INSTAR Festival kicks off, exploring new independent Cuban cinema
By NOELIA GÓMEZ - november 30th, 2023
infobae
The fourth edition of the event will take place from December 5 to 10 at the CC San Martín and is organized by the Hannah Arendt Institute of Artivism (INSTAR), directed by Tania Bruguera, and coordinated by filmmaker Ricardo Figueredo.
The fourth edition of the INSTAR Film Festival will take place from December 4-10, 2023, at venues in Barcelona, Paris, New York, Miami, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. The festival will focus on the transnational character of the New Cuban Cinema, exploring its interaction with diverse cinematographies, especially those from countries ruled by authoritarian regimes that impose restrictions on artists. The event seeks to highlight the ever-growing dialogue between these cinematographies and to promote cultural diversity in cinema.
The festival's structure unfolds in an amalgam of carefully curated sessions, where each film finds its space to resonate and dialogue with audiences eager for new perspectives. From short films with immediate impact to in-depth documentaries that explore the complexities of contemporary society, the IV INSTAR Film Festival presents a program that defies expectations and promises intense emotions at every screening.
On the first day of the festival, Tuesday, December 5, the opening day will showcase works such as 'Agwe' by Samuel Suffren (Haiti), 'The Rodeo' by Carlos Melian (Cuba), and 'Abyssal' by Alejandro Alonso (Cuba-France). The two subsequent sessions will feature productions ranging from 'And How Miserable is the Home of Evil' by Saleh Kashefi (Switzerland-Iran) to 'Women Dreaming of a Nation', by Fernando Fraguela (Cuba), offering a diverse and captivating range of films.
On the first day of the festival, Tuesday, December 5, the opening day will showcase works such as 'Agwe' by Samuel Suffren (Haiti), 'The Rodeo' by Carlos Melian (Cuba), and 'Abyssal' by Alejandro Alonso (Cuba-France). The two subsequent sessions will feature productions ranging from 'And How Miserable is the Home of Evil' by Saleh Kashefi (Switzerland-Iran) to 'Women Dreaming of a Nation', by Fernando Fraguela (Cuba), offering a diverse and captivating range of films.
On Thursday, December 7, there will be a tribute to the cinematic past, with screenings of films such as ‘Apollo, Man to the Moon' by Fernando Villaverde (United States), and 'The Winter Campaigns' by Rafael Ramirez (Cuba-Venezuela-Mexico). The former shows New York City during the historic first landing of man on the moon, capturing the life, soundscapes, and atmosphere of its streets and inhabitants, and the latter is immersed in a house that seems to exist in an undefined space, where the main character of a video game lives with his family.
The Festival's intensity continues on Saturday, December 9 with films such as 'Veritas' by Eliecer Jiménez Almeida (Cuba-United States). The documentary reveals the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba in 1961, presented sixty years later through the voices of its protagonists. There will also be a screening of 'Roads of Lava' by Gretel Marín (Cuba), which follows the life of Afibola, an Afrofeminist poet, activist, and queer woman, and her eight-year-old son, Olorun, in downtown Havana.
On Sunday, December 10, the festival culminates with a selection of films featuring 'The Post', by Ricardo Figueredo Oliva (Cuba), which focuses on Havana, where a man experiences contact with a being from another planet while they discuss daily life and the consumption of illicit substances. There will also be a screening of 'Windows', by Jhon Ciavaldini (Argentina-Venezuela), which shows images of protests in Venezuela between 2014 and 2017, observed by citizens from their homes.
This fourth edition, which will take place not only in Buenos Aires but in multiple venues around the world, highlights the importance of giving voice to those whose narratives can be silenced. The connection between different cinematographies and the reflection on controversial topics in diverse societies are the guiding themes of this edition, whose objective is to promote dialogue between filmmakers from the global south and make visible the valuable work of Cuban independent cinema. According to the words of its artistic director, this edition represents a milestone as the first one conceived in exile, which poses a challenge in terms of its location without a defined center. How to choose a venue for an event that promotes Cuban independent cinema when the country is inaccessible? How to establish a focal point in an ever-expanding diaspora? The notion of a nation beyond geographical and political boundaries is questioned. It seeks to restructure the festival to reflect and enhance the current circumstances of the majority of exiled filmmakers.
The curatorial proposal brings together significant works of Cuban cinema of this decade, showing diverse poetics that build the backbone of a New Cinema. This artistic movement transcends generations, with a growing awareness of its hybrid and transnational character, seeking to break with classical Cuban cinema rather than bow to it. These works explore multiple facets of Cuba: socioeconomic crisis, the impact of totalitarianism, racism, homophobia, education, generational disappointment, historical re-reading, political repression, and diaspora. In addition, filmmakers from other regions, such as Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, and the Philippines, whose realities dialogue with those of Cuba, creating a dialogue between their stories through film.
The festival also proposes meeting spaces, such as talks and debates, to reflect on diverse artistic practices. INSTAR seeks to disseminate and seize cultural fertility and liberation in a fragmented landscape, addressing the conflict faced by the millions of exiled Cubans. The purpose is to create a corridor of images between the scattered points of the exile, with the hope of reconnecting with the island and its complex versions through film.
The IV INSTAR Film Festival, in addition to its function as a film showcase, will award the prestigious Nicolás Guillén Landrián Prize to the work that best explores a taboo subject of its society through audiovisual creation. This award, accompanied by a fund to support the award-winning artist's next work, pays tribute to the legacy of Cuban documentarian and painter Nicolás Guillén Landrián, whose work continues to resonate and defy boundaries to this day.
The panel of jurors selected for the Festival is composed of: Alejandro Hernández, a screenwriter, novelist, and film producer from Havana, Cuba, known for his Best Adapted Screenplay Goya Award for 'All the Women' (2013), and nominations for works such as "'Cannibal' (2013), 'The Author' (2017), 'As Long as the War Lasts' (2019), and 'Adú' (2021). Dunja Fehimović, originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Newcastle. Finally, Paulo Antonio Paranaguá, a journalist, film critic, and historian born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who left a significant mark in the exploration of Latin American cinema and has been a member of the surrealist movement in São Paulo and Paris.
With workshops, debates, master classes, and exhibitions, the IV INSTAR Film Festival promises an enriching experience for film lovers and anyone eager for fresh and challenging perspectives. It is an event that transcends geographic and artistic boundaries to celebrate diversity, creative freedom, and the courage to tell stories that deserve to be heard in an ever-changing world.
On the other hand, the Cuban Ministry of Culture launched a campaign against the INSTAR Film Festival. It has been criticized for including the film 'Veritas', by Cuban Eliécer Jiménez Almeida, which deals with the experience of the 2506th Assault Brigade, considered mercenaries by official Cuban history. The official press has accused the festival of glorifying terrorism against Cuba by showing this feature film. The Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso Grau, and other officials have questioned the legitimacy of the festival and the freedom it defends, accusing it of being financed by the CIA and of attacking the collective project of the Cuban people. Miami-based filmmaker Eliécer Jiménez Almeida, author of 'Veritas', has responded to the accusations by stating that his film is not backed by the CIA or imperialist interests, and points out that it seeks to show an alternative version of the official history without imposing an ideology.
*For the complete program in all different countries and the details of this year's edition, please visit the festival's website.
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