From Our POV: The 27th Film Festival

Diggin' the hot weather and the sights and sounds of Habana Vieja (Old Havana) we found out quickly that we were far from the center of the film festival. There are about 200 cinemas in Havana, most showing several screenings daily. Hundreds of movies are shown during the festival, and even in other provinces throughout the island.



The center of the film festival activities is held at the Hotel Nacional, in Centro Habana. Since Nicole and I were staying in Old Havana we had to trek from our casa particular to Centro Habana to check in and register. As foreigners we underestimated how long it would take to get to places. So, we walked, and walked, and walked, not something we Angelinos get a chance to do often, always stuck in our cars. At least we saw lots of things and met lots of people so friendly to us.








Ignoring our blistered feet, potholed streets, and traffic everywhere, we passed beautiful parks and old stone churches; we saw lots of guaguas drive by, Soviet tracker trailer trucks acting as buses for the people. These behemoths are usually packed from head to toe with Cubans day and night, people pushing in beyond usual comfort levels because the next bus might never come. What was difficult for me was breathing in billows of black smoke and exhaust coming from these industrial buses as well as cars, taxis, and even coco taxis, also known as huevolitos (little eggs).




we also passed the Capitolio Nacional, which is similar to the U.S. Capitol but richer in details. It took 5000 workers 3 years to build this sucker, and mostly everyone told us interesting information about the Capitolio. It used to be where the Cuban Congress met but now it's where the Cuban Academy of Sciences, and the National Library of Science and Technology is located. Seems like the U.S. and Cuba have some things in common.



Once we checked in, got our badges, and this year's catalogue, which was very costly ($10), we learned first hand that the festival is well known for mishaps, even oversights that everyone shrugs off saying, "Aye, this is Cuba!" Despite not knowing where and when our doc was going to be screened, and having a hard time finding out such informationfrom anyone, Nicole and I loved all the hustle and bustle, all the filmmakers from all over Latin America, Europe, even Asia. Between my poor Spanish and being one of very few black women filmmakers in this year's festival I was still in awe of it all. And again everyone from the festival coordinators to the taxi drivers made us feel at home and treated us warmly. The Cubans are certainly not like what we are led to believe. They have a strong sense of community and family that includes people like me and Nicole.







These are our mug shots taken for our badges that allowed us to get into any movie screened anywhere in the festival. I loved that, especially since it let us go ahead of lines of people waiting to get in, and the lines were always long, like around the block long. Screenings start as early as 10AM and run as late as 11:30PM, meaning that fliks started at almost midnight and people are still out waiting in line to get in. They are truly film lovers.





Movie tickets are priced at about 2 Cuban pesos, which is intentionally made to be cheap so most Cubans can afford it. We found that most couldn't afford to buy the catalogue, so where ever we were our book became the people's book. With hundreds of movies to select having access to the synposes is essential.






During our quest to see movies, and to find out about our screening, which involved lots more walking everywhere, we came across an art display between the Malecon and Hotel Nacional. The artwork represents this year's festival and was viscerally enlightening and visually shocking. Walking up on it, Nicole and I were stunned by the obvious political content and thought people back home would love to see it. Let us know what you think of it.





Most Cubans, whatever their educational level, are film lovers, and also very politically conscious. There is no monolithic perspective on films and politics, but the commonality that Cubans share is their intellect, their great conversational skills, and their love of film critique.