Fernanda Author: taken from internet
Despite the big buzz on social media around the claim that the best Cuban cinema is made outside of Cuba, on the island we are celebrating another anniversary of the creation of the Cuban Film Institute with a handful of merit and new creations. Art and industry. Premiere of the animated film in the cinemas “Yara” and “Riviera” Fernanda and the Strange Case of Figueroa’s Message The 64th Anniversary Conference kicked off last Sunday and shortly thereafter the National Film Award was presented to make-up artist Magali Pompa, whose decades of work has also shaped the visualization of some of the best Cuban films of all time.
Although this is only the second feature film in the Fernanda series, the famous girl detective (the first feature was called Fernanda and the Strange Case of Dr. X and Mr. Jai, and he is from 2014), the ingenious and very Creole protagonist takes the lead role of the most extensive animated series that has been made in Cuba since it began in 2003 and already has more than 70 short films of about 13 minutes. Its director Mario Rivas handled both exceptional works, with an experimental bent (Hut, American legend) as in the famous series (Movie Minutes, Elpidio Valdez) along with his colleagues Juan Padron and Tulio Raggi. Created by ICAIC Animation Studios using digital technologies and so-called minimalist animation, the new film, like the saga of the unredeemed mumbies, also responds to the author’s passion for recreating episodes of national history.
Last Thursday, the Charles Chaplin Cinema hosted a special presentation of the latest film directed by Fernando Pérez. world nelsito, but it is not yet time for its mass premiere, as the international tour of the film must be checked first, and therefore we leave a comment until it is seen by as many Cubans as possible, certainly interested in a new feature film, with a very stellar cast from one of our most important creators. Two exhibitions were also opened, one of the photographs, in the foyer of the aforementioned cinema called ICAIC in a certain wayand another of the Cuban movie posters at 23 and 12, Cinematheque headquarters.
Due to their thematic and stylistic diversity, four short films released these days, produced with the support of the Cuban Film Promotion Foundation, stood out. Sometimes repetitive and too imbued with a demonstrative purpose, gloves without ring, based on the novel by Karen Sotolongo, is a documentary that eloquently demonstrates the right of women to defend the national color in martial arts, especially in boxing, considered the “flagship” of Cuban sports. The filmmaker’s emotional and thorough investigation into the life and desires of Namibia Flores, Legnis Kala, Karen Cantillo, Gisele Bello and Juliannet Diaz culminated in late 2022, while the documentary was in post-production, with news of breaking down the mental barriers that prevented the full participation of women.
Karen Sotolongo trained as a filmmaker in Spain but returned to Cuba to film this documentary promoting the full participation of women with a team from both countries, a task that seemed to be delayed not only in boxing but also in Cuban historical cinema; and so the director commented that at the exhibition ICAIC in a certain way only Sara Gomez was credited as a female director. Obviously, the Development Fund, among its huge tasks, also removes old injustices, and out of the four shorts released, a couple was filmed by women, and in addition to the above, there is that reflective entertainment that #Habanalikealso actress and screenwriter Gisele Lominchard.
Celebratory, with absurd nuances and a determined tone of parody comedy, Lominčar’s shorts show a determined preoccupation with neurosis that has given rise inside and outside of Cuba, especially in some young people, to the abuse of social networks and the unfortunate desire to put everything in its place. life and actions depending on liketweets and trending themes. Aside from some natural hesitation in handling the narrative, the short manages to caricature everyday characters and inject some aloof shadows into a pink image full of hearts and laughing emojis.
Also in comedy, but closer to historical farce, and his usual preoccupation with emasculating schematism, uniformity by decree, and double standards. callSet in 1961, at the height of the fight against illiteracy, written and directed by Eduardo del Llano, it brings to an end an extensive and successful saga of short films dedicated to the famous Nicanor O’Donnell. Also starring one of his most loyal accomplices, the always precise and amazing Luis Alberto Garcia, who is joined in the cast by the powerful Tahimi Alvarino, who steals all the scenes.
where he says the short film can be seen as a sort of fucking parody of Brigadier, although it does not discount the placement of some respectful accents in the epic that this film exalted. Del Llano fully realizes his desire to make us laugh with his new work, one of the best situation comedies created by Cuban cinema in recent years.
A documentary film of an experimental essayistic nature, made up of fragments of archival material found in a garbage dump (according to the sign at the end of the film itself). Tartessos Dune it is a languid, beautiful and symbolist reflection on the flow of time, emptiness, catastrophe and regression in the northern city of Caibarién in Villa Clara. Based on the wonderful structure of director Josue Garcia (recently graduated in audiovisual art of communication), these images are miraculously saved at the last minute from oblivion, erosion and neglect before our eyes. With its enigmatic title and dreamlike imagery, whose eloquence is accentuated by the absence of human voices, the film itself adds to the great achievements of the latest experimental cinema created by Rafael Ramirez, Alejandro Alonso and Miguel Coyula. . . .
Thus, we have new and good products obtained as a result of production support by the Cuban Film Promotion Foundation, which connects experienced professionals with new ones and an official institution with independent creators; all in favor of a more dynamic and energetic domestic cinema.
Source: Juventud Rebelde
