The International Non-budget Film Festival opens in Gibara.

By Amauris Betancourt.
“Next Internati0nal Non-Budget Film Festival from Humberto Solás will be held in Gibara like previous editions”, said Sergio Benvenuto Solás, its director, in a recent visit to Holguín to do the official launching of the competition, to take place in the Vila Blanca together with some other events from April 13 to 19.Cuban Actors and actresses, main characters in Solás' movie productions, kept him company: Luisa María Jiménez, Rafael Lahera and Jorge Perugorría.

”Its founding headquarters will not be changed even though other related initiatives for the sake of the same festival have been undertaken”, commented Benvenuto later in response to press questions as well as rumors about a change of place. “The Festival will go on being happy, daring, transgressor, anti-dogmatist” Benvenuto added too. It can not be any different to pay due respect to its late founder. It is sort of a homage to Solás after his decease last October, 2008 after the powerful Ike hurricane hit Gibara. So he would have wanted it. The Festival aims also at helping economically with Gibara's recovery. Right now concrete projects to benefit settlements nearby the city are being carried out.

Gibara people are willing to pay back with their cooperation so that the Festival turns out to be a success. Despite the damages of the hurricane, inhabitants are willing to open their homes to participants.

Jorge Perugorría is still heading the Art for Cuba project, an online visual art auction of donated works by artist of the Island, which include too Spanish and Venezuelan artists. “The collected money sums up 21 thousand 600 dollars. It is a symbolic number but the most important thing is the will to help Gibara and its Festival recover”, stated the Cuban actor and painter.
Representatives from Mugarik Gabe, an association of the Basque Country with a prize to the best feminine production during the Festival, attended the press conference as well as Luis Alberto González Nieto, ICAIC (Cuban Institute for Art and Movie Industry) vice-president and Aldo Benvenuto, production director of the Festival.