San Francisco International Film Festival Invited to Present Award-Winning Films at 25th Havana Film Festival

The San Francisco Film Society has accepted an invitation from the 25th International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana to present a selection of award-winning films from the 46th San Francisco International Film Festival in Havana, Cuba, December 2 -12, 2003. The 46th San Francisco International Film Festival Awards section of the Havana Film Festival will include LOST BOYS OF SUDAN, Golden Gate Award Best Bay Area Documentary Feature; THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND, Golden Gate Award Best Documentary Feature; HEART OF THE SEA: KAPOLIOKA’EHUKAI, VIRGINMEGA Audience Award Best Documentary Feature; WHALE RIDER, VIRGINMEGA Audience Award Best Narrative Feature and THE MAN OF THE YEAR, SKYY Prize for best first feature.

In 2001 Executive Director Roxanne Messina Captor and Director of Programming Linda Blackaby of the Film Society expanded the Latin American programming at the San Francisco Festival and in 2002 invited Ivan Giroud, director of the Havana festival, to join the international advisory board. Giroud attended the San Francisco Festival last spring and afterwards extended an invitation to Messina Captor to bring the award-winning films to Cuba.

In making the announcement Messina Captor said, “Recently we have sought to strengthen our Latin American programming and increase our ties to the filmmaking community of this artistically rich and diverse region. Last year’s SF International Film Festival presented over 20 feature and shorts programs from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Cuba, including a tribute to legendary Cuban filmmaker Nelson Rodríguez. This trip underscores the primary goals of the San Francisco Film Society to foster cross-cultural exchange, understanding and educational opportunities. We are extremely honored to be participating in one of the major events in the Latin American cinema world and look forward to selecting new Latin American films and filmmakers to introduce to Bay Area audiences at the 47th Festival.”

From Havana Ivan Giroud said, “During the week that I spent at the San Francisco International Film Festival last spring I observed the enthusiastic and warm reception with which the San Francisco community received the Latin American films and filmmakers. The San Francisco Festival is an important showcase for Latin American films and I was even able to see Latin American films that I hadn’t had a chance to see before. In welcoming the San Francisco delegation to Havana I’m delighted to expand our collaboration with the Festival and hope to establish deeper ties of friendship between the peoples of Cuba and the United States.”

The San Francisco International Film Festival delegation traveling to Cuba December 6-12, will include Messina Captor, Blackaby, Miguel Pendás (creative director of the Film Society), Megan Mylan (codirector/coproducer, LOST BOYS OF SUDAN), Charlotte Lagarde (codirector/producer, HEART OF THE SEA: KAPOLIOKA’EHUKAI), Sam Green (codirector/coproducer, THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND), Bill Siegel (codirector/coproducer, THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND) and Carrie Lozano (coproducer THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND).

As he made plans for the trip Sam Green said, “I’m really thrilled to be able to show THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND at the Havana Film Festival. I’ve always been very interested in Cuba and a big fan of Cuban cinema. The subjects of my film, members of the Weather Underground, were inspired by the Cuban Revolution, so there’s something appropriate about this.”

The San Francisco International Film Festival, founded in 1957, is the oldest film festival in the Americas. Cuban filmmakers who have visited the Festival include Gerardo Chijona, Daniel Díaz Torres, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Fernando Pérez, Orlando Rojas, Julio García Espinosa and Juan Carlos Cremata.