41st Havana International Film Festival kicks off today

HAVANA, Dec 5 (ACN) The 41st Havana International Film Festival will start today, dedicated to Cuban filmmaker Santiago Alvarez (1919-1998) on his centennial and the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC).

The event, to run until December 15, will be opened at six o'clock in the afternoon at Karl Marx Theater, with the screening of the Argentine film La odisea de los giles ("The Odyssey of the Naive"), and with the performance, for the first time in the history of the festival, of the Cuban National Ballet, in tribute to Alicia Alonso.
The Odyssey of the Naive is a film made this year, directed by Sebastian Borensztein and starring the outstanding actor Ricardo Darin, known in Cuba by his leading roles in films such as El Secreto de sus ojos (2009) and Relatos Salvajes (2014).
During this 41st edition of the event, 300 films will be screened, 210 from Latin America and 43 from other latitudes, as well as a total of 117 materials, six in the Galas category and 22 in the Tribute one.
The Festival to honor Santiago Alvarez will host a theoretical event focused on his life and work, with a panel where filmmaker Fernando Perez will participate along with foreign critics and professors; and a sample of posters of some of his cinematographic works.
The 41st edition of the Havana Film Festival will grant two Corales de Honor Awards, one to producer Lita Stantic, an icon of the new Argentine cinema of the 1990s, and the other to Cuban director Manuel Perez, founder of ICAIC.