Culture

For ten days, audiences in Havana enjoyed the stories and characters of the films and documentaries screened at the Havana Film Festival. During these intense days, some felt shock, others anger and yet others empathy. Some suffered and no few had a good laugh. It was a festival for all tastes. When the award-winning films were announced, most spectators already had their own, personal awards list ready.

Nelson Valdes is a young folk musician from Cienfuegos. His albums include A la mitad del mundo (“To Half of the World”, recorded live and produced by the Hermanos Saiz Association in 2008) and Besitos de escalera (“Stairwell Kisses”, produced by the label Colibri).

It might seem contradictory that, with so many foreign options we may not get another chance to see, people should opt to go see Cuban films. They are films that are made here and, at one point, they will be screened in the country’s theaters. Despite this, whenever a Cuban film premieres, the line-ups are endless.

According to some composers, making music in Cuba is a difficult task. They tell us the streets are too noisy: people yell instead of talking and place speakers in such a way that whatever they play is heard by the entire street. It is common for bus drivers to set their stereos to the highest volume, cars (mostly old) make a huge racket and sound their horns excessively.