Hispanic and Latino films are well represented in festivals around the world and in U.S. cities like New York, Chicago and San Antonio. It is no surprise then that Miami recently hosted the Fifth Hispanic Film Festival. Miami-Dade’s population of 2.2 million is more than 57 percent Hispanic and the city of Miami is a mecca of Latino culture and night life, as well as the financial capital of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Hispanic Film Festival is one of the many cultural events that draw crowds to Miami Beach’s tropical Lincoln Road, a pedestrian mall lined with palm trees and sidewalk cafes frequented by an international jet set.
Argentine actor Marcelo Marcilla, star of Viaje por el cuerpo [A trip through the body] by Jorge Polaco, was in Miami for the first time and had some interesting observations during an interview over coffee at a sidewalk caf. He found Miami Beach to be a beautiful place and commented: “la gente en la calle Lincoln Road es tan esbelta y elegante, que casi parecen de plÊstico” [The people on Lincoln Road are so slender and elegant that they almost look plastic]. He was thrilled to be in Miami and enjoy this fabulous world of consumerism for a few days, but he was very happy that he would be returning to Argentina soon, where he finds life more realistic and down to earth.
Founder and director of the Festival Jaime Angulo is a Spaniard who offers not only films, but also a forum in which independent producers meet with directors and actors from Latin countries, and a symposium on stereotypes in Latin American films: “El uso, abuso y control de estereotipos latinos en pel?culas latinoamericanas” presented by several professors at St. Thomas University in Miami. All events were open to the festival-going public.
The multiplex Regal cinema showed 34 films in the festival, mostly from Latin America and Spain and mostly with subtitles in English.
The prize for Best Film went to a Spanish comedy Anita no pierde el tren [Anita doesn’t miss out] directed by Ventura Pons. Rosa Mar?a SardÊ, Best Actress Award, plays the role of a ticket clerk who is traumatized when she finds herself out of a job because the theatre where she works is being demolished for a new multiplex.
Many excellent films shown in Miami were also shown at the 22nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema in Havana, Cuba, December 2000. The Havana festival presented 245 films from many of the 20 Spanish-speaking countries, as well as from Germany, the U.S. and Canada. Some of the award winners billed in Havana and Miami were: Coronaci?n [Coronation], a Chilean film based on the novel by Jos Donoso and directed by Silvio Caiozzi that received Best Artistic Direction and Best Actor Awards in Havana; La ley de Herodes [Herod’s law], a Mexican film directed by Luis Estrada that satirizes political corruption under the PRI in a small town. This film won the award for Best Editing in Havana.
Only one Cuban film made it to the festival in Miami, a Cuba/Spain co-production that won the popularity award Premio del p?blico at a previous festival in Havana: Un para?so bajo las estrellas [A paradise under the stars].
I recommend both festivals, Havana and Miami. Havana, if only to see first hand the decaying architectural splendour of a past era and the colorful 1950s American cars that serve as collective taxis. Miami, to experience the Latino world in our own back yard, not to mention that it is a whole lot easier to get there! The VI Miami Latin Film Festival will be held during Semana Santa [Holy Week] at the same locale, the Regal Cinema, at the corner of Lincoln and Alton Roads in Miami Beach, March 22-31, 2002. Websites for these festivals are www.MiamiLatinFilm Festival.com and www.habana-filmfestival.com.
ETSU will offer a course on Hispanic Cinema during the fall 2002 semester. For further information call the department of foreign languages at 439-4264 or 439-6897.
I attended the 22nd International Festival of New Latin American Cinema and the V Miami Hispanic Film Festival as part of her research on film and Cuban writers during a recent Non-Instructional assignment.

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