Cinemazul Film Appreciation Festival

Yusimí Peña Bodaño, a student at the Luis Urquiza Jorge Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (IPVCE), won the Ola Award at the Cinemazul Film Appreciation Festival in the municipality of Las Tunas.

Yusimí PeñaLas Tunas, Cuba.- “It was a great experience. I had never participated in an event like this. I had to investigate the life and work of the Cuban filmmaker Juan Padrón. This motivates me to encourage other young people to go to the cinema,” Yusimí said.

Likewise, recognitions were awarded to the moderators Dailín de la Caridad Góngora and Xiomara Mercantete; the latter, awarded in other editions of the event and leading the Sala de Sueños Project (Dream Room ) - together with Yunicelia Zamora Mercantete, the Communication Specialist at the Provincial Film Center-, aimed at encouraging the analysis of celluloid in adolescents.

Despite the pandemic has put a stop to initiatives that involve public attendance, Xiomara proudly narrates what it has meant to instill love for the Seventh Art in more than 30 students.

“We have taught them how they should be in a movie theater, we have deeply analyzed the films, we have exchanged with parents so that they also help us to boost this passion. What we are aiming for is that the light that we sow in them today does not die and they continue to improve themselves, become critical spectators; and perhaps one day they will participate with us in the Cinemazul Festival,” the psychologist by profession highlighted.

The Festival, carried out mostly online because of the COVID-19, ran in parallel in all municipalities. This time it was dedicated to Latin American cinema and the 62nd anniversary of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). In the capital of Las Tunas, a tribute was also paid to Juan Padrón, by projecting and analyzing, with almost no audience, the films Elpidio Valdés against dollar and cannon, and Vampiros in Havana I and II.

The provincial event is expected to take place between October 20 and 22. Hopefully, by that date, the health situation will allow the dark rooms to be opened and enjoy at full an event with unique characteristics in Cuba.