NYC: What to Watch at the Havana Film Festival
Twitter: @Stefadook
Along with the warm weather comes a slew of film festivals infiltrating our city and we are not complaining. Now in its 15th year, the Havana Film Festival New York is screening films from April 3rd to April 11th. Though the majority of their films are from Cuba, HFFNY is intent on celebrating Latin American films from all countries, with features from Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil and more. Screenings will take place throughout the city (Queens and Bronx, I’m looking at you!), so make sure to check out their packed schedule HERE that includes short films, docs, and Q&As with directors and actors, and FREE events. In the meantime, we’ve picked out the cream of the crop for you to preview below.
Opening Night!
Conducta (Behavior)
Director: Ernesto Daranas Serrano
Country: Cuba
DIRECTORS GUILD THEATER 4/3 6:30PM
QUAD CINEMA 4/5 9:20pm
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An eleven year old boy who has already seen hardship beyond his years, Chala finds solace in his sixth grade teacher Carmela. When Carmela suffers a sudden accident, their bond is questioned and put to the test.
La Jaula de Oro (The Golden Cage)
Director: Diego Quemada Diez
Country: Mexico / Spain
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE 4/6 5:00PM w/ Director Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/8 9:15PM w/ Director Q&A
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In this moving feature from director Diego Quemada Diaz, we see three teenagers from Guatemala, traveling from slums to the USA in search of a better, brighter life. On the way they meet Chauk; indigenous and from Chiapas, he does not speak their language. Soon, they are relying on each other for protection and to reach the other side of freedom.
Las Analfabetas (Illiterate)
Director: Moisés Sepúlveda
Country: Chile
QUAD CINEMA 4/9 7:00PM w/ Director Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/10 3:00PM
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Played by the beautiful Paulina García (Gloria), Ximena has kept her inability to read or write a secret her entire life. Now in her fifties, she meets a young unemployed elementary school teacher who wants to help.
O Lobo Atras da Porta (A Wolf at the Door)
Director: Fernando Coimbra
Country: Brazil
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE 4/4 7:00PM w/ Director Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/7 7:00PM w/ Director Q&A
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It starts with a kidnapping. With different stories from the victim’s parents and acquaintances all overlapping, we see secret relationships, betrayal, infidelity and obsessions come to light. An unlikely bond forms between a mother and her husband’s lover, setting passions a flame.
Heli
Director: Amat Escalante
Country: Mexico
QUAD CINEMA 4/7 3:00PM
QUAD CINEMA 4/9 9:00PM
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Amat Escalante won Best Director at last year’s Cannes Film Fest for his powerful, shocking, yet very real look at Mexico’s drug-related violence and how it affects people from all walks of life, including two young star-crossed lovers.
Closing Night!
El Doctor Aleman (The German Doctor)
Director: Lucia Puenzo
Country: Argentina
DIRECTORS GUILD THEATER 4/11 6:30PM w/ Director Q&A
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Set the in 1960s Patagonia, a German doctor meets an Argentine family in a chance encounter. What appears to be a model family on a long, adventurous road trip turns sour when the doctor’s obsessions come into play.