AFRICALA Film Festival visits Nicaragua
Cinthia Membreño | Aug 9, 2011
The festival is brought to Latin America as part of the celebrations of the International Year of People of African descent.
A varied selection of documentaries and short films, which were filmed and produced in Africa, will be screened during three weeks in Managua and two cities of the Nicaraguan Atlantic Coast. The African Film Festival in Latin America (AFRICALA), a project that started in Mexico in 2007, is visiting the country for the first time. Its official inauguration was held yesterday, August 11th, at 7:20 pm, in Cinemas Galerías Santo Domingo. The event will be held in occasion of the International Year of Afrodescendents.
During a press conference given on Tuesday, August 9th, Eliett Cabezas, Responsible of Programming at the Cultural Center of Spain in Nicaragua (CCEN), explained that the festival features a selection of five full length movies, three documentaries, five short films and twenty animated short films. “AFRICALA will show a wide and representative sample of African productions, specially those that are more innovative,” stated Cabezas.
Hebert Pérez, the festival's programmer, informed that the idea of organizing AFRICALA came up after the multiple trips that Flavio Florencio, director of the event, made to several African countries. “Its mission is to bring Africa closer to Latin America”, he said. Furthermore, Perez talked about the ratial ties between Latin Americans and Africans. “We are so linked we no longer talk about races, we talk about rapprochement among people. What better way to show this than through cinema!" he stated.
The screenings that will be held after the inauguration will begin on Friday, August 12 and will end of the 31st. All of them will be available to watch at Cinemas Galerias Santo Domingo, the Cultural Center of Spain in Nicaragua (CCEN), the History Institute of Nicaragua and Central America (IHNCA-UCA), Bluefields' town hall (RAAS), the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (URACCAN) and the Bluefields' Adventist School in Bilwi (RAAN). It is worth mentioning that although the majority of the screenings will be for free, those that will take place Galerías will have an entrance fee (US$2).
As for the topics, audiences will be able to watch films about social, cultural, political and day to day issues of countries like South Africa, Argelia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Cameroon, Angola, and many others. Another interesting fact is that the festival will also include a selection of documentaries that were produced in the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, such as “Lady Marshall” (1991), directed by María José Álvarez, “La cárcel” (2009), by Dania Torres, “La autonomía anhelada” (2010), by Ada Villareal, “Walagallo” (2010), by Daniel Alegría, among others. After touring Nicaragua, the festival will visit other Central American and Caribbean countries, until reaching Mexico, its final destination.