Gibara Poor Film Festival to Screen Films Outdoors

The 20th edition of the International Poor Film Festival of Gibara will hold its second day on Wednesday with a program spanning cinema and music, featuring open-air venues as its main settings. This year's activities unfold amid the disconnection of the National Electroenergetic System, which has affected the country since Tuesday, and screenings will be carried out using battery-powered equipment adapted to Cuba's current energy context.

Among the projections announced for today are the Kyrgyz film Mergen, directed by Chingiz Narynov, a winner at the Bishkek Festival and one of the most anticipated titles, alongside Rainbow (Iran–Czech Republic–Germany), by Saleh Alavizadeh, and Casablanca-Dakar (Morocco), by Ahmed Boulane.

The morning will feature a block of Cuban and international short films, including Te doy mi voz, La lata, Intemperie, Servida, Julia, Aprendí a llorar (Brazil), and La flor del Prángana, along with non-fiction titles El VIH se enamoró de mí (Colombia–Argentina), Lo más maravilloso (Cuba–Argentina), Las tres muertes de un sol (Colombia), and Nido: Un espacio para crear y soñar (Cuba). This geographic diversity—spanning from Central Asia to the Caribbean—reaffirms the alternative and universal spirit of the festival founded by Cuban filmmaker Humberto Solás.

The theoretical sessions will begin with the panel "Community Filmmaking: Redesigning the Tourism That Gibara Deserves," led by Yakelin Tapia, provincial director of Culture in Holguín. A press meeting will follow, during which the new edition of the Iberoamerican Culture Festival, scheduled for October, will be launched.

Visual arts will occupy a prominent place in the program with the opening of the exhibition Centenario de Alfredo Guevara—A Tribute in Posters, presented by the CartelOn collective at the Casa de la Cultura. Later, the exhibition Crónicas estampadas by the Nueva Generación Gráfica group will open at the Ordoño venue.

In the afternoon, music will take over at the Ordoño Hotel Terrace with concerts by troubadours Laynier Verdecia and Camilo de la Peña. Yamilka Garcés and her ensemble will perform on the same stage, while the Plaza Da Silva will host the orchestra Ases del Ritmo.

The festival runs from July 14 to 18, bringing together nearly twenty countries in its 20th edition and maintaining its essence as a platform oriented toward creativity and low-budget cinema.