New York, May 7 (RHC) -- The documentary Nuestro Changüí, directed by Cuban filmmakers David Hernández and Enrique Alonso, won the best directors prize at the 18th Independent Music Awards (IMAs) in New York, United States.
With a script by the Guantanamo researchers Yaremi Estonel and José Cuenca Sosa, the work stood out in the Long Form Music Video category, in which other pieces also competed, such as Elio Pace presenta Elvis Presley by Matt Daniel-Baker, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of Elvis' death; and En Directo Desde las Armas by Cuban Ludmila Mercerón, last year’s winner at the IMAs of the Best Musical Production Award for La Pastelera del Tívoli and the audience award for the social action video clip No hay perdón.
Nuestro Changüí, which is currently available on YouTube and lasts around 1 hour, is the result of a coproduction of LCA Audiovisuales de Santiago de Cuba and the Recordings and Musical Editions Company –EGREM-, in collaboration with the companies Besa films, from Valencia, and RMM PRODUCTIONS, from Barcelona, both in Spain.
The feature film deals with the evolution of the music genre on the basis of songs, images from Guantánamo and interviews with figures such as Pancho Amat, André Fistó Cobas (Tabera), Rosa Chacón del Río (La Chacona), Orlando Cisneros, and Armando Rey Leliebre (Yu). It is a tribute to personalities like Chito Latamblet, Pedro Speck and all those people who contribute to the vitality of the changüí. The piece has, in addition to historical value, ethnographic contributions, as it delves into the representation and assimilation by the people of the unique music genre.
The Independent Music Awards for Excellence are considered the most diverse on the planet, consisting of 104 categories, including album, song, music video, film and television music, producers and visual design.
In this edition, entries were received from 118 countries from all over the world, which is why the award given to Nuestro Changüí, an audiovisual work that has also been nominated in another two important festivals: First-time Filmmaker Sessions and Lift-off Sessions in Britain, is so outstanding.
