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Film Festivals in Havana
Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano
Cuba's capital and cultural nerve centre, a city of crumbling colonial grandeur where son, rumba, Afro-Cuban jazz, and trova coexist in a music scene largely unchanged by commercial pressures.
Run by Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC), with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano is the defining event of Latin American cinema, and it has run in Havana every December since 1979. Founded under the Cuban film institute ICAIC by Alfredo Guevara, it built the Coral awards into the region's most watched prize and turned the city into a two-week meeting point for directors, critics and audiences from across the continent. Screenings fill the grand old cinemas of Vedado and Centro Habana, from the Yara opposite the Coppelia ice-cream park to the Charles Chaplin, the Acapulco and La Rampa, and the queues and street debate outside are as much the festival as the films. For anyone serious about Latin American film, this is the room to be in.
Best months
The festival runs for about ten days in early-to-mid December. Screenings, tributes and panels are spread across the historic cinemas of Vedado and Centro Habana and the Hotel Nacional. December is dry-season Havana, cool and pleasant. Passes and individual tickets are cheap by international standards but the popular sessions fill, so arrive early or buy a festival pass.
Getting there & around
The cinemas cluster in Vedado and Centro Habana within walking distance or a short cab hop of each other. The full programme lands close to the start, so plan loosely and pick up the daily schedule once you are there. A festival pass is the simplest way in for the busier screenings.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano
OrganizerThe Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano, organised by the Cuban film institute ICAIC and held in Havana each December since 1979, is the most important showcase of Latin American cinema. Founded by Alfredo Guevara, it fills the city's historic cinemas with new features, documentaries and debates, and awards its Coral prizes across a week and a half of screenings.