16th Havana Film Fest: History, Music, & Cinema

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 08 April 2015 22:50

Written by Brad Balfour

Boccaccio in Havana

Now in it’s 16th year, the Havana Film Festival (April 9 - 17, 2015) celebrates the culture and history of Latin American cinema. Held at locations throughout the city, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the BAM Cinematek, Quad Cinema and the Museum of the Moving Image, the Havana Film Festival has over fifty films being screened, along with competition brackets for fiction and documentary films.

Films in competition include:

• Road 47
  Based on real events about Brazil’s involvement in World War II, this film recreates an unusual meeting between deserters from three different nationalities (Brazil, Germany, and Italy) during the war.
  
  
• Open Cage
  The economy has collapsed and among those affected are rebel teenager Flavia, and her elderly and grumpy neighbor, Martin. Both will learn to relate to each other, not only to survive the crisis, but to find meaning in their lives.
  
  
• Boccaccio in Havana
  Boccaccio in Havana intertwines three stories through a main thread: a writer’s room where people go to share anecdotes hoping to make some money and become characters of a novel or a movie. An urban Boccaccio, a Havana Decameron; the film exudes sensuality, irreverence and hidden passions.
  
  
• Mr. Kaplan
  Uruguay’s submission for this year’s Academy Awards, Mr. Kaplan is a vibrant comedy about a Jewish retiree who believes a German café owner is a former Nazi.

The Havana Film Fest also has a series of panels on subjects including filming in Latin America, a discussion on the life of novelist Gabriel García Márquez and the film following his life (Gabriel García Márquez: Cinephile), along with a screening of the short film The Blue Lobster.

Nosotros la Musica portion of the festival (We the Music) looks at Cuban documentary cinema that featured many of its landmark figures; classics; groups of all formats, tendencies, genres and movements of different periods; music festivals and gatherings; as well as international artists visiting the island. These musical films include Ritmo de Cuba (Rhythm of Cuba) from 1960, Con Todo Mi Amor, Rita (With all My Love, Rita) from 2000, and Las Manos Y El Angel (The Hands and the Angel) from 2002.

Now a city mainstay, the Havana Film Fest offers a cinematic perspective on the history, culture, music, and lives of Latin Americans.

To learn more, go to: http://www.hffny.com/

The Havana Film Festival
April 9 - 17, 2015

Various locations