The film festival Visions Du Réel opened last night in Nyon with an official ceremony and the showing of an inspirational heart warming film “El Sistema” about a musical educational programme operating in the poor barrios around Venezuela. A great choice of film to kick off the next six days.
Films will now be showing from early mornings in venues across Nyon until the evening of next Wednesday 29th, (more information on going to this festival in the previous post below).
Here are reviews of two films “Hasta La Victoria” and “Extravio which you can see today and Sunday.Friday 11:15 Cinema Capitole 1 Leone repeated on Sunday at 22:30 Cinema Capitole 2
“Hasta la Victoria”
“There is so much money here, so much money” says Odette a Cuban looking out of a train window on a train between Lausanne and Rolle. Although she likes it here in Switzerland, at this point in the film she is frustrated. Frustrated because she is waiting for her husband Silvio to join her from Cuba. He is still there and waiting for the correct papers to be processed so he can come here while she studies dentistry at the University of Geneva.
The film begins in Havana where we see the life of this couple who are desperate to start a new life elsewhere. They don’t dispute some of the good things Cuba has, but they find the control over their lives stifling. “It’s like constantly having your parents tell you what to do”. So they make plans to leave and the film maker records their progress from Odette leaving Havana (there are some set backs along the way) to her eventually arriving at Cointrin airport in Geneva.
The director Chris Guidotti is there to record her first impressions of her surroundings. When she sees a safety traffic sign with a mirror on it she says to the camera “Look! no-one steals the mirror!”, “Listen to how quiet it is here”. The film then continues with her observations and her thoughts, waiting for Silvio throughout the year and the seasons. I won’t reveal what ultimately happens to this charming, interesting couple, him in Cuba, she in Switzerland, you can go and see for yourself.
This film is in the category RN (Regards Neufs -First film of a young director) so I guess, technical mistakes are too be forgiven but the sound quality could be better and perhaps thare are too many lingering close ups on the main individuals, however it is a revealing portrait and gives a fascinating insight into how visitors from outside Switzerland view this country and an even more fascinating glimpse into life for Odette and Silvio in in Havana.
“Extravio”
Interestingly, a comment that Odette makes in in this film is similar to another made by another Cuban woman in the film “Extravio” “Everyone is always rushing around, no one seems to have time for each other, there is no lingering in the streets to have a conversation”. This time the filmmaker is Cuban and has recently arrived in Salford in the North of England. She is trying to find a familiar face, a person she can relate to and in doing so films other black residents from choir singers to residents of Mosside.
Once again Visions du Réel has come up with some clever scheduling as seeing these films back to back is an excellent chance to compare and contrast lives of two Cuban’s abroad.