Latest News: Havana Film Festival Awards

During 11 days of retracing their steps through the streets of Havana in search of the best selections — in the drizzle, cold or sun — Cuban movie buffs enjoyed a worldwide panorama on celluloid.
We found ourselves in solidarity with an unemployed Brazilian father of a desperate family (perhaps that solidarity was stronger than ever given the concreteness of the issue these days),

Fernando Pérez wins Havana Festival Best Director Award

Cuban filmmaker and scriptwriter Fernando Pérez won the Best Director Award at the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana, his seventh Coral prize since making his debut in 1987.

His film “José Martí, el ojo del canario”(José Martí, the Eye of the Canary), a humanistic look at the Cuban independence fighter and national hero, also won the awards for Best Artistic Direction and Best Poster and the Signis Prize on Sunday night.

A day earlier, he received eight of the festival’s collateral prizes, including from UNICEF.

Books: Women Filmmakers in Mexico: The Country of Which We Dream

Women filmmakers in Mexico were rare until the 1980s and 1990s, when women began to direct feature films in unprecedented numbers. Their films have won acclaim at home and abroad, and the filmmakers have become key figures in contemporary Mexican cinema. In this book, Elissa Rashkin documents how and why women filmmakers have achieved these successes, as she explores how the women’s movement, film studies programs, governmental film policy, and the transformation of the intellectual sector since the 1960s have all affected women’s filmmaking in Mexico.

Cine Mexicano in Vancouver

Cine Mexicano in Vancouver – February 2010

A major retrospective of classic and contemporary cinema to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution

Presented in conjunction with the Consulate General of Mexico and the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.