MICA (ARGENTINE CULTURAL INDUSTRIES MARKET) WILL OFFER TRAVEL GRANTS TO THE SELECTED SHORT FILM DIRECTORS FROM THIS COUNTRY
THE CONTEST WILL REVIVE ITS CINEMA AND GASTRONOMY SECTION WITH A JOURNEY THROUGH THE CULTURE OF BOTH TERRITORIES WITH THE VISIT OF A CHEF FROM THE IBERO-AMERICAN COUNTRY
The Huesca International Film Festival confirms Argentina as the “country of honor” of its 51st edition, the South American territory will be “a backbone of the programming” as explained by Estela Rasal, director of the Alto Aragonese event. This new honorary figure was born as “one more step towards the creation of cultural bridges” with the Ministry of Culture of Argentina. “We are very happy and grateful to receive this invitation as a country of honor in this highly recognized festival. It is a great opportunity for our short filmmakers to spread their art around the world and an impetus towards the internationalization of Argentine short films”, points out Lucrecia Cardoso, Secretary of Cultural Development of the Ministry of Culture of Argentina. As a result, the Argentine culture and cinema will have a prominent role in this year’s event, held from June 9 to 17 in the capital of the province of Huesca.
One of the first announcements made by both institutions is the creation of travel grants to ensure the presence of any Argentine short filmmaker that would enter the official list of selected films in one of the three contests, all of them endorsed by the Hollywood Academy by pre-selecting them for the Oscar awards. The news comes at an important moment for the Alto Aragon contest, currently immersed in the short film registering process that will end on February 9th. . In addition to these filmmakers, representative from the Ministry of Culture of Argentina would also attend the Festival.
FUSION OF CINEMA AND GASTRONOMY
The festival also announces it will revive one of its most historical parallel activities: the fusion between cinema and gastronomy. The announcement of the “country of honor” will be the starting point for the presentation of a combination of films and products from both Argentina and the province of Huesca. A chef from the Ibero-American country will introduce a culinary dialogue within a cinematographic context with another prominent chef from Alto Aragón; the seventh art, the cuisine and the foods of both lands will be brought together to generate a unique experience for the spectators. The proposal that is being prepared to “dazzle the senses”, as Rasal points out, has more than two decades of history in the Huesca event and returns to the fore with the support of TuHuesca, the organization that runs the promotion of tourism in the province .
The final program, that will be presented a few weeks before the celebration of the contest, will make other references to the invited country as it will be revealed in the coming months. “This is one of the novelties of this year, a milestone with a vocation for continuity and development in the future. A way of materializing the bonds that the festival has been creating since its inception” concludes the head of one of the most important international competitions for the short film sector.
