A look at cinema in a workshop on the opportunities and challenges of audiovisuals in the regional context
As part of the 44th edition of the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema, the 7th Workshop on Opportunities and Challenges of Audiovisuals in the Regional Context was successfully held from 9 to 12 December.
The New Latin American Cinema Foundation (FNCL) and the Institute of Information and Social Communication (ICS) were responsible for organising this theoretical event, in which national and international experts participated both in person and online.
The Taganana Hall of the National Hotel of Cuba, the Che Guevara Hall of the ICS and the headquarters of the FNCL were the venues for the meeting dedicated to the reflection and defence of the Cuban identity.
Two main themes were chosen for the debate: Audiovisual heritage and historical memory: urgencies, challenges and opportunities; and the digital audiovisual ecosystem: streaming platforms, content, contexts and realities.
On 9 December, after the inaugural activity at the National Hotel of Cuba, a panel discussion was held with the participation of representatives of the film libraries of Cuba, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Jorge Fernando Negrete, president of the Policy & Law Group, and Edgar Barillas, coordinator of the Central American and Caribbean Network of Film and Audiovisual Heritage, also shared their experiences.
On 10 December, the workshop led to a discussion with authorities from the International Film and Television School (EICTV), the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), the Confederation of Ibero-American Cinematographic Authorities (CAACI), the Ibermedia Programme and other organisations.
Indigenous and community cinema in Latin America and the Caribbean, the political economy of audiovisual platforms, the change in the model of contracting and protection of copyright and artificial intelligence in the cultural sector were the topics discussed on 11 December, when the Cesare Zavattini Prize was also awarded.
The last day was devoted to issues related to artificial intelligence and the audiovisual industry, as well as television as a platform for the distribution of films.
The general director of the FNCL, Alquimia Peña, said that the meeting had made it possible to identify «above all the need for integration and exchanges between institutions and professionals in the region, as well as the involvement of governments, all public institutions and civil society.»
«Special attention should be given to copyright and intellectual property issues in general and in the audiovisual sector, as well as to activism in terms of awareness raising and joint projects on the issues raised,» she added.
Meanwhile, Waldo Ramírez de la Ribera, representing the ICS, said at the closing ceremony that «the opportunity to meet during these days, to share and approach not only the cinema realities that we have in our countries, but also the way in which these realities are increasingly transnationalised in a globalised environment, helps us all to see the context in which we work. The presentations of the three days have much to say about the use, the ethics and the creative capacity.
With the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba, the institutions sponsoring this 7th International Workshop have been working together continuously for six years to promote debate on audiovisual issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez
