X Alfonso at inaugural gala of Cuban film festival

November 28, 2022

The Cuban singer-songwriter, arranger and producer X Alfonso will be the guest artist at the opening gala of the 43rd edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, confirmed by its organizers today.

The opening of the festival will take place on Thursday, at 19:00, local time, at the Charles Chaplin cinema and the film chosen for the first screening is Argentina, 1985.

Recently, X Alfonso along with his sister Eme, his parents Gerardo Alfonso and Ele Valdés and the group Síntesis, won a Latin Grammy in the Best Folkloric Album category for the album Ancestros Sinfónico.

The 43rd edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema will take place from December 1 to 11 in various theaters in the Cuban capital that have the required technology for the projection of the works.

This event has been historically characterized, unlike others in the region, by privileging through its competition those films that best reflect the reality of the area, social and political themes, current issues being experienced at this moment, highlighted its director Yumey Besú.

I believe that is reflected again in the competitions for first films, full-length fiction, full-length documentaries, as well as in short films, she said in statements to the press.

In total, she specified, more than two thousand works were submitted and 103 films remained in competition, 15 full-length fiction films, 15 medium-length and short films, 17 full-length documentaries and 10 short documentaries. While in the animation section there are 29 works and 15 first films.

Additionally, this will be a smaller festival compared to other previous editions since there are now fewer available theaters: the Chaplin theater, the Yara cinema, the 23 and 12, and the Acapulco, detailed Besú.

As a novelty in this 2022, the awarding of the Diversity Prize, Arrecife, stands out, for the best Latin American work with queer themes, whose selection will be in charge of an independent jury appointed by the Festival.

Founded on December 3, 1979 by Cuban Alfredo Guevara, the festival grants as its highest distinction the Grand Coral Prize.