HAVANA (Cuba)

Workshop: 23.11.2015 – 07.12.2015

Tutors: Marcel Lozinski, Vita Zelakeviciute, Maciej Cuske

Partners: La Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV), La Facultad Arte de los Medios de Comunicacion Audiovisual (FAMCA) de la Universidad de las Artes, Muestra Joven ICIAC (Festivals department of the Cuban Institute of Cinematography), Havana International Film Festival, Polish Embassy in Havana.

From 23 November to 7 December 2015, there was a workshop in Havana, the capital city of Cuba. The workshop was attended by students of Facultad Arte de los Medios de Comunicacion Audiovisual (FAMCA) de la Universidad de las Artes, students of international film school La Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV) and young filmmakers.

The workshop was hosted by distinguished Polish documentarists: Marcel Lozinski, Vita Zelakeviciute, Maciej Cuske. Adriana Fernandez, a graduate of Wajda School in Warsaw and an editor coordinated the works, arranged translations and made sure the pre-editing works went smoothly. Together with the professors, she planned the future structure of the film about Havana. Aleksandra Maciuszek, Polish film director, a graduate of the Cuban  international school EICTV, assisted during the workshop, translated and helped developing ideas. The production manager, Victoria Ogneva, was responsible for the organizational part of the event. Sebastian Weber, who is a cinematographer and a student of the faculty of cinematography at the school film in Lodz, took care of the cinematographic and technical part and was involved in executing the short films.  Marisol Rodriguez, director of the Muestra Joven festival and David Moreno, the production assistant, made certain the workshops ran smoothly. Assistant editor, Daniel Alberto Garcia, copied, ordered and prepared the materials shot by the participants for screening.

In the end, more than twenty shorts were made, each of them telling a story about interesting people and different fragments of Havana’s life. In their shorts, the participants also tried to show this unique world and capture the vital moment of changes which are happening right now in their homeland. While shooting various amazing places of Havana, the participants and tutors were able to visit, for example, the Museum of the Revolution.

The main partner of the project in Havana was Muestra Joven ICIAC (Festivals department of the Cuban Institute of Cinematography), which supported the project’s organization (helped with promotion and the formalities concerning the transport of the crew from Poland, the filming and finding a place for the workshop – a cinema auditorium and an editing room). Thanks to the promotion support from the partners: Muestra Joven ICIAC, the Polish Embassy in Havana and EICTV, the workshop became a very significant event in the film life of Cuba. In addition, the professors and participants of the workshop were invited to the grand opening of the Havana International Film Festival.