmmakers Vittorio Gassman of Italy and Francisco Lombardi of Peru, with retrospectives of their best works.

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