Colombian film director and film festival organizer Victor Gaviria spilled to Colombia Reports about the 13th annual Santa Fe film festival, ready to showcase emblematic American1970’s films along with recent Colombian films in the small mountain town of Santa Fe, Antioquia.
“We have never had a festival with so much cinematic quality as this year’s 26 selected films,” Gaviria told Colombia Reports of the film festival that will take place December 5-9 in Santa Fe, Antioquia a few hours north of Medellin.
1970’s cinematic favorites from the “Prodigious Decade” such as Catch-22, Dirty Harry and Summer of ’42, along with 23 other American films will be projected at the outdoor film festival.
Gaviria explained the significance of the 1970’s American film era and why it was chosen as the theme of the festival:
“It [the 1970’s] is when an enormous group of American film makers appeared…All of them were very important in what they were saying, not only in their form, but also in their content because they were movies that showed a true feeling in those that had converted their dreams from liberty, ‘hippism,’ love and the wealth of North American society to disillusion… From that, there began to appear a series of important directors like Scorsese, Spielberg, Copola, Lucas, Woddy Allen, among other that we are going to show at the festival.
“So, the idea is to return to feeding ourselves on the cinema of the 70’s, to relive these creators and that is why we reunite 26 feature films at the festival.”
The event, as in previous years, is hosting prestigious filmmakers and critics who will give presentations and conferences on film-making as well as their personal experiences in the industry. This year the festival is honoring Spanish director and Oscar winner Fernando Trueba and respected Spanish film critic Carlos Heredero, among other distinguished names.
Gaviria also explained the importance of not only U.S, but Colombian film at the festival:
“In the festival there is a very important section, a central demonstration called ‘Pandora’s Box’ that is a series of movies of new colombian cinema which are the best colombian audiovisual pieces of the year. We have made a section of about 30 works to be projected on Friday and Saturday that are of young filmmakers that we have invited, which to us is an honor.”