Havana Film Festival: April 13-19
by Ewa Josefsson
If you are longing for some Latin culture to usher in spring we definitely have the cure: 40 films celebrating Latin American Cinema in this weeklong festival. It features both award-winning as well as independent films and panel discussions with directors and actors, most of it taking place at Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street. For more info check out the website hffny.com or call 212-946-1839.
FUGA (Pablo Larrain, Chile/Argentina 2005, 110 min.)
Montalban is a musician trapped in an unfinished opus. As a boy he witnessed the death of his sister, who accidentally composed the melody while being murdered atop a piano. Eliseo Montalbán becomes an obsessed, mentally disturbed musician, the composer of a lethal, avant-garde, coveted musical piece.
El Benny (Jorge Luis Sanchez, Cuba/UK/Spain 2006, 127 min.)
Having just returned to Cuba after achieving success in Mexico, the singer Beny Moré embarks on his dream of forming an Afro-Cuban jazz band. Based on the life of Moré, Cuba’s greatest musical legend.
At The End of The Spectra (Juan Felipe Orozco, Colombia 2006, 91 min.)
After a traumatic experience, Vega begins to suffer from agoraphobia. Her father recommends she move to a new apartment, where she begins to live like a hermit, haunted by events she can’t explain and voices that she cannot ignore.
The 12 Labours (Ricardo Elias, Brazil 2006, 90 min.)
Heracles, a poor Black adolescent from São Paulo recently released from a juvenile detention center, attempts to change his life by becoming a motorcycle courier. On his first day, he’s confronted with obstacles to starting a new life.
Tattooed (Eduardo Raspo, Argentina 2005, 90 min.)
Paco knows that his mother died from a terminal illness when he was only two years old. A strange tattoo on his forearm serves as an indecipherable message from her and motivates him to seek the truth about her.
FUGA (Pablo Larrain, Chile/Argentina 2005, 110 min.)
Montalban is a musician trapped in an unfinished opus. As a boy he witnessed the death of his sister, who accidentally composed the melody while being murdered atop a piano. Eliseo Montalbán becomes an obsessed, mentally disturbed musician, the composer of a lethal, avant-garde, coveted musical piece.
El Benny (Jorge Luis Sanchez, Cuba/UK/Spain 2006, 127 min.)
Having just returned to Cuba after achieving success in Mexico, the singer Beny Moré embarks on his dream of forming an Afro-Cuban jazz band. Based on the life of Moré, Cuba’s greatest musical legend.
At The End of The Spectra (Juan Felipe Orozco, Colombia 2006, 91 min.)
After a traumatic experience, Vega begins to suffer from agoraphobia. Her father recommends she move to a new apartment, where she begins to live like a hermit, haunted by events she can’t explain and voices that she cannot ignore.
The 12 Labours (Ricardo Elias, Brazil 2006, 90 min.)
Heracles, a poor Black adolescent from São Paulo recently released from a juvenile detention center, attempts to change his life by becoming a motorcycle courier. On his first day, he’s confronted with obstacles to starting a new life.
Tattooed (Eduardo Raspo, Argentina 2005, 90 min.)
Paco knows that his mother died from a terminal illness when he was only two years old. A strange tattoo on his forearm serves as an indecipherable message from her and motivates him to seek the truth about her.
