LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2020) Born in 2015, the Havana Glasgow Film Festival goes virtual from Tuesday evening to November 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the good thing is that more people in the United Kingdom would be able to see it, festival co-director Eirene Houston told Sputnik.
"We are very happy with the programme, which includes Cuban films, discussion, food and dance events around this year�s theme: Celebrating Extraordinary Cuba," she said in a phone interview from the Scottish city.
A filmmaker and writer herself, Houston recalled that she started traveling to the small island nation over 20 years ago to attend the Festival of the New Latin American Cinema and has forged a strong and long relationship with Cuban cultural institutions like the Cuban Film Institute and the International school of Cinema and tv in the outskirts of Havana, where she has taught several courses.
"After all those years, I thought the best way that I could pay back Cuba for all the things that it has given me was to organize a film festival in Glasgow so people could have the opportunity to have a glimpse at the Cuban cinema," she said.
According to Houston, local authorities immediately supported her idea, because Glasgow and Havana have been twin cities since 2002, "so we had our first festival six year ago."
The sixth Havana Glasgow Film Festival will screen the best Cuban documentary, feature, animation and short films, facilitate discussions and host dynamic cultural events, focused on health, innovation and internationalism.
Among the films to be screened on the online platforms are The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia - a warm-hearted feature about an invitation to another planet and Cuba: Living Between Hurricanes - a documentary about the resilience of the Cuban people in the face of extreme weather cycles and climate change.
There will be two documentaries on the lives of two of Cuba's music greats - Eliades Ochoa: From Cuba to the World and Silvio Rodriguez: My First Calling, as well a Cuban cookery workshop hosted by Glaswegian MasterChef winner Gary Maclean.
