Giovanni Boccaccio, the great Italian writer of Renaissance, is better known in Cuba as the ‘‘Decameron’’. However, another work will connect him to our popular culture, when the premiere of the movie ‘‘Boccaccerías mías’’ by prominent director Arturo Sotto takes place next December at the International Festival of Contemporary Latin American Cinema.

‘‘(…) At the beginning it was a collective Project. Three stories from three different directors: An Italian man, Jorge Perugorría and I. Jorge Perugorría (Pichi) made the film ‘‘Se vende’’, and then, I decided to make my own from a trilogy. Two of the stories are inspired on the Decameron of Boccaccio, and the third one, from my authorship.

The thread of the stories lies on dissimilar characters attending the house of a writer who comes through an imaginative crisis, and who intelligently pays people for listening to their stories.

From then on, those who attend his house, hope to become one of the characters of the future soap operas or films that will be made by this artist, or in most of the cases, to receive money in exchange of telling their life experiences.

To make these life stories come true from implementation and performance, the acclaimed Cuban director Arturo Sotto is accompanied by an excellent team, integrated in the soundtrack by Javier Figueroa, a group of 50 actors, such as Mario Guerra, Luis Alberto García, Patricio Wood, Irela Bravo, Félix Beatón and Omar Franco; and also Alejandro Pérez on photography.

‘‘(…) the inner places, the houses, and tobacco factories show the environment of Havana. One of the stories is based on a tobacco factory, where we can also enjoy a circus environment. This is a diverse film concerning to its locations and conception.

We wanted each story to have its own production and charm from the beginning, without marking radical differences, so they form part of the same feature film (…)’’.

According to Sotto, “Boccaccerías mías” becomes, from Renaissance, a fine work of the contemporary Cuban society, which is seen through the perspective of comedy.

This film is made with a splendid live sound, and allows us to revive cinema much more. So, its producers are now checking over the last details of the post-production from each one of its scenes, in order to be screened at the usual cinemas of the 35th Festival.

So, it will be included on the list of the twenty-one fiction feature films that will compete for the Coral Prize in the great festival of the Latin American Cinema next December, an event that takes place every year by presenting the best film of the region, in order to join and share ideas of actors, producers, and a multitude of moviegoers from the Cuban capital and other countries.  (By Daynelis Rodríguez Peña)