Havana, December 6 (RHC) -- The 41st International New Latin American Film Festival opened with the premiere in Cuba of the Argentinian feature film La Odisea de los Giles (The Odissey of the Giles).
The film, which has just received a Goya Awards nomination in Spain for Best Iberian American Film and was already selected by Argentina to represent it in the Oscars for Best Non-English-speaking film, was received with a standing ovation in Havana, according to Prensa Latina news agency.
The movie was presented by two of its main actors: Ricardo and Chino Darín, a father and a son who act together for the first time while working as producers. Along with the Darín’s, the Sebastián Borensztein film cast includes Luis Brandoni, Verónica Llinás, Daniel Aráoz, Carlos Belloso, Rita Cortese, Andrés Parra and Marco Antonio Caponi. The adventure - a mixture of a thriller, comedy and drama -, with a great sense of humor, does not avoid contemporary social problems and, in its own way, deals with the rebellion of a group of people against the whole system.
Upon opening the Festival’s 41st edition, event’s President Ivan Giroud highlighted the wide gamut of the gathering’s programming with movies that delve into the challenges of native peoples, latent conflicts in Latin American societies, the continent’s historical memory, women’s rights and others.
Prior to the film screening, the Cuban National Ballet, artistically directed by premier dancer Viengsay Valdés, performed a scene of the Nutcracker after recently deceased prima ballerina assoluta and ballet legend Alicia Alonso. The ensemble wound up its performance linking dance with an audiovisual that pays tribute to Alonso whose excellence was immortalized by several productions made with the Cuban Film Institute –ICAIC-.
Also, during the opening ceremony, an honorary Coral was presented to ICAIC’s founder, renowned Cuban director Manuel Pérez. The General Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization –UNESCO-, Audrey Azoulay, addressed the audience praising the festival. Some 300 films from 37 countries are being screened during the event until December 15.
