The first
event of the inaugural New Zealand/Cuba Film Festival Exchange, organized by SI
CUBANZ FILMZ and Instituto Cubano Artes y Industria de Cinematografia
(ICAIC) was to open at 8pm at the Cine
Chaplin in Havana on Saturday 07 February 2004 with an invitation-only
screening of The Price of Milk (Dir.
Harry Sinclair). The screening was to be preceded by a wine and cheese
reception in the Cultural Centre across the road from the Chaplin, hosted by
the major sponsors, Fonterra and New Zealand Milk. As anyone who has ever been
to Cuba knows, always expect the unexpected! As guests began to arrive for the
reception, a power blackout plunged a large proportion of the city into
darkness. Fortunately, the foyer of ICAIC, located next door to the Chaplin
Cinema, had its own limited power supply, so in inimitable Cuban style, men in
suits and bow ties scurried back and forth across the six-lane street dodging
cars and buses, to transport the cases of wine, cartons of cheese, and boxes of
glasses to ensure the 'show went on'. Frantic telephone calls to the
electricity company generated an undertaking to restore power as soon as
possible...
Distinguished
guests included New Zealand Ambassador to Cuba Mr Paul Tipping and his wife,
Cuban Vice President of Arts and Culture Juan Ballester, Vice President of
ICAIC and Director of International Relations, Susana Molina, Programmer of
Cinematec, Antonio Mazon, Fonterra and New Zealand Milk representatives
Alexandro Alavez, Jose Miguel Alavez and Rene Herrera, NZ film maker Harry
Sinclair, and Cuban film makers Enrique Colina and Lourdes do Santos. Also
present were several New Zealanders holidaying and studying in Cuba, who
provided the Cubans present with lively and entertaining commentaries on New
Zealand life and culture.
As more and
more people arrived for the screening, and it became less and less likely that
power would be restored to the cinema before 11pm, it was decided to cancel the
screening, but proceed with the introductory speeches - and party on! Mr
Tipping gave an impressive and well-received speech in Spanish on New
Zealand-Cuba relations and the importance of the festival in enhancing
understanding between the two countries, Julie Webb-Pullman, Director of SI
CUBANZ FILMZ, briefly outlined the selection of films encompassing 1966-2001,
and Harry Sinclair drew many laughs, describing his film as being about the
imagination, which in the circumstances was fortunate because they would all
have to imagine seeing it!
Despite the
inauspicious opening, the Sunday screenings of short film A Moment Passing and feature Don't Let It Get You (Dir. John O'Shea
- 1966) proceeded without incident.
Following
the Havana screenings, the NZ festival travels to Matanzas for a one week
season.
A festival
of 12 Cuban films spanning the years 1960-2002 will screen in New Zealand in
October 2004, hosted by NZ International Film Festival - one-week seasons are
proposed for both Wellington and Auckland.
point
seven: invest in a better world
The campaign to increase New Zealand's overseas aid was launched at
Parliament on Tuesday 10 February. In a colourful and dramatic event,
representatives of CID member agencies symbolised the respective levels of
overseas aid of the 22 OECD donor countries. A number of MPs spoke including
the Hon. Lockwood Smith (National), Keith Locke (Green), the Hon. Matt Robson
(Progressive), Winnie Laban (Labour), Dail Jones (New Zealand First) and the
Hon. Peter Dunne (United Future). Several other MPs also attended the launch.
· To
see the brochure, click here: http://www.cid.org.nz/news/point_seven.pdf
· To
see background papers, click here: http://www.cid.org.nz/news/background_papers.pdf
Photos of the event are posted on the CID web site
LAC and Dev
Zone has a number of videos available for borrowing.
The Revolution
will not be televised: Chavez 2002.
which deals
with the events in Venezuela over the
recent years.
Contact: info@devnet.org.nz