Ten feature-length films will compete for the Havana Star Awards in fiction categories, with the Best Picture winner receiving a theatrical run at the Quad Cinema. These films will screen at the Directors Guild Theater, Museum of the Moving Image and Quad Cinema.
The 15th HFFNY jury is comprised of prominent members of the local and international film industry. Fiction categories jurors include director Deborah Kampmeier (Virgin, Hounddog); Quad Flix VP, Donald Rabinovitch; and Cuban actress Laura de La Uz (Ana's Movie, Hello Hemingway). The winners will be announced during the festival's Closing Night, April 11 at the Director Guild Theater (DGA).
Screenings will include Q&As with Cuban actor Armando Valdés, Argentine director Agustín Toscano; Brazilian director Fernando Coimbra; Mexican director Francisco Franco-Alba, Chilean director Moisés Sepúlveda; Ecuadorian director Viviana Cordero; and Cuban directors Ernesto Daranas, Gerardo Chijona, Carlos Lechuga, and Jorge Perugorría.
Competing for Havana Star Prize in fiction:
Ernesto Daranas | Cuba | 2014 | Fiction | 100min | U.S. Premiere Chala is an eleven year-old boy with a hard life and strong respect for Carmela, his sixth grade teacher. The pair develops a solid bond, but after Carmela gets sick, things get complicated. Chala es un joven de once años con una vida complicada queen siente una gran admiración por Carmela, su maestra de sexto grado. Los dos crean un fuerte vínculo de amistad que se ve amenazado después de que Carmela se enferma.
DIRECTORS GUILD THEATER 4/3 @ 6:30PM
QUAD CINEMA 4/5 @ 9:20PM - Armando Valdes present for Q&A
Fernando Coimbra | Brazil | 2013 | Fiction | 100min | NY Premiere
A child is kidnapped. At the police station, his parents Sylvia and Bernardo, and Rosa, the main suspect and Bernardo ́s lover, give contradictory evidence. Their narration takes us to the gloomiest corners of desires, lies, needs, and wickedness in the relationship between these three characters. Un niño es secuestrado. En la comisaría, sus padres Sylvia y Bernardo, y Rosa, principal sospechosa y amante de Bernardo, dan testimonios contradictorios. Rosa y Bernardo se conocieron en un tren en Río de Janeiro. Obsesionada, Rosa inicia una amistad secreta con Sylvia, sin que ésta sepa la relación que mantiene con su marido.
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE 4/4 @ 7:00PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/7 @ 7:00PM - Director present for Q&A
Francisco Franco-Alba | Mexico | 2013 | Drama-Comedy | 90min |NY Premiere
A Mexican company rehearses a turbulent theatrical production of Albert Camus' Caligula to be performed at an international festival. Una compañia de teatro mexicana ensaya una turbulenta producción de Calígula de Albert Camus que será parte de un festival internacional.
QUAD CINEMA 4/5 @ 7:20PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/7 @ 1:00PM
Gerardo Chijona | Cuba | 2013 | Fiction | 95min | NY Premiere
Larry Po, an eccentric elder, reveals to Lino Catalá, a serious and traditional old man, that his late wife led a double life. From that moment on, they both start an intense search. Larry Po, un viejo extravagante, le revela a Lino Catalá, un anciano serio y formal, que su difunta esposa Maruja llevaba una doble vida. A partir de ese momento, los dos comienzan una intensa búsqueda.
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE 4/5 @ 6:30PM- Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/6 @ 7:20PM - Director present for Q&A
Diego Quemada-Díez | Mexico | 2013 | Fiction | 100min |
NY Premiere
Three teenagers from Guatemala's slums travel to the US in search of a better life. On their journey they meet Chauk, an Indian from Chiapas who doesn't speak Spanish. Together, they soon have to face a harsh reality. Tres jóvenes de los barrios bajos de Guatemala viajan a los Estados Unidos en busca de una mejor vida. En el camino conocen a Chauk, un indígena de la sierra de Chiapas que no habla español. Pronto tendrán que enfrentarse juntos a la dura realidad.
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE 4/6 @ 5:00PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/8 @ 9:15PM - Director present for Q&A
Carlos Lechuga | Cuba | 2012 | Drama | 80 min | NY Premiere
When the local sugar cane mill shut down, the town of Melaza was left devastated and lifeless. Aldo and Mónica are a young couple striving to find a way to survive. Helping each other, they try to save their world without losing faith. Con el cierre del central azucarero, el pueblito de Melaza quedó devastado y sin vida. Aldo y Mónica son un joven matrimonio que no encuentra cómo sobrevivir. Apoyándose, tratan de salvar su mundo sin perder la fe.
QUAD CINEMA 4/8 @ 3:15PM
QUAD CINEMA 4/10 @ 7:15PM - Director present for Q&A
Jorge Perugorría | Cuba | 2012 | Fiction | 95min | NY Premiere
Nacar, a young girl who works in a lab, is facing rough economic times by herself. Her dead mother advises her from the grave to sell the cemetery plot. In this black comedy, death is an excuse to talk about life. Nácar es una joven laboratorista que está enfrentando sola su difícil situación económica en la Cuba de hoy. Su madre le aconseja desde la tumba que venda su lote en el cementerio. En esta historia de humor negro, la muerte es solo un pretexto para hablar de la vida.
QUAD CINEMA 4/8 @ 7:10PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/10 @ 1:00PM - Director present for Q&A
Agustín Toscano - Ezequiel Radusky | Argentina | 2013 | Fiction | 91min | NY Premiere
While the owners are away from their house in a northern province in Argentina, the caretakers occupy it and emulate their lifestyle. Then, the owners show up unexpectedly for the weekend. Soon everyone is wondering who will end up running the house. Mientras los dueños de una propiedad en la provincia argentina de Tucumán están fuera, los caseros la ocupan y disfrutan del cómodo estilo de vida. Pero los dueños regresan inesperadamente por el fin de semana, y pronto todos se preguntan quién terminará en control de la casa.
QUAD CINEMA 4/9 @ 3:10PM
QUAD CINEMA 4/10 @ 9:15PM - Director present for Q&A
Moisés Sepúlveda | Chile | 2013 | Fiction | 91min | NY Premiere
Ximena is an illiterate woman in her fifties who keeps her illiteracy a secret. Jackeline is a young unemployed elementary school teacher who tries to convince Ximena to learn to read. Thanks to a letter Ximena's father left when he abandoned her many years before, the two women embark on a shared learning journey. Ximena es una cincuentona analfabeta que ha inventado todo lo que no ha sido capaz de leer. Jackeline es una joven maestra desempleada que ha leído todo lo que ha sido incapaz de crear. Gracias a una carta que el padre de Ximena escribió al abandonarla años atrás, las dos mujeres se embarcan en un viaje de aprendizaje y descubrimiento.
QUAD CINEMA 4/9 @ 7:00PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/10 @ 3:00PM
NO ROBARÁS...A MENOS QUE SEA NECESARIO /
YOU SHALL NOT STEAL
Viviana Cordero | Ecuador | 2013 | Fiction | 95min | NY Premiere
Lucia, a teenager of humble origin, lives with her siblings, mother, and stepfather. One day, after an altercation between her mother and stepfather, her life takes a drastic turn. Lucía, una adolescente de origen humilde, vive con sus hermanos, madre y padrastro. Un día, después de una altecado entre su madre y su padrastro, la vida de Lucía toma un giro inesperado.
QUAD CINEMA 4/6 @ 5:10PM - Director present for Q&A
QUAD CINEMA 4/8 @ 5:00PM
HFFNY FESTIVAL VENUES
Directors Guild Theater - 110 West 57th St. (Bet. 6th & 7th Aves.), Manhattan
Quad Cinema - 34 West 13th St. (Bet. 5th & 6th Aves.), Manhattan
Museum of the Moving Image - 35th Ave. at 37th St., Astoria, Queens
The Bronx Museum of the Arts - 1040 Grand Concourse at 165th St., The Bronx
King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU - 53 Washington Square South, Manhattan
SVA (School of Visual Arts) Theatre - 333 West 23rd St., Manhattan
CUNY Graduate Center - 365 Fifth Ave. (Bet. 34th & 35th St.) #C204, Manhattan
