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The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema returns to Havana this Thursday night under even more adverse conditions than last year. Back then, power outages had already affected several screenings, but now the situation is worse: the power outages are more prolonged and coincide with an epidemic of dengue and chikungunya that keeps the population on high alert.
The massive blackout that left all of western Cuba, including the capital —the main venue of the event— in darkness on Wednesday, brought back memories of the previous edition, when similar outages interrupted performances and limited audience attendance, recalled the EFE agency.
This is compounded by the health crisis facing the island, with tens of thousands of cases of dengue and chikungunya reported this year, an unfavorable outlook for the coming weeks and at least 33 confirmed deaths due to these viruses, according to official figures.
A festival that endures amid uncertainty
Despite this situation, the festival —which will run until December 14 under the theme "Rolling Cinema"— maintains its schedule with 222 works from 42 countries, including Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia.
The organizers informed EFE that the Argentine film Belén, directed and starred by Dolores Fonzi, will be in charge of opening the festival. The film addresses the legal case of a young woman who was criminalized after a miscarriage.
This year, Mexico will be the guest of honor, and the historic Churubusco Studios will receive the Coral Honor Award in celebration of their 80th anniversary.
The theoretical forum will be dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the Cuban filmmaker Alfredo Guevara (1925–2013), founder of the ICAIC and the festival itself. A special section will also be added, focusing on the cinema of the BRICS countries, an alliance that Cuba recently joined.
The Coral Awards ceremony is scheduled for Friday, December 12th.
Featured proposals
Among the productions set to capture the audience's attention is "El agente secreto," by Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura. The film has been selected to represent Brazil as a candidate for Best International Feature Film at the 2026 Oscars.
Brazil will also be represented by actor Thiago Lacerda, known for telenovelas such as Terra Nostra, Siete Mujeres, and Páginas de la vida, as well as various film productions.
Other titles featured in the selection include “Anonymous Neurotic” (Cuba) and the documentary “Lorca in Havana,” which explores the poet Federico García Lorca's stay on the island in 1930.
The festival will also resume the Latin American Cinema Market Fair, featuring the presence of producers from Russia, China, Indonesia, and several countries in the region.
A legacy that endures
Founded in 1979, the Havana Festival of New Latin American Cinema emerged as the heir to the film meetings held in Viña del Mar, Mérida, and Caracas. For decades, it has been a benchmark for regional cinema and a key space for the promotion of Latin American filmmakers.
This year, however, the event takes place once again, overshadowed by an energy and health crisis that affects every aspect of life in Cuba. The challenge for the audience, artists, and organizers will be to ensure that the light of cinema prevails… even when other lights go out.
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