CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL/ INAUGURATION

THE AUDIENCE.

SRI.C.N.KARUNAKARAN,CHAIRMAN KERALA LALITHA KALA ACADEMY,INAUGURATING THE FESTIVAL BY THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF LIGHTING THE LAMP.

SRI :C.N.KARUNAKARAN

PROF.MERCY WILLIAMS,WORSHIPFUL MAYOR OF COCHIN, DELIVERING THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS .SRI.T.KALADHARAN,SECRETARY,KERALA KALAPEETOM, PROF.C.S.JAYARAM,ADV.A.B.SABU,OPPOSITION LEADER IN THE CORPORATION OF COCHIN,SRI.C.N.KARUNAKARAN, ADV.E.M.SUNIL KUMAR ARE ON THE DIAS.

ADV.E.M.SUNIL KUMAR,TOWN PLANNING STANDING COMMITTE CHAIRMAN,CORPORATION OF COCHIN WELCOMING THE GATHERING.

some glimpses of inaugural function of CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL.

CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL

1. LOS SOBREVIVIENTES/ THE SURVIVORS /1978/
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Starring: Reynaldo Miravalles, Enrique Santiesteban, Germán Pinelli, Ana Viña

Synopsis:
The history of the Orozco family, one of the richest Cuban families during the first half of the century. After the Triumph of the Revolution in 1959, the family decided to close itself inside its properties without any contact with the daily reality They intend to continue a “special life” until the end of the revolutionary process, but…

2. SUITE HABANA/ 2003 /120 minutes.

Director: Fernando Pérez.

Synopsis:
The film is about one day in many Cubans life. Dreams, worries and hopes It has not professional actress and it was the most awarded film in the Latin American Film Festival 2003.

3. NADA/ NOTHING/ 2002/ 90 minutes.

Director: Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti.
Starring: Thais Valdés, Daisy Granados, Verónica López, Nacho Lugo, Asunción Balaguer, Paula Alí, Luis Manuel Iglesias, Natalia Herrera.

Synopsis:
One girl abandoned by her parents who fled to United States, is looking for one reason to live, to be happy. Her favorite entertainment is to forger letters coming into the post office where she works, but it is not only a game. It has a positive end; it brings strong support to the mail receivers.

4. VIVA CUBA/ LONG LIFE TO CUBA/ 2005/ 79 min.
Director: Juan Carlos Cremata
Starring: Malu Tarrau Broche, Jorgito Miló Ávila, Larisa Vega Alamar, Luisa María Jiménez Rodríguez, Albertico Pujols Acosta, Abel Rodríguez…
Synopsis:
Malú and Jorgito fight every now and then but are in love.Only their families don't see it that way. Her mother is a devout Catholic with strict ideas of who she should associate with. His family are card-carrying communists with a deep sense of party loyalty. Both families are too absorbed in their own problems and hat

red for each other to take much notice of the children.After Malu's grandmother dies Malu's mother decides to leave Cuba and join her boyfriend overseas.When Malú finds out that her mother is about to take her away, she escapes with Jorgito armed with the savings from her piggy bank. Their search for Malú's father who can help her stay in Cuba begins.Their journey involves a long journey across Cuba with many adventures along the way. As their families search for them, the two realize that life on the run is not all they thought it would be and a kind of homesickness begins to set in. Viva Cuba is a quirky coming-of-age road movie.

5. LISTA DE ESPERA/ THE WAITING LIST/ 2000/ 105 min.

Director: Juan Carlos Tabío
Starring: Vladimir Cruz, Thaimi Alvariño y Jorge Perugorría

Synopsis:
The Waiting List takes place at a bus station in the middle of Cuba and is filled with characters waiting to go somewhere else. In the center are the young lovers who are surrounded by a blind man, the mother who hedges her bets on everything down to naming her son Vladimir Jesus, the gruff station manager and the ticket seller… Metaphors for the possibilities and the failures of socialism quaff throughout with good humor and a delicate touch. Even the title (Lista de Espera /The Waiting List) entices with the contradictions ahead ? in Spanish, Espera means to wait as well as to hope.

6. BARRIO CUBA/ 2005/ 105 min

Director: Humberto Solás
Starring: Luisa María Jiménez, Rafael Lahera, Adela Legrá, Mario Limonta, Jorge Perugorría, Sheila Roche, Isabel Santos, …

Synopsis:
Three unconnected stories of universal challenges for several Havana barrio residents. Strong characters deal with loneliness, unrequited December-July love, and family's support needs; mother's death in delivery,father's flight and despair,grandma's device to bolster abandoned son's self-esteem;passionate married couple deal with conception and stillbirth, grandparent's expectations, brother's family's emigration to US. Great editing and photography. Several interesting bits contrasted our Cuban experience (Part of our stay was in an all-inclusive resort) - In film some characters disparage fellow Cubans for seeking the tourist's tips and another mourns his lost grocery store business. Some resentment or jealousy, some distress with change, but more generally, accommodation and acceptance.

7. ROBLE DE OLOR/ SCENT OF OAK/ 2002/ 135 min.

Director: Rigoberto López
Starring: Lia Chapman, Jorge Perugorría, Raquel Rubí, Mario Balmaseda, …

Synopsis:
It's a love story in Havana at the beginning of the 19th century, between a young woman from Haiti and a German man. Both of them create the most important coffee plantation in Cuba with a very special philosophy of the slave work and community.

8. REINA Y REY/ QUEEN AND KING/ 1994

Director: Julio García Espinoza y Ángel Alderete
Starring: Consuelo Vidal, Coralia Veloz, Rogelio Blain, Orlando Fundicherri and dog Capuli.

Synopsis:
And old widow (Queen) has a dog (King). They live together and spent the difficult days of Cuban Special Period with love and harmony. But King was lost and also the ex-owner of Queen’s house came from U.S.A. with a proposition for her. A human and love story between a lonely woman and her dog.

COCHIN CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL-2007

CUBAN FILM FESTIVAL

ORGANISED BY COCHIN FILM SOCIETY

In association with Embassy of Cuba, N.Delhi &
C-hed, Corporation of Cochin

at EMS Memorial Town Hall ,ERNAKULAM

18-02-2007 5.45 PM
Inaugural Meeting

6.45 PM
BARRIO CUBA
Director: Humberto Solás

19-02-2007 6.00PM

VIVA CUBA/ LONG LIFE TO CUBA
Director: Juan Carlos Cremata

7.20 PM
LISTA DE ESPERA / THE WAITING LIST
Director: Juan Carlos Tabío

20-02-2007 6.00 PM

(Special Screening)
CLOUDS OVER KERALA
Director: Klaus Liebig

6.45PM
LOS SOBREVIVIENTES/THE SURVIVORS
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

21-02-2007 6.00 PM

ROBLE DE OLOR/ SCENT OF OAK
Director: Rigoberto López

22-02-2007 6.00 PM

NADA/ NOTHING
Director: Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti.

7.30 PM
REINA Y REY/ QUEEN AND KING
Director: Julio García Espinoza y Ángel Alderete

23-02-2007 6.00 PM

SUITE HABANA
Director: Fernando Pérez.

25-02-2007 9.30 AM

(Monthly Archive Screening)
Savitha Theatre,Ernakulam.

In association with National Film Archive of India

Las Aventuras De Juan Quin Quin

(The Adventures Of Juan Quin Quin )

Director: Julio García Espinoza