Actress Eslinda Nuñez and Cinematographer Raúl Perez Ureta will be in hand to receive special tributes
New York City — The 13th annual Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) runs April 12-20 with more than 40 highly anticipated and influential films from and about Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinos in the U.S. including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the U.S will be in the festival’s five venues and 3 boroughs. They span a variety of genres and themes, ranging from comedy, thrillers, action, drama and documentaries to children’s tales, as well as films from and about indigenous peoples from Guatemala, Mexico, and Colombia. All foreign language films are subtitled in English.
The Opening Night Ceremony will be held on April 12th, 7pm, at the Directors Guild Theatre, with the Cuban box office hit Habanastation. Ian Padrón’s opera prima is a fun-witty film that depicts Havana today through the eyes of two kids from different social backgrounds. Habanastation is also part of the family programs at the Quad Cinema, April 15th, 12:30pm and at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, April 21st, 12pm.
Closing Night Film: HFFNY closes on April 20th, 7pm, at the New York Directors Guild Theatre with the N.Y. premiere of the first “zombie movie” made in Cuba Juan of the Dead, Alejandro Brugues’ second feature film. A series of strange events start to develop. At first, Juan believes that it’s just another stage of the Cuban revolution but then he realizes that the culprits are not human and killing them would be very difficult.
HFFNY opens its full schedule of activities on Friday, April 13th, 1 pm for a week of screenings at the Quad Cinema 34 W. 13th Street with the NY premiere of the Venezuelan film, La hora Cero / The Zero Hour (Diego Velasco).
Proud to pay tribute to those influential figures of the Latin American cinema, the festival honors Cuban actress Eslinda Nuñez. For more than 40 years, Eslinda has participated in some of the most important films made in Cuba including Lucia by Humberto Salás, Memorias del subdesarrollo by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. She will be in NY presenting the films Amada, Cecilia (these two directed by Humberto Solas) and Bailando Cha Cha Cha (Manuel Herrera.)
HFFNY is also honoring one of the masters of the art of photography, cinematographer Raul Perez Ureta.
The collaborator of directors like Fernando Pérez (Madagascar, La vida es silbar, Suite Habana), Daniel Díaz Torres (Otra mujer, Alicia en el pueblo de Maravillas, Hacerse el sueco), Gerardo Chijona (Boleto al paraiso, Perfecto amor equivocado), he is the head of the Photography Department at the San Antonio de los Baños, International Film and TV School. Perez Ureta is described as a cinematographer “who has created a contrasting, paradoxical aesthetic by beautifying unhappiness and casting a shadow over joy.” Perez Ureta will be presenting two films in which he has been awarded Best Phorography: Martí, The Eye of Canary (a New York Premiere) and Madrigal (both directed by Fernando Pérez).
19 films will be competing to receive the third Havana Star Prize for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay, as well as the second Havana Star Prize for Best Documentary, which will be awarded on April 20th at the Closing Night ceremony.
For Havana Film Festival New York information and schedule visit www.HFFNY.com click here For screeners, interviews with directors and photos in HR, please contact Diana Vargas: E/ press@dianavargas.com; C/ 917-658-7735 or 917-668-7344
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