Out of 2,017 works originally entered, 256 were selected from 42 countries around the world: 21 from Latin America and the rest from Germany, Belgium, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, as well as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
According to the event’s director, Tania Delgado, there will also be films from countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the State of Palestine, “all of which will serve as a meeting point and a bridge to other places in the world,” she noted.
Delgado said there will be a special section dedicated to Argentine cinema, its evolution and current environment, aimed at promoting an exchange of ideas about the current developments in that country.
The usual competitive sections for features, debuts, documentary feature films, animated short films, LGBTIQ+ cinema (Recife award), unpublished script, poster and post-production will be maintained, Delgado commented, “but this time experimental cinema will exhibit novel elements”, she added.
On this edition, the contest will include the latest trends in creative and narrative realities combined with hybrid cinema, a new category, combining documentary, fiction and animation. All these elements were taken into account to open this contest that was a cherished dream and will now become a reality, she explained.
The festival will screen restored classics, such as “La tregua” by Argentina’s Sergio Renant, based on the homonymous novel by Mario Benedetti, and “Camila” by María Luisa Bemberg, a milestone among all the films shown at our festival, and a Coral Prize winner as feature film.
Theoretical and industrial events will also be on schedule, said Delgado, who went on to mention a Colombian film show, conferences and master classes, starting from November 30 through December 7, attended by outstanding critics and other experts from the region.
“There’s no way to celebrate 45 years of our festival without talking about Alfredo Guevara, one of its founders, so we will be paying an early tribute to this great figure of Latin American cinema on his centenary, which falls next year,” she said.
Among the most remarkable novelties this time there’s a book on late Cuban master cartoonist and animated film director Juan Padrón, as well as a recount on ties between the Film Festival and Cuban television.
To open the event in the evening of the 5th, Argentine film “On Sundays More People Die,” has been chosen. Its’ a coproduction with Italy and France, which was entered in the debut film category.
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