Days of Cuban Cinema Kick-Off on Thursday



(From the Days of Cuban Cinema event at Facebook:)

"Between the 6th and the 9th of November the first edition of this event will take place in Tampere. It is a unique opportunity not only to watch films, but also to fully discover the cultural and political life of Cuba, almost fifty years after the Revolution. Different representatives of the Cuban art world will come to the city, specially to introduce their work: art director Derubín Jácome and well-known costume designer Diana Fernández will give seldom lectures about film, while members of the legendary band Habana abierta, such as Boris Larramendi, Alejandro Gutiérrez or Nam-San Fong, will offer varied music concerts.


Four days of intense cultural activity, bursting with possibilities: either watching some of the masterpieces of cuban cinema, such as "I am Cuba", "Strawberry and Chocol
ate" or "Memories of underdevelopment", or listening to original sounds from the island in Telakka Cultural Center. Between film and film, typical cuban meals can be tasted, and two permanent exhibitions, one of photographs of Havana by Kimmo Hokkanen and another one of original film posters by the great cuban desginer Muñoz Bachs, will be available. It is not simply about projecting films, since every film will be shown along with several short films in different styles and genres. The program includes both documentaries and animated features, films for the grown ups and also for the children. Among some of the films that have never before been premiered in Finland can be seen such classics as "Vampires in Havana" (animation, 1985) or "Life is to whistle" (fiction, 1998), together with short films screened in collaboration with the Lens Politica film festival, from Helsinki. Simultaneously, the festival will develop a critical analysis of each of the films after the screening, and a day-to-day series of transmissions on Radio Moreeni, debates and lectures centered on the topic "What is a Revolution?" The main venues for the festival are Niagara cinemas and Telakka Cultural Center, where the audience can find a videoteque with all the festival´s titles available to rent. Also, a large music selection by Jerry González, trumpet player and key figure in latin jazz, will constantly sound in Telakka, a glimpse of Cuba´s rythms in the air. It is worthy to mention that all the funds that result from the box-office will be destined to Cuba, with the purpose of helping repair some of the damages caused by the recent hurricanes that affected the region."

TAMK School of Art and Media is supporting the festival. Festival Director is Andrea Zapata Girau, exchange student in the Media Programme.

Days of Cuban Cinema (Sorry, in Finnish only)

Cuban Cinema Days at Facebook (Trailers of the films etc.)

The films screened at Niagara Times and presentations also in English after the Finnish texts