Havana Film Festival: The State of Latin American Cinema

Making a movie is hard enough. In Latin American cinema, the filmmaker is faced with additional challenges that make this difficulty almost insurmountable. Political tensions, governments, the economy, social restrictions and lack of resources can constantly threaten to thwart progress. Now in its 11th successful year, the Havana Film Festival of New York is a welcome opportunity to screen some of the most influential and anticipated films by, about and with Latin Americans. I had the opportunity to screen 4 of those films, and left with the impression that more than a film festival, this was a showcase of groundbreaking accomplishments in the budding film industries of Latin America, and a way to assess where these industries stand in comparison to Europe, Asia and The United States.

Open from April 16th to the 23rd, this year's festival featured over 40 films shot mostly in spanish (shown with english subtitles), and from 15 countries. Additionally, in celebration of starting its second decade, HFF held its first juried competition, the Havana Star Prize, with 15 films competing for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay awards, including the films I screened. Though some screenings and panel discussions were held in large, prestigious institutions -- the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, The Metropolitan Museum, El Museo del Barrio, the Director's Guild Theater, among many - the bulk of the films were shown in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, at the quaint and independent Quad Cinema. This felt appropriate somehow, and with the rest of the packed theater, I sat with my sugar-free sparkling fruit juice (they don't sell sodas), popcorn and eagerness to watch a good movie.

The first movie I saw was "Castro", an Argentinean adaptation of a Samuel Beckett novel, directed by Alejo Moguillansky. The film is about an exigent woman looking for her missing husband (Castro) with the help of three incompetent investigators, while Castro (who has escaped with a lover), tries to evade them. Set in a bleakly colored Buenos Aires, the film depicts the gritty nature of the low non-working class with unpolished on-foot chase scenes, long montages of running and walking between cars, and dark, dusty scenes. Though the plot itself was weak, the rapid, on-point dialogue and fast-paced editing made it a very interesting film to watch, if only because of the contrast of the two elements. This combination of thin plot and fast cutting made it seem as though there was a line of action the audience wasn’t privy to. Overall, between the color and cinematography, I gathered that this is a film about loneliness and despair (common themes in Samuel Beckett novels), which would mean this adaptation is successful. I would have liked to ask the director what his intention was for this film, because it was not readily evident, but he was the only one who didn’t show up to the scheduled Q & A. Ultimately, despite its good acting, witty dialogue and upbeat editing, the film could not escape the plot failures, and was not well received by the audience.

The next movie was Dioses Rotos (Broken Gods), a Cuban film directed by Ernesto Daranas depicting the values within the modern world of prostitution in Cuba, and how it is influenced by a Alberto Yarini, a famous pimp and political figure at the turn of the 20^th century. Footage from modern day Havana is not easy to come across, and the audience was glued to its seat as the cameras established beautiful shots of daily life in Cuba’s parks, ports and squares. The colors used were vivid, and even the peeling paint on the houses, rust-covered boats and winding streets looked beautiful in the Caribbean sun. Very modern, fast-paced editing - complete with effective, well-timed montages of life in Cuba – along with a very strong story and superb acting, made this film competitive with Hollywood and Europe. Actors were present at the Q & A, and as expected, the conversation quickly digressed from art to politics. It was a shame that these actors were bombarded with questions outside of their field. It was comparable to getting an interview with Al Pacino and making your first and only question "do you mind if I smoke?"

Hermaphrodite, the following film (guess what it’s about!), is a movie directed by Dominican filmmaker Albert Xavier. A touching story and believable acting made this ambitious film worth watching, specially when one considers it is one of the first in a country where the film industry is merely cracking the egg. However, all else fails when it is compared with the standards. While visually up to par with filmmaking standards, Hermaphrodite divides itself into incomprehensible chapters and is riddled with constant and unnecessary dips to black. Furthermore, transitions are the visual equivalent of coughing, most of the text is shown over a black background (shielding the audience form the action) and there are several grave camera discontinuity issues toward the end of the film. Even so, this film was shown to a packed audience and received a standing ovation, because of its notable accomplishments in a country with few filmmaking resources. The young director, Albert Xavier, was present for Q & A along with the main actors and spoke about the challenges of bringing in expensive film equipment to the Dominican Republic and securing permits, acquiring locations and finding security for his equipment and staff.

Mi3nt3 (Lie) was the last film, and a true pleasure to watch. Directed by Puerto Rican Rafi Mercado, already a live show and music video celebrity, this film featured a storyline comparable to “Fight Club” and visuals as astounding as “The Cell”. The beginning montage, with split screens and reflective surfaces, portrays the wandering of a beautiful woman in Puerto Rico’s underground nightlife and represents the duality of the characters, giving a hint of what will come in the rest of the film. Though the story alone sealed this film as an instant Latin American classic, the exceptional imagery took it a step further. Color was a huge component of this film: Mercado assigned a specific element to each of the characters and very subtly changed from water’s blues, fire’s reds and yellows, earth’s browns and air’s soft white, depending on who was the dominating character in each scene. The images below are examples of these instances.

Symbolism and imagination were also crucial parts of the storyline: hallucinations, cripples, one-eyed bartenders, paintings riddled with eyes (a well-known trait of schizophrenic delusions) all had a reason for being. Additionally, the characters, portrayed with relentless accuracy by the main actors (Oscar Guerrero & Frank Perozo) contributed to this film’s success.

In sections of his film where there were hallucinations, Mercado introduced costume design to tell part of the story. In the image below, for example, blood is portrayed as a silk fabric flowing out of a character's costume. This character specifically, (Jane) remains on a pedestal for the majority of her appearance, showing that she is, in fact, unreachable.

Very rarely does one see a film where every scene is well thought-out and executed by its makers. This was one of those instances, and hence, it exceeded the Hollywood standard. The icing on the cake was a very humble Rafi Mercado, who eloquently answered the questions in the Q & A and spoke of the challenges of making a film in comparison to his live shows and music videos, as well as explaining his intention to make a film set in Puerto Rico, but not drenched with the stereotypical postcard elements of the Caribbean island.

The Havana Film Festival also included a panel discussion on the state of filmmaking in Latin America and the Caribbean: I was unable to attend it, but judging from the movies I saw, there is some hope in the future. The films I saw are only a tenth of what was shown, but they are an accurate interpretation of how much the film industries vary by country. Argentina, known in the Latin American community for its strong film industry (most of it are in collaboration with Spain’s CanalPlus) has technical resources, but little backing for independent filmmakers. Cuba, whose film was backed by the Cuban Department of Art & Culture, boasts exceptional casting and top-of-the-line editing, though it must be taken into account that this film was made for exportation and paid for by the government. Dominican Republic, with no film industry to speak of, had a film written and directed by a U.S. educated filmmaker, who paid for by the film with loans and charmed his way into letting Panavision Miami waive a 2 million dollar insurance fee for the equipment: but even so, the film had technical and visual failures. Puerto Rico, a U.S. Territory, had challenges similar to those of making a film in the mainland: securing funding & distribution. So it isn’t only comparable to making an independent film in the US, it is making an independent film in the US – though it was filled with the culture and visual beauty of Latin America.

Winner of the Havana Star for Best Director, Rafi Mercado produced in “Lie” the future of Latin American cinema. This type of exceptional filmmaking is what other countries should strive for: capturing the culture with a story everyone can relate to regardless of nationality, and doing so meeting or exceeding industry standards. Luckily for New York, The Havana Film Festival will continue to showcase the progress of Latin American filmmakers toward this goal.