Culture

We’re now accustomed to waiting for the end of November for the Young Jazz Musicians International Competition (JoJazz). This competition has among its many merits its having promoted this art form that seduces a good part of music students, motivating them to take excursions into traditional jazz styles while also compelling them to search for their own approaches to creativity.

Among the movies competing in this 32nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, Cuba is presenting four films: Fernando Perez’s José Martí: el ojo del canario; Casa Vieja, by Lester Hamlet; Larga Distancia, by Esteban Insausti; and Boleto al Paraíso, by Gerardo Chijona. The festival gets underway on Dec. 2 and runs through the 12th.

Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez was recognized with the ALBA Arts Prize, which the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) awards every year, the Cuban media reported. Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto highlighted the “unquestionable work for the cultural emancipation and integration of Our America” of Rodríguez and Venezuelan Luis Britto, Literature Prize winner.

The Cubarte publishing house released the first digitalized facsimile edition of Orígenes magazine, one of the most important Cuban cultural publications of the 20th century. The multimedia, which contains documents, photos and audio files linked to the members of the Orígenes group, forms part of the tributes for the centenary of the birth of writer José Lezama Lima.

The International New Latin American Film Festival will include a record of 515 works, of which 163 will compete in the diverse categories of the contest, Alfredo Guevara, president of the event, announced. The most important film event convened by the island will be held next December 2-12 in this capital.

Every year, the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema pays homages to various directors, actors and issues. This time (Dec. 2-12) these will be rendered to two institutions: the Audiovisual Media Faculty of the Superior Institute of Art (Havana) and the National Film Board of Canada.”

Cuban musician Chucho Valdés will make a tour of Spain with his Mensajeros Afrocubanos group, during which he will perform in the International Jazz Festival of Barcelona, that event’s webpage reported. Valdés, who just won the Latin Grammy Award for his CD El ultimo trago, will return to the island in December to direct the Jazz Plaza Festival (Dec. 16-19).