Lázara Herrera, president of the festival,
consigned that the reflexive vision and the committed art that
characterize the work of diverse generations of film directors
countersign the possibilities of documentary cinema to reflect
the contemporary history of nations with identical aspirations
and socio’cultural challenges.
Éramos Invisibles, (We were Invisible), by
Venezuelan Laura Pereira, obtained the Grand Prix in the film
section. The work denounces the coup d'etat in Honduras and it
countersigns the stoic resistance of a people determined to
exercise its civic and democratic rights.
The jury gave the first prize of the festival to
Eso que anda (That which walks), by Cuban Ian Padrón,
while the second and third laurels went to Partir o morir
(Leave or die), by Frenchman Rodrigo Sáez, and Alumia, by
Brazilians Andrea Ferraz and Carol Vergolino, respectively.
Lucanamarca, entered by Peruvian Carlos
Cárdenas and Héctor Gálvez, was rewarded in the opera prima
category, and Hasta Santiago by Richard Abella, came
first in the best documentary made by a young community.
The Special Prize of the jury was given to
Utopía y barbarie (Utopia and barbarism), by Brazilian
Silvio Tendler, in recognition to its contribution to preserve
the legacy of the resistance movements.
For its part UNESCO conferred The Cameras of
Diversity prize on Memorias de una hija de Ochún, Memoirs
of a daughter of Ochún by María Torrellas, for its aesthetic
contributions in the audiovisual reflection of an African
descendent.
The writer Reynaldo González who directs the
Cinemateca de Cuba, and the composer Juan Formell, director of
Los Van Van, and whose music appears in outstanding works of
Santiago Álvarez, were paid homage in the forum.
SANTIAGO
DE CUBA The 11th Santiago Álvarez In Memoriam International
Documentary Festival ratified the reasons that transform this
genre into an audiovisual resource of inestimable value to
testify to the resistance and sociopolitical occurrences of the
people.
BRAZILIAN
SILVIO TENDLER DESERVED THE SPECIAL PRIZE.