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Cubanima 2012: Animation Movie Festival

Autor: Susana Méndez | Fuente: CUBARTE | 03 de Junio 2012

José Juan Ortiz, UNICEF representative in Cuba, Esther Hirzel, general director of the ICAIC Animation Studios, Pablo Ramos, Coordinator of the Children Audio-Visual Universe Network and Arlene Comas, coordinator of Cubanima, held an encounter with the press to offer details of this animation festival.

Ortiz, highlighted the importance of the event for children and adolescents and pointed out to the importance that the adults should analyze the meaning of the place of animation in the children’s education, which he declared to be an element of inter-generational communication. He assured that Cuban animated movies are an important part of culture and it is an artistic expression of extraordinary quality which deserves to be categorized as a major art.

He also expressed that Cuba is an avant-garde model trying to promote children’s rights, “UNICEF works all over the world trying to maintain the rights of children and adolescents, in Cuba we try to consolidate them and to develop those rights, whose highest expression is culture,” he declared.

Esther Hirzel commented that since Monday, May 21 there had been taking place actions in primary and secondary schools from the municipalities of Cotorro, San Miguel del Padrón, Diez de octubre, Playa and Plaza, in the Children Heart Center and in the children room from the Oncological Hospital. There had also been activities with young children from pre-school teaching, in which there had been screened different animated materials as a way to bring this festival closer to more children.

For us “the most important things are our objectives, where do we reach, with whom do we work and who do we make happy,” declared Hirzel.

It was also made public that the most represented country in Cubanima was Argentina and there were also take part Spain, Norway, Brazil, Colombia and Chile. There were in general 34 materials from these countries.

The program is made up of 25 short movies, eight of which were made in children’s workshops, one of them is Cuban. There will also be three full length movies, six video clips and three programs made by the Paca Paca Channel from Argentina, which is directed to children exclusively.

The director of the ICAIC Animation Studios presented the different activities which will take place in the event. On June 1, which coincides with the celebration of the International Children´s Day, there was the opening with the panel Animato con brío. La música en el cine de animación (Music in animation movies) with the intervention of Zenaida Romeo, Guille Vilar, Aramís Acosta, Armando Alba, Rafael Guzmán and Virgilio González. At the end of this panel, there began Tiempos distantes, la misma canción (Distant times, the same song), where Juan Ruiz Sila Herrera, Luis Ernesto González, Adanoe Lima, Yemelí Cruz, Alexander Rodríguez and Nelson Serrano analyzed video clips of children’s songs that have two versions, an old and a newer one.

Orlando Cruzata presented a group of video clips, who won in this animation genre in the Lucas.

Afterwards, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, there took place in the 23 y 12 movie theater a screening of Norwegian animated movies as well as other ones taking part in the event. At half past two in the Vitrina de Valonia, in the Old Plaza from the Havana Historical Center, there will be the opening of the exhibition Historias dibujadas-Historietas animadas (Drawn stories-animated short movies), from Belgium, which included the exhibition of audio-visual materials –which are the result of some of these comics being taken into animation.

On the second day of the festival, there took place in the Spanish American Culture Center an event called Jugando en serio (Playing seriously) which includes two panels; the first one under the title Cuando aprendí animación… (When I learned animation…) experiences in children workshops narrated by its main stars, who are children belonging to workshops organized by the ICAIC Animation Studios, the Pioneer Palace, the Juan Marinello Center, among others.

The second panel, under the title A la tercera no va la vencida (The third is not the final one) dealt with the third season of the series Pubertad. There will be reflecting on this Esther Hirzel, Ana María Cano, Ernesto Piña, Aramís Acosta, Livia Quintana, Arlene Comas and members of the children theater company La Colmenita.

On June 2, there was the closing of the festival in the Charles Chaplin room, with the performance of the singer and composer Lidis Lamorú and the Lizt Alfonso Ballet.

Translation: Karen López (Cubarte)